Common English Bible w/ Apocrypha CEBA
New International Version NIV
16 I saw something else under the sun: in the place of justice, there was wickedness; and in the place of what was right, there was wickedness again!
16
And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment—wickedness was there, in the place of justice—wickedness was there.
17 I thought to myself, God will judge both righteous and wicked people, because there's a time for every matter and every deed.
17
I said to myself, “God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed.”
18 I also thought, Where human beings are concerned, God tests them to show them that they are but animals
18
I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals.
19 because human beings and animals share the same fate. One dies just like the other—both have the same life-breath. Humans are no better off than animals because everything is pointless.
19
Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath ; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless.
20 All go to the same place: all are from the dust; all return to the dust.
20
All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.
21 Who knows if a human being's life-breath rises upward while an animal's life-breath descends into the earth?
21
Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”
22 So I perceived that there was nothing better for human beings but to enjoy what they do because that's what they're allotted in life. Who, really, is able to see what will happen in the future?
22
So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.