All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
Parallel translations
- WEB All go to one place. All are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.
- BSB All go to one place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.
- NKJV All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust.
- NASB All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust.
- NLT Both go to the same place—they came from dust and they return to dust.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
All go to one place, formed from dust and returning to dust. Death returns every creature to the ground from which it came.
Overview
Qoheleth recalls the creation and curse language of Genesis, where man is dust and returns to dust. This sobering reminder of mortality applies to all living things. Yet the gospel answers the dust with hope, for Christ, the second Adam, became 'a life-giving spirit' and guarantees the resurrection of the body for those who are His.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Gen 3:19In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
- Job 34:15All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.
- Eccl 12:7Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
- Job 7:9As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.
- Eccl 6:6Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?
- Job 10:9–10Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?
- Eccl 9:10Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
- Ps 104:29Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.
- Eccl 3:21Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
- Num 27:13And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered.
- Gen 25:17And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died; and was gathered unto his people.
- Ps 49:14Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.
- Dan 12:2And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
- Job 17:13If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.
- Gen 25:8Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.
- Job 30:24Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The search that finds everything 'under the sun' to be vapor exposes the emptiness of life without God and drives us to the one who alone gives meaning, the resurrection that makes our labor not in vain.
How Ecclesiastes 3:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.