Ecclesiastes 12
1 Haue thou mynde on thi creatour in the daies of thi yongthe, bifore that the tyme of thi turment come, and the yeris of thi deth neiye, of whiche thou schalt seie, Tho plesen not me.
Remember then thy Creator in the days of thy youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say: 'I have no pleasure in them';
2 `Haue thou mynde on thi creatour, bifor that the sunne be derk, and the liyt, and sterrys, and the mone; and cloude turne ayen after reyn.
Before the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars, are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain;
3 Whanne the keperis of the hous schulen be mouyd, and strongeste men schulen tremble; and grynderis schulen be idel, whanne the noumbre schal be maad lesse, and seeris bi the hoolis schulen wexe derk;
In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out shall be darkened in the windows,
4 and schulen close the doris in the street, in the lownesse of vois of a gryndere; and thei schulen rise at the vois of a brid, and alle the douytris of song schulen wexe deef.
And the doors shall be shut in the street, when the sound of the grinding is low; and one shall start up at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low;
5 And hiy thingis schulen drede, and schulen be aferd in the weie; an alemaunde tre schal floure, a locuste schal be maad fat, and capparis schal be distried; for a man schal go in to the hous of his euerlastyngnesse, and weileris schulen go aboute in the street.
Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and terrors shall be in the way; and the almond-tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall drag itself along, and the caperberry shall fail; because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets;
6 Haue thou mynde on thi creatour, byfore that a siluerne roop be brokun, and a goldun lace renne ayen, and a watir pot be al to-brokun on the welle, and a wheele be brokun togidere on the cisterne;
Before the silver cord is snapped asunder, and the golden bowl is shattered, and the pitcher is broken at the fountain, and the wheel falleth shattered, into the pit;
7 and dust turne ayen in to his erthe, wherof it was, and the spirit turne ayen to God, that yaf it.
And the dust returneth to the earth as it was, and the spirit returneth unto God who gave it.
8 The vanyte of vanytees, seide Ecclesiastes, the vanyte of vanytees, and alle thingis ben vanyte.
Vanity of vanities, saith Koheleth; all is vanity.
9 And whanne Ecclesiastes was moost wijs, he tauyte the puple, and he telde out the thingis whiche he dide,
And besides that Koheleth was wise, he also taught the people knowledge; yea, he pondered, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.
10 and he souyte out wisdom, and made many parablis; he souyte profitable wordis, and he wroot moost riytful wordis, and ful of treuthe.
Koheleth sought to find out words of delight, and that which was written uprightly, even words of truth.
11 The wordis of wise men ben as prickis, and as nailis fastned deepe, whiche ben youun of o scheepherde bi the counsels of maistris.
The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails well fastened are those that are composed in collections; they are given from one shepherd.
12 My sone, seke thou no more than these; noon ende is to make many bookis, and ofte thenkyng is turment of fleisch.
And furthermore, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
13 Alle we here togydere the ende of spekyng. Drede thou God, and kepe hise heestis; `that is to seie, ech man.
The end of the matter, all having been heard: fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole man.
14 God schal brynge alle thingis in to dom, that ben don; for ech thing don bi errour, whether it be good, ether yuel.
For God shall bring every work into the judgment concerning every hidden thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.
