Ecclesiastes 12
1 While you are still young, keep thinking about [God], who created you. Do that before [you are old] and you experience many troubles, during the years when you say “I no [longer] enjoy being alive.”
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of adversity come and the years approach of which you will say, “I find no pleasure in them,”
2 [When you become old], the light from the sun and moon and stars will [seem] dim [to you], and [it will seem that the rain] clouds [always] return [quickly] after it rains.
before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is darkened, and the clouds return after the rain,
3 Then your [arms that you use to protect] [MET] your bodies will shake/tremble, and your [legs that support] [MET] your bodies will become weak. Many of your [teeth that you use to] grind/chew [your food] will fall out, and your [eyes that you use to] look out of windows will not see clearly.
on the day the keepers of the house tremble and the strong men stoop, when those grinding cease because they are few and those watching through windows see dimly,
4 Your [ears] [MET] will not hear the noise in the streets, and you will not be able to hear clearly the sound of people grinding grain with millstones. You will be awakened in the morning by hearing the birds singing/chirping, [but] you will not be able to hear well the songs that (the birds/people) sing.
when the doors to the street are shut and the sound of the mill fades away, when one rises at the sound of a bird and all the daughters of song grow faint,
5 You will be afraid to be in high places and afraid of dangers on the roads that you walk on. [Your hair] will become [white like] [MET] the flowers of almond trees. [When you try to walk], you will drag yourself along like [MET] grasshoppers, and you will no longer desire [to have sex]. Then you will [die and] go to your eternal home, and people who will mourn for you will be in the streets.
when men fear the heights and dangers of the road, when the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper loses its spring, and the caper berry shrivels— for then man goes to his eternal home and mourners walk the streets.
6 [Think much about God now, because] soon our lives will end, [like] [MET] silver chains or golden bowls that break easily, or like pitchers/jugs that are broken at the water fountain, or like broken pulleys at a well.
Remember Him before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is crushed, before the pitcher is shattered at the spring and the wheel is broken at the well,
7 Then our corpses will [decay and] become dirt again, and our spirits will return to God, the one who gave us our spirits.
before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
8 [So] I say [again] that it is difficult to understand why everything happens; everything is mysterious.
“Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher. “Everything is futile!”
9 I was considered to be a very wise man, and I taught the people many things. I assembled/collected and wrote down many proverbs, and I carefully thought about and studied them.
Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also taught the people knowledge; he pondered, searched out, and arranged many proverbs.
10 I searched for the right words, and what I have written is reliable and true.
The Teacher searched to find delightful sayings and to record accurate words of truth.
11 The things that [I and other] wise people say [teach people what they should do]; they are like [SIM] (goads/sharp sticks that people use to strike animals to direct where they should go). They are like [SIM] nails that stick out of pieces of wood. They are given to us by [God, who is like] [MET] our shepherd.
The words of the wise are like goads, and the anthologies of the masters are like firmly embedded nails driven by a single Shepherd.
12 [So], my son, pay careful attention to what I have written, and choose carefully what you read that others have written, [because] writing proverbs/books is endless, and [trying to] study them all will cause you to become exhausted.
And by these, my son, be further warned: There is no end to the making of many books, and much study wearies the body.
13 [Now] you have heard all [that I have told you], and here is the conclusion: Revere God, and obey his commandments, because those commandments summarize everything that people should do.
When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man.
14 And do not forget that God will judge everything that we do, good things and bad things, [even] things that we do secretly.
For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
