Ecclesiastes 3:20
Both go to the same place, both come from the dust, and to dust both return.
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Referenced Verses
- Gen 3:19 : 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat food until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you will return.”
- Job 34:15 : 15 all flesh would perish together and human beings would return to dust.
- Ps 104:29 : 29 When you ignore them, they panic. When you take away their life’s breath, they die and return to dust.
- Eccl 6:6 : 6 if he should live a thousand years twice, yet does not enjoy his prosperity. For both of them die!
- Eccl 9:10 : 10 Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, because there is neither work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave, the place where you will eventually go.
- Eccl 12:7 : 7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the life’s breath returns to God who gave it.
- Job 7:9 : 9 As a cloud is dispersed and then disappears, so the one who goes down to the grave does not come up again.
- Job 10:9-9 : 9 Remember that you have made me as with the clay; will you return me to dust? 10 Did you not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese?
- Job 17:13 : 13 If I hope for the grave to be my home, if I spread out my bed in darkness,
- Job 30:24 : 24 The Contrast With the Past“Surely one does not stretch out his hand against a broken man when he cries for help in his distress.
- Gen 25:8 : 8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man who had lived a full life. He joined his ancestors.
- Gen 25:17 : 17 Ishmael lived a total of 137 years. He breathed his last and died; then he joined his ancestors.
- Num 27:13 : 13 When you have seen it, you will be gathered to your ancestors, as Aaron your brother was gathered to his ancestors.
- Dan 12:2 : 2 Many of those who sleep in the dusty ground will awake– some to everlasting life, and others to shame and everlasting abhorrence.
- Eccl 3:21 : 21 Who really knows if the human spirit ascends upward, and the animal’s spirit descends into the earth?
- Ps 49:14 : 14 They will travel to Sheol like sheep, with death as their shepherd. The godly will rule over them when the day of vindication dawns; Sheol will consume their bodies and they will no longer live in impressive houses.
Similar Verses (AI)
These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.
- Eccl 3:18-192 verses87%
18I also thought to myself,“It is for the sake of people, so God can clearly show them that they are like animals.
19For the fate of humans and the fate of animals are the same: As one dies, so dies the other; both have the same breath. There is no advantage for humans over animals, for both are fleeting.
- 85%
15all flesh would perish together and human beings would return to dust.
- Eccl 12:7-82 verses83%
7and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the life’s breath returns to God who gave it.
8Concluding Refrain: Qoheleth Restates His Thesis“Absolutely futile!” laments the Teacher,“All of these things are futile!”
- Eccl 3:21-222 verses82%
21Who really knows if the human spirit ascends upward, and the animal’s spirit descends into the earth?
22So I perceived there is nothing better than for people to enjoy their work, because that is their reward; for who can show them what the future holds?
- Eccl 9:2-32 verses77%
2Everyone shares the same fate– the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the ceremonially clean and unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. What happens to the good person, also happens to the sinner; what happens to those who make vows, also happens to those who are afraid to make vows.
3This is the unfortunate fact about everything that happens on earth: the same fate awaits everyone. In addition to this, the hearts of all people are full of evil, and there is folly in their hearts during their lives– then they die.
- 76%
4Their life’s breath departs, they return to the ground; on that day their plans die.
- Eccl 1:2-54 verses75%
2Introduction: Utter Futility“Futile! Futile!” laments the Teacher,“Absolutely futile! Everything is futile!”
3Futility Illustrated from Nature What benefit do people get from all the effort which they expend on earth?
4A generation comes and a generation goes, but the earth remains the same through the ages.
5The sun rises and the sun sets; it hurries away to a place from which it rises again.
- 75%
26Together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover over them both.
- 75%
10But man dies and is powerless; he expires– and where is he?
- Eccl 5:15-162 verses75%
15Just as he came forth from his mother’s womb, naked will he return as he came, and he will take nothing in his hand that he may carry away from his toil.
16This is another misfortune: Just as he came, so will he go. What did he gain from toiling for the wind?
- 74%
19By the sweat of your brow you will eat food until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you will return.”
- Eccl 6:6-72 verses74%
6if he should live a thousand years twice, yet does not enjoy his prosperity. For both of them die!
7All of man’s labor is for nothing more than to fill his stomach– yet his appetite is never satisfied!
- 74%
16There is no end to all the people nor to the past generations, yet future generations will not rejoice in him. This also is profitless and like chasing the wind.
- 74%
29When you ignore them, they panic. When you take away their life’s breath, they die and return to dust.
- Eccl 6:11-122 verses74%
11The more one argues with words, the less he accomplishes. How does that benefit him?
12For no one knows what is best for a person during his life– during the few days of his fleeting life– for they pass away like a shadow. Nor can anyone tell him what the future will hold for him on earth.
- Ps 103:15-162 verses73%
15A person’s life is like grass. Like a flower in the field it flourishes,
16but when the hot wind blows by, it disappears, and one can no longer even spot the place where it once grew.
- 73%
24For all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of the grass; the grass withers and the flower falls off,
- Eccl 3:1-22 verses73%
1A Time for All Events in Life For everything there is an appointed time, and an appropriate time for every activity on earth:
2A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot what was planted;
- 73%
4People are like a vapor, their days like a shadow that disappears.
- 73%
3You make mankind return to the dust, and say,“Return, O people!”
- 73%
14I reflected on everything that is accomplished by man on earth, and I concluded: Everything he has accomplished is futile– like chasing the wind!
- 72%
10Contradictions to the Law of Retribution Not only that, but I have seen the wicked approaching and entering the temple, and as they left the holy temple, they boasted in the city that they had done so. This also is an enigma.
- Eccl 2:16-172 verses72%
16For the wise man, like the fool, will not be remembered for very long, because in the days to come, both will already have been forgotten. Alas, the wise man dies– just like the fool!
17So I loathed life because what happens on earth seems awful to me; for all the benefits of wisdom are futile– like chasing the wind.
- Eccl 2:19-202 verses72%
19Who knows if he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master over all the fruit of my labor for which I worked so wisely on earth! This also is futile!
20So I began to despair about all the fruit of my labor for which I worked so hard on earth.
- 72%
11Yet when I reflected on everything I had accomplished and on all the effort that I had expended to accomplish it, I concluded:“All these achievements and possessions are ultimately profitless– like chasing the wind! There is nothing gained from them on earth.”
- 72%
9As a cloud is dispersed and then disappears, so the one who goes down to the grave does not come up again.
- 71%
8So, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all, but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many– all that is about to come is obscure.
- 71%
2It is better to go to a funeral than a feast. For death is the destiny of every person, and the living should take this to heart.
- 71%
15Whatever exists now has already been, and whatever will be has already been; for God will seek to do again what has occurred in the past.
- 71%
9What exists now is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing truly new on earth.
- 71%
12but, despite their wealth, people do not last, they are like animals that perish.
- 71%
5For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything; they have no further reward– and even the memory of them disappears.
- 71%
10Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, because there is neither work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave, the place where you will eventually go.
- 71%
2He grows up like a flower and then withers away; he flees like a shadow, and does not remain.
- 71%
23For all day long his work produces pain and frustration, and even at night his mind cannot relax! This also is futile!
- 71%
7Labor Motivated by Greed So I again considered another futile thing on earth: