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.
Parallel translations
- WEB All things come alike to all. There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked; to the good, to the clean, to the unclean, to him who sacrifices, and to him who doesn’t sacrifice. As is the good, so is the sinner; he who takes an oath, as he who fears an oath.
- KJV All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.
- NKJV All things come alike to all: One event happens to the righteous and the wicked; To the good, the clean, and the unclean; To him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As is the good, so is the sinner; He who takes an oath as he who fears an oath.
- NASB It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and the unclean; for the person who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good person is, so is the sinner; the one who swears an oath is just as the one who is afraid to swear an oath.
- NLT The same destiny ultimately awaits everyone, whether righteous or wicked, good or bad, ceremonially clean or unclean, religious or irreligious. Good people receive the same treatment as sinners, and people who make promises to God are treated like people who don’t.
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
Outwardly, the same event, death, comes to all alike, righteous and wicked, clean and unclean. Death's universality levels every earthly distinction under the sun.
Overview
Qoheleth observes that death meets everyone without regard to moral or ritual standing, which troubles him deeply. This 'one event' is part of life's vanity in a fallen world. Yet the gospel declares that though all die in Adam, all in Christ are made alive, so that death is not the final word for those who trust him (1 Corinthians 15:22).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Mal 3:18So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”
- Eccl 2:14–16The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both.
- Job 9:22It is all the same, and so I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
- Ps 73:3For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
- Mal 3:5“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- Mal 3:15So now we call the arrogant blessed. Not only do evildoers prosper, they even test God and escape.’”
- Josh 2:17–20The men said to her, “We will not be bound by this oath you made us swear
- Gen 24:3and I will have you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I am dwelling,
- Ezek 17:18–19He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Seeing that he gave his hand in pledge yet did all these things, he will not escape!’
- Eccl 7:18It is good to grasp the one and not let the other slip from your hand. For he who fears God will follow both warnings.
- Eccl 2:26To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
- Job 21:7–34Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?
- Gen 24:8–9And if the woman is unwilling to follow you, then you are released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.”
- Zech 5:3–4Then he told me, “This is the curse that is going out over the face of all the land, for according to one side of the scroll, every thief will be removed; and according to the other side, every perjurer will be removed.
- Eccl 7:2It is better to enter a house of mourning than a house of feasting, since death is the end of every man, and the living should take this to heart.
- Eccl 6:6even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?
- Eccl 8:12–14Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence.
- 1 Sam 14:26And when they entered the forest and saw the flowing honey, not one of them put his hand to his mouth, because they feared the oath.
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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 9:2 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
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