1 Remember your Creatorin the days of your youth,before the days of trouble comeand the years approach when you will say,‘I find no pleasure in them’ –
2 before the sun and the lightand the moon and the stars grow dark,and the clouds return after the rain;
3 when the keepers of the house tremble,and the strong men stoop,when the grinders cease because they are few,and those looking through the windows grow dim;
4 when the doors to the street are closedand the sound of grinding fades;when people rise up at the sound of birds,but all their songs grow faint;
5 when people are afraid of heightsand of dangers in the streets;when the almond tree blossomsand the grasshopper drags itself alongand desire no longer is stirred.Then people go to their eternal homeand mourners go about the streets.
6 Remember him – before the silver cord is severed,and the golden bowl is broken;before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,and the wheel broken at the well,
7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from,and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
8 ‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher.‘Everything is meaningless!’
9 Not only was the Teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs.
10 The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.
11 The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails – given by one shepherd.
12 Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.
13 Now all has been heard;here is the conclusion of the matter:fear God and keep his commandments,for this is the duty of all mankind.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,including every hidden thing,whether it is good or evil.Footnotes for the Book of Ecclesiastesa 8 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.a In Hebrew texts 5:1 is numbered 4:17, and 5:2-20 is numbered 5:1-19.a 8 Or over the human spirit to retain it, / and sob 9 Or to theirc 10 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint (Aquila); most Hebrew manuscripts and are forgottena 16 Or king is a childa 8 Or the leader of the assembly; also in verses 9 and 10b 11 Or Shepherd