2 before the sun and the light grow dark, the moon and the stars too,before the clouds return after the rain;
3 on the day when the housekeepers tremble and the strong men stoop;when the women who grind stop working because they’re so few,and those who look through the windows grow dim;
4 when the doors to the street are shut,when the sound of the mill fades,the sound of the bird rises,and all the singers come down low;
5 when people are afraid of things aboveand of terrors along the way;when the almond tree blanches, the locust droops,and the caper-berry comes to nothing;when the human goes to the eternal abode,with mourners all around in the street;
6 before the silver cord snaps and the gold bowl shatters;the jar is broken at the spring and the wheel is crushed at the pit;
7 before dust returns to the earth as it was beforeand the life-breath returns to God who gave it.
8 Perfectly pointless, says the Teacher, everything is pointless.