Ecclesiastes 3:18

I said in my heart concerning the matter of the sons of man that God might cleanse them, so as to see that they themselves [are] beasts.

Young's Literal Translation

In The King James Version

I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

In Context

17I said in my heart, 'The righteous and the wicked doth God judge, for a time [is] to every matter and for every work there.'

19For an event [is to] the sons of man, and an event [is to] the beasts, even one event [is] to them; as the death of this, so [is] the death of that; and one spirit [is] to all, and the advantage of man above the beast is nothing, for the whole [is] vanity.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 3

Cross References

Job 14:1Man, born of woman! Of few days, and full of trouble!

Job 40:8Dost thou also make void My judgment? Dost thou condemn Me, That thou mayest be righteous?

Psalms 49:14As sheep for Sheol they have set themselves, Death doth afflict them, And the upright rule over them in the morning, And their form [is] for consumption. Sheol [is] a dwelling for him.

Psalms 51:4Against Thee, Thee only, I have sinned, And done the evil thing in Thine eyes, So that Thou art righteous in Thy words, Thou art pure in Thy judging.

Psalms 73:22And I am brutish, and do not know. A beast I have been with Thee.

Romans 3:4let it not be! and let God become true, and every man false, according as it hath been written, 'That Thou mayest be declared righteous in Thy words, and mayest overcome in Thy being judged.'

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 3:17-22

Immutability of God's Counsel; The Extent of Mortality. 16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. 17 I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work. 18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. 19 For that which befalleth the… Read the whole commentary →

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