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.”
Acuérdate de tu Creador en los días de tu juventud, Antes que lleguen los malos días, Y se acerquen los años cuando digas: No tengo en ellos contentamiento.
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.
Antes que se oscurezcan el sol y la luz, Y la luna y las estrellas, Y las nubes vuelvan tras la lluvia.
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.
El día cuando tiemblen los guardianes de la casa, Se encorven los hombres fuertes, Cesen las que muelen porque disminuyeron, Y se enturbien los que miran por las celosías.
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.
Cuando se cierren las puertas de afuera Por ser débil el sonido del molino, Uno se levante con la voz del ave, Y todas las hijas del canto sean abatidas,
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.
Cuando se tema también a lo que es alto Y a los terrores del camino, Florezca el almendro, Se arrastre la langosta, Y se pierda el apetito. Porque el hombre va hacia su morada eterna, Y los que endechan rondan por las calles.
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.
Antes que se rompa el cordón de plata Se destroce el tazón de oro, Se quiebre el cántaro junto a la fuente, La rueda se rompa sobre el pozo,
7 Then our corpses will [decay and] become dirt again, and our spirits will return to God, the one who gave us our spirits.
El polvo vuelva a la tierra de donde procede, Y el espíritu regrese a ʼElohim, Quien lo dio.
8 [So] I say [again] that it is difficult to understand why everything happens; everything is mysterious.
Vanidad de vanidades, Dice el Predicador. ¡Todo es vanidad!
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.
Cuanto más sabio fue el Predicador, tanto más impartió su conocimiento al pueblo. Reflexionó y escudriñó. Compuso muchos proverbios.
10 I searched for the right words, and what I have written is reliable and true.
Procuró el Predicador hallar palabras agradables, palabras de verdad escritas correctamente.
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.
Las palabras de los sabios son como aguijones, como estacas firmemente clavadas por un pastor para guiar rebaños.
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.
Además de esto, hijo mío, sé advertido: El escribir muchos rollos no tiene fin, y la devoción excesiva a los rollos es fatiga para el cuerpo.
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.
La conclusión de todo el discurso oído es: Teme a ʼElohim y guarda sus Mandamientos, Porque esto es el todo del hombre.
14 And do not forget that God will judge everything that we do, good things and bad things, [even] things that we do secretly.
Porque ʼElohim llevará toda obra a juicio, Junto con toda cosa oculta, Sea buena o sea mala.
