קֹהֶלֶת 12

1 וזכר את בוראיך בימי בחורתיך עד אשר לא יבאו ימי הרעה והגיעו שנים אשר תאמר אין לי בהם חפץ

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.”

2 עד אשר לא תחשך השמש והאור והירח והכוכבים ושבו העבים אחר הגשם

[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.

3 ביום שיזעו שמרי הבית והתעותו אנשי החיל ובטלו הטחנות כי מעטו וחשכו הראות בארבות

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.

4 וסגרו דלתים בשוק בשפל קול הטחנה ויקום לקול הצפור וישחו כל בנות השיר

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.

5 גם מגבה יראו וחתחתים בדרך וינאץ השקד ויסתבל החגב ותפר האביונה כי הלך האדם אל בית עולמו וסבבו בשוק הסופדים

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.

6 עד אשר לא ירחק (ירתק) חבל הכסף ותרוץ גלת הזהב ותשבר כד על המבוע ונרץ הגלגל אל הבור

[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.

7 וישב העפר על הארץ כשהיה והרוח תשוב אל האלהים אשר נתנה

Then our corpses will [decay and] become dirt again, and our spirits will return to God, the one who gave us our spirits.

8 הבל הבלים אמר הקוהלת הכל הבל

[So] I say [again] that it is difficult to understand why everything happens; everything is mysterious.

9 ויתר שהיה קהלת חכם עוד למד דעת את העם ואזן וחקר תקן משלים הרבה

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.

10 בקש קהלת למצא דברי חפץ וכתוב ישר דברי אמת

I searched for the right words, and what I have written is reliable and true.

11 דברי חכמים כדרבנות וכמשמרות נטועים בעלי אספות נתנו מרעה אחד

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.

12 ויתר מהמה בני הזהר עשות ספרים הרבה אין קץ ולהג הרבה יגעת בשר

[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.

13 סוף דבר הכל נשמע את האלהים ירא ואת מצותיו שמור כי זה כל האדם

[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.

14 כי את כל מעשה האלהים יבא במשפט על כל נעלם אם טוב ואם רע

And do not forget that God will judge everything that we do, good things and bad things, [even] things that we do secretly.