Ecclesiastes

¹Remember 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’ – ²before the sun and the lightand the moon and the stars grow dark,and the clouds return after the rain; ³when 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; ⁴when 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; ⁵when 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. ⁶Remember 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, ⁷and 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!’

The conclusion of the matter

⁹Not only was the Teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. ¹⁰The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true. ¹¹The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails – given by one shepherd. ¹²Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body. ¹³Now 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. ¹⁴For 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