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Ecclesiastes 3:20–22

20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.z 21 Who knows if the human spirit rises upwarda and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”

22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work,b because that is their lot.c For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?

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Ecclesiastes 3:20–22 — English Standard Version (ESV)

20 All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? 22 So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?

Ecclesiastes 3:20–22 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. 21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? 22 Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?

Ecclesiastes 3:20–22 — New Living Translation (NLT)

20 Both go to the same place—they came from dust and they return to dust. 21 For who can prove that the human spirit goes up and the spirit of animals goes down into the earth? 22 So I saw that there is nothing better for people than to be happy in their work. That is our lot in life. And no one can bring us back to see what happens after we die.

Ecclesiastes 3:20–22 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

20 All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust. 21 Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth? 22 So I perceived that nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for that is his heritage. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?

Ecclesiastes 3:20–22 — New Century Version (NCV)

20 Both end up the same way; both came from dust and both will go back to dust. 21 Who can be sure that the human spirit goes up to God and that the spirit of an animal goes down into the ground? 22 So I saw that the best thing people can do is to enjoy their work, because that is all they have. No one can help another person see what will happen in the future.

Ecclesiastes 3:20–22 — American Standard Version (ASV)

20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. 21 Who knoweth the spirit of man, whether it goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast, whether it goeth downward to the earth? 22 Wherefore I saw that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him back to see what shall be after him?

Ecclesiastes 3:20–22 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

20 All go unto one place: all are of the dust, and all return to dust. 21 Who knoweth the spirit of the children of men? Doth it go upwards? and the spirit of the beasts, doth it go downwards to the earth? 22 And I have seen that there is nothing better than that man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion; for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?

Ecclesiastes 3:20–22 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

20 All ⸤life⸥ goes to the same place. All ⸤life⸥ comes from the ground, and all of it goes back to the ground. 21 Who knows whether a human spirit goes upward or whether an animal spirit goes downward to the earth? 

22 I saw that there’s nothing better for people to do than to enjoy their work because that is their lot ⸤in life⸥. Who will allow them to see what will happen after them? 

Ecclesiastes 3:20–22 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

20 All are going to the same place; all come from dust, and all return to dust. 21 Who knows if the spirit of people rises upward and the spirit of animals goes downward to the earth? 22 I have seen that there is nothing better than for a person to enjoy his activities because that is his reward. For who can enable him to see what will happen after he dies?

Ecclesiastes 3:20–22 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

20 All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again. 21 Who knows whether the human spirit goes upward and the spirit of animals goes downward to the earth? 22 So I saw that there is nothing better than that all should enjoy their work, for that is their lot; who can bring them to see what will be after them?

Ecclesiastes 3:20–22 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

20 Both go to one place—both came from dust and both return to dust. 21 For no one knows whether the spirit of a human ascends to heaven and whether the spirit of the beast descends to the ground!

22 So I concluded that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy the fruit of his labor, for this is his lot in life. For no one knows what will happen in the future.

Ecclesiastes 3:20–22 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

20 “People and animals go to the same place. All of them come from dust. And all of them return to dust. 21 Who can know whether the spirit of a man goes up? Who can tell whether the spirit of an animal goes down into the earth?”

22 So man should enjoy his work. That’s what God made him for. I saw that there’s nothing better for him to do than that. After all, who can show him what will happen after he is gone?

Ecclesiastes 3:20–22 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

20 All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust.

21 Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth?

22 I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities, for that is his lot. For who will bring him to see what will occur after him?


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