Ecclesiastes 3:16–22

¹⁶And moreover I saw under the sun, that in the place of judgment, wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, wickedness was there. ¹⁷I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work. ¹⁸I said in my heart, It is thus with the children of men, that God may prove them, and that they should see that they themselves are but beasts. ¹⁹For what befalleth the children of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other, and they have all one breath; and man hath no pre-eminence above the beast: for all is vanity. ²⁰All go unto one place: all are of the dust, and all return to dust. ²¹Who 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? ²²And 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?