Ecclesiastes Chapter 12

¹ Remember your Creator when you’re young,

      before the difficult days come,

      before the years close in and you say,

            “I don’t enjoy them anymore”;

         ²before the sun, moon, and stars grow faint

            and clouds remain after rain;

         ³when the watchmen [arms and hands?] of the house [body] are palsied

            and strong men [shoulders?] hunch over;

      when grinders [teeth?] stand idle because they’re few

            and those looking out of windows [eyes?] can’t see much;

      ⁴ when the doors to the street [lips?] are shut

            and the sound of grinding [chewing?] is muffled,

      when you arise at the time of a bird’s chirping

            and young women sing faintly;                                 

Eccl 12:1-4

      ⁵ when you’re afraid of falling*

            and scared to walk around;

      when your hair turns white like almond-tree blossoms

            and the grasshopper drags itself along;

      when your appetite’s gone*

            and you go to your eternal home

            while wailers walk the streets;

         ⁶before the silver cord snaps,

            the golden bowl breaks,

            the pitcher by the well shatters, 

            the pulley at the cistern doesn’t work anymore;

         ⁷when the dust returns to the earth where it was

            and the spirit returns to the God who gave it.

         ⁸“Completely pointless,” the Preacher says; “it’s all pointless.”

Eccl 12:5-8

⁹ Besides being a wise man, the Preacher taught the people. He weighed, studied, and classified lots of proverbs. ¹⁰ He endeavored to write true things and searched for expressive words.

¹¹ The words of the wise are like goads. Collections of them are like nails tightly driven; they come from one Shepherd. ¹² My child, beware of anything more: there’s no end to writing books, and too much study wears you out.

¹³ You’ve heard every view. Here’s the conclusion: respect God and do his will; that’s your role. ¹⁴ God will judge every act, everything secret, good or bad.                                                                                                           

Eccl 12:9-13

Version by Virgil Warren: christir.org