Ecc 3:18-21, 9:12 | ESV | STEP | I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts .

Ecclesiastes 3:18-21

18 I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but ^abeasts. 19 ^bFor what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. ^{▼▼The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2)} 20 All go to one place. All are from ^dthe dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows whether ^ethe spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth?

Ecclesiastes 9:12

12 For man ^fdoes not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and ^glike birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are ^hsnared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them.