Ecclesiastes 3:18 (DRB)

Passage

I said in my heart concerning the sons of men, that God would prove them, and shew them to be like beasts.

Nearby Context

Ecclesiastes 3:16 I saw under the sun in the place of judgment wickedness, and in the place of justice iniquity.

Ecclesiastes 3:17 And I said in my heart: God shall judge both the just and the wicked, and then shall be the time of every thing.

Ecclesiastes 3:18 I said in my heart concerning the sons of men, that God would prove them, and shew them to be like beasts.

Ecclesiastes 3:19 Therefore the death of man, and of beasts is one, and the condition of them both is equal: as man dieth, so they also die: all things breathe alike, and man hath nothing more than beast: all things are subject to vanity.

Ecclesiastes 3:20 And all things go to one place: of earth they were made, and into earth they return together.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "said", "heart", "concerning", "sons", "prove", "shew", "like", and "beasts". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "heart", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "And I said in my heart God..." into verse 19's "Therefore the death of man and of...", so "said" and "heart" belong inside that flow. In Ecclesiastes context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "said" and "heart" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.