Ecclesiastes 3:21

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

Who really knows if the human spirit ascends upward, and the animal’s spirit descends into the earth?

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • 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.
  • Luke 16:22-23 : 22 “Now the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And in Hades, as he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side.
  • John 14:3 : 3 And if I go and make ready a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that where I am you may be too.
  • Acts 1:25 : 25 to assume the task of this service and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”
  • 2 Cor 5:1 : 1 Living by Faith, Not by Sight For we know that if our earthly house, the tent we live in, is dismantled, we have a building from God, a house not built by human hands, that is eternal in the heavens.
  • 2 Cor 5:8 : 8 Thus we are full of courage and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
  • Phil 1:23 : 23 I feel torn between the two, because I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far,

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Eccl 3:18-20
    3 verses
    82%

    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.

    20Both go to the same place, both come from the dust, and to dust both return.

  • Eccl 3:22
    80%

    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 6:10-12
    3 verses
    79%

    10The Futile Way Life Works Whatever has happened was foreordained, and what happens to a person was also foreknown. It is useless for him to argue with God about his fate because God is more powerful than he is.

    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.

  • Eccl 12:7-8
    2 verses
    77%

    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 2:19-22
    4 verses
    74%

    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.

    21For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; however, he must hand over the fruit of his labor as an inheritance to someone else who did not work for it. This also is futile, and an awful injustice!

    22Painful Days and Restless Nights What does a man acquire from all his labor and from the anxiety that accompanies his toil on earth?

  • Eccl 3:10-12
    3 verses
    74%

    10I have observed the burden that God has given to people to keep them occupied.

    11God has made everything fit beautifully in its appropriate time, but he has also placed ignorance in the human heart so that people cannot discover what God has ordained, from the beginning to the end of their lives.

    12Enjoy Life in the Present I have concluded that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to enjoy themselves as long as they live,

  • Eccl 8:7
    73%

    7Surely no one knows the future, and no one can tell another person what will happen.

  • Eccl 1:3
    73%

    3Futility Illustrated from Nature What benefit do people get from all the effort which they expend on earth?

  • Job 34:14-15
    2 verses
    73%

    14If God were to set his heart on it, and gather in his spirit and his breath,

    15all flesh would perish together and human beings would return to dust.

  • Eccl 8:17
    73%

    17then I discerned all that God has done: No one really comprehends what happens on earth. Despite all human efforts to discover it, no one can ever grasp it. Even if a wise person claimed that he understood, he would not really comprehend it.

  • Job 14:10
    73%

    10But man dies and is powerless; he expires– and where is he?

  • Eccl 9:3
    73%

    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.

  • 1 Cor 2:11
    72%

    11For who among men knows the things of a man except the man’s spirit within him? So too, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.

  • Job 20:4
    71%

    4“Surely you know that it has been from old, ever since humankind was placed on the earth,

  • Eccl 3:14
    71%

    14God’s Sovereignty I also know that whatever God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken away from it. God has made it this way, so that men will fear him.

  • Job 32:8
    71%

    8But it is a spirit in people, the breath of the Almighty, that makes them understand.

  • Eccl 5:16
    71%

    16This is another misfortune: Just as he came, so will he go. What did he gain from toiling for the wind?

  • Eccl 11:5
    71%

    5Just as you do not know the path of the wind, or how the bones form in the womb of a pregnant woman, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

  • Eccl 6:6
    70%

    6if he should live a thousand years twice, yet does not enjoy his prosperity. For both of them die!

  • Eccl 1:5
    70%

    5The sun rises and the sun sets; it hurries away to a place from which it rises again.

  • Eccl 9:1
    70%

    1Everyone Will Die So I reflected on all this, attempting to clear it all up. I concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their works, are in the hand of God; whether a person will be loved or hated– no one knows what lies ahead.

  • Job 7:17
    70%

    17Insignificance of Humans“What is mankind that you make so much of them, and that you pay attention to them?

  • Eccl 9:10
    70%

    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.

  • Eccl 2:24-26
    3 verses
    70%

    24Enjoy Work and its Benefits There is nothing better for people than to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment in their work. I also perceived that this ability to find enjoyment comes from God.

    25For no one can eat and drink or experience joy apart from him.

    26For to the one who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy, but to the sinner, he gives the task of amassing wealth– only to give it to the one who pleases God. This task of the wicked is futile– like chasing the wind!

  • Eccl 4:16
    70%

    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.

  • Eccl 2:11
    70%

    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.”

  • Ps 144:3
    70%

    3O LORD, of what importance is the human race, that you should notice them? Of what importance is mankind, that you should be concerned about them?

  • Isa 2:22
    70%

    22Stop trusting in human beings, whose life’s breath is in their nostrils. For why should they be given special consideration?

  • Ps 49:12
    69%

    12but, despite their wealth, people do not last, they are like animals that perish.

  • Job 28:13
    69%

    13Mankind does not know its place; it cannot be found in the land of the living.

  • Eccl 4:3
    69%

    3But better than both is the one who has not been born and has not seen the evil things that are done on earth.

  • Prov 20:24
    69%

    24The steps of a person are ordained by the LORD– so how can anyone understand his own way?

  • Prov 20:27
    69%

    27The human spirit is like the lamp of the LORD, searching all his innermost parts.

  • Job 35:11
    69%

    11who teaches us more than the wild animals of the earth, and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?’

  • Eccl 8:14
    69%

    14Here is another enigma that occurs on earth: Sometimes there are righteous people who get what the wicked deserve, and sometimes there are wicked people who get what the righteous deserve. I said,“This also is an enigma.”

  • Eccl 6:8
    69%

    8So what advantage does a wise man have over a fool? And what advantage does a pauper gain by knowing how to survive?

  • Eccl 1:13
    69%

    13I decided to carefully and thoroughly examine all that has been accomplished on earth. I concluded: God has given people a burdensome task that keeps them occupied.