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!
17. I thought to myself, God will judge both righteous and wicked people, because there’s a time for every matter and every deed.
18. I also thought, Where human beings are concerned, God tests them to show them that they are but 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.
20. All go to the same place:all are from the dust;all return to the dust.
21. Who knows if a human being’s life-breath rises upward while an animal’s life-breath descends 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?