Ecclesiastes 9:3

Death and loss Sin

¹ So I took all this to heart and concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, are in God’s hands. Man does not know what lies ahead, whether love or hate.

² It is the same for all: There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who makes a vow, so it is for the one who refuses to take a vow.

This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.

⁴ There is hope, however, for anyone who is among the living; for even a live dog is better than a dead lion.

⁵ For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten.

Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.
KJV: This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
WEB: This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one event to all. Yes also, the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
ASV: This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea also, the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that [they go] to the dead.
DARBY: This is an evil among all that is done under the sun, that one thing befalleth all: yea, also the heart of the children of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live; and after that, [they have to go] to the dead.
BLB: This [is] an evil in all that is done under the sun: That one event [is] to all, and also [that] the heart of the sons of man is full of evil; and madness [is] in their hearts while they live, and afterward to the dead.

ÅB: Det er en ond ting ved alt det som hender under solen, at det går alle likedan, og så er også menneskenes hjerte fullt av det som ondt er, og det er uforstand i deres hjerte, så lenge de lever, og siden går det avsted til de døde;
OTB: Dette er det onde i alt som skjer under solen: den samme skjebnen rammer alle. Dessuten er menneskenes hjerter fylt med ondskap, og galskap bor i deres hjerter mens de lever, og etterpå slutter de seg til de døde.
B1930: Det er en ond ting ved alt det som hender under solen, at det går alle likedan, og så er også menneskenes hjerte fullt av det som ondt er, og det er uforstand i deres hjerte, så lenge de lever, og siden går det avsted til de døde;

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Read in context
Ecclesiastes 8:11
When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
Read in context
Ecclesiastes 1:17
So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.
Read in context
Job 15:16
how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?
Read in context
Titus 3:3
For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
Read in context
Psalms 51:5
Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.
Read in context
Romans 1:29–31
They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,
Read in context
Luke 6:11
But the scribes and Pharisees were filled with rage and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
Read in context