Ecclesiastes 9:2
All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.
The one event is death, coming alike to the righteous and to the wicked, to the good and to the clean and to the unclean, to him that sacrifices and to him that does not. The leveling reaches every rank and calling and every status and way of life, rich and poor, powerful and laboring, so that all alike decay and are mingled in the dust and leave earthly possessions, honors, and distinctions behind. No one can stop or escape this common event that happens to all. Those who die enter an unconscious state with no work, knowledge, or wisdom, and this is true of both the godly and the ungodly. Forgiveness and cleansing from sin do not keep a person from dying, so resurrection is necessary to complete redemption and bring the forgiven to eternal salvation.
The verse also describes the present life as a mixed state where the same lot falls on all, with righteous and wicked, just and unjust, innocent and guilty, aged and little child sharing alike in the bounties of providence and falling together by pestilence and sweeping destruction, while virtue is often trampled in the dust and vice is exalted, triumphs, and is honored. In itself nature makes no discrimination between good and evil in these events, so confined to the present state and to observation and mere reason without written revelation, this equal treatment cannot vindicate the justice and benevolence of the controlling power. It troubles philosophers and makes short-sighted philanthropists faint in heart, and observation alone cannot establish that the governing power acts justly.
The good and the bad are leveled alike by the mortal stroke as if given over to the reckless play of aimless chance with no blessed hand put forth to stop it, and yet even with that leveling all is well. Although people cannot escape death, they can continue to grow and flourish throughout life until its end.