Verse 12

For 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.

Referenced Verses

  • Job 14:2 : 2 He grows up like a flower and then withers away; he flees like a shadow, and does not remain.
  • Eccl 3:22 : 22 So 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?
  • Lam 3:24-27 : 24 “My portion is the LORD,” I have said to myself, so I will put my hope in him. 25 ט(Tet) The LORD is good to those who trust in him, to the one who seeks him. 26 It is good to wait patiently for deliverance from the LORD. 27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.
  • Jas 4:14 : 14 You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes.
  • Eccl 8:7 : 7 Surely no one knows the future, and no one can tell another person what will happen.
  • Eccl 8:13 : 13 But it will not go well with the wicked, nor will they prolong their days like a shadow, because they do not stand in fear before God.
  • Ps 144:4 : 4 People are like a vapor, their days like a shadow that disappears.
  • Ps 39:5-6 : 5 Look, you make my days short-lived, and my life span is nothing from your perspective. Surely all people, even those who seem secure, are nothing but vapor.(Selah) 6 Surely people go through life as mere ghosts. Surely they accumulate worthless wealth without knowing who will eventually haul it away.”
  • Ps 47:4 : 4 He picked out for us a special land to be a source of pride for Jacob, whom he loves.(Selah)
  • Ps 89:47 : 47 Take note of my brief lifespan! Why do you make all people so mortal?
  • Ps 90:10-12 : 10 The days of our lives add up to seventy years, or eighty, if one is especially strong. But even one’s best years are marred by trouble and oppression. Yes, they pass quickly and we fly away. 11 Who can really fathom the intensity of your anger? Your raging fury causes people to fear you. 12 So teach us to consider our mortality, so that we might live wisely.
  • Ps 102:11 : 11 My days are coming to an end, and I am withered like grass.
  • Ps 109:23 : 23 I am fading away like a shadow at the end of the day; I am shaken off like a locust.
  • Job 14:21 : 21 If his sons are honored, he does not know it; if they are brought low, he does not see it.
  • Ps 4:6 : 6 Many say,“Who can show us anything good?” Smile upon us, LORD!
  • Ps 16:5 : 5 LORD, you give me stability and prosperity; you make my future secure.
  • Ps 17:15 : 15 As for me, because I am innocent I will see your face; when I awake you will reveal yourself to me.
  • Eccl 2:3 : 3 I thought deeply about the effects of indulging myself with wine(all the while my mind was guiding me with wisdom) and the effects of behaving foolishly, so that I might discover what is profitable for people to do on earth during the few days of their lives.
  • 1 Chr 29:15 : 15 For we are resident foreigners and temporary settlers in your presence, like all our ancestors; our days are like a shadow on the earth, without security.
  • Job 8:9 : 9 For we were born yesterday and do not have knowledge, since our days on earth are but a shadow.
  • Eccl 9:6 : 6 What they loved, as well as what they hated and envied, perished long ago, and they no longer have a part in anything that happens on earth.
  • Eccl 12:13 : 13 Having heard everything, I have reached this conclusion: Fear God and keep his commandments, because this is the whole duty of man.
  • Mic 6:8 : 8 He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the LORD really wants from you: He wants you to carry out justice, to love faithfulness, and to live obediently before your God.