⁵ Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they go on living for ever?

¹⁰ But man comes to his death and is gone: he gives up his spirit, and where is he?

¹¹ The waters go from a pool, and a river becomes waste and dry;

¹² So man goes down to his last resting-place and comes not again: till the heavens come to an end, they will not be awake or come out of their sleep.

²⁷ And because by God's law death comes to men once, and after that they are judged;

²³ And it is true that there have been a great number of those priests, because death does not let them go on for ever;

²⁴ But this priest, because his life goes on for ever, is unchanging.

³⁶ Now David, having done God's work for his generation, went to sleep, and was put with his fathers, and his body came to destruction:

⁵² The Jews said to him, Now we are certain that you have an evil spirit. Abraham is dead, and the prophets are dead; and you say, If a man keeps my word he will never see death.

⁷ And the dust goes back to the earth as it was, and the spirit goes back to God who gave it.

⁵ And he is in fear of that which is high, and danger is in the road, and the tree is white with flower, and the least thing is a weight, and desire is at an end, because man goes to his last resting-place, and those who are sorrowing are in the streets;

¹ All this I took to heart, and my heart saw it all: that the upright and the wise and their works are in the hand of God; and men may not be certain if it will be love or hate; all is to no purpose before them.

² Because to all there is one event, to the upright man and to the evil, to the clean and to the unclean, to him who makes an offering and to him who makes no offering; as is the good so is the sinner; he who takes an oath is as he who has fear of it.

³ This is evil in all things which are done under the sun: that there is one fate for all, and the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; while they have life their hearts are foolish, and after that--to the dead.

⁴ One generation goes and another comes; but the earth is for ever.

¹⁰ The measure of our life is seventy years; and if through strength it may be eighty years, its pride is only trouble and sorrow, for it comes to an end and we are quickly gone.

² So that you may keep in mind the words of the holy prophets in the past, and the law of the Lord and Saviour which was given to you by his Apostles.

³ Having first of all the knowledge that in the last days there will be men who, ruled by their evil desires, will make sport of holy things,

⁴ Saying, Where is the hope of his coming? From the death of the fathers till now everything has gone on as it was from the making of the world.