1. So all this I laid to my heart, and I concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, are in the hand of God. So no one knows anything that will come to them, whether it will be love or hatred.
2. The same fate comes to everyone: to the righteous and to the wicked, to the good and to the wicked, to the clean and to the unclean, to those who sacrifice and to those who do not sacrifice. As with the good man, so also to the sinner; as with those who swear an oath, so also those who fear oaths.
3. This is the injustice that is done under the sun: the same fate comes to everyone. Also the hearts of humans are full of evil; delusion is in their hearts during their lives, and then they die.
4. Whoever is joined to all the living has hope. After all, even a live dog is better than a dead lion!