Ecclesiastes 12

1 Memento Creatoris tui in diebus juventutis tuæ, antequam veniat tempus afflictionis, et appropinquent anni de quibus dicas: Non mihi placent;

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 antequam tenebrescat sol, et lumen, et luna, et stellæ, et revertantur nubes post pluviam;

[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 quando commovebuntur custodes domus, et nutabunt viri fortissimi, et otiosæ erunt molentes in minuto numero, et tenebrescent videntes per foramina;

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 et claudent ostia in platea, in humilitate vocis molentis, et consurgent ad vocem volucris, et obsurdescent omnes filiæ carminis:

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 excelsa quoque timebunt, et formidabunt in via. Florebit amygdalus, impinguabitur locusta, et dissipabitur capparis, quoniam ibit homo in domum æternitatis suæ, et circuibunt in platea plangentes.

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 Antequam rumpatur funiculus argenteus, et recurrat vitta aurea, et conteratur hydria super fontem, et confringatur rota super cisternam,

[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 et revertatur pulvis in terram suam unde erat, et spiritus redeat ad Deum, qui dedit illum.

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

8 Vanitas vanitatum, dixit Ecclesiastes, et omnia vanitas.

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

9 Cumque esset sapientissimus Ecclesiastes, docuit populum, et enarravit quæ fecerat; et investigans composuit parabolas multas.

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 Quæsivit verba utilia, et conscripsit sermones rectissimos ac veritate plenos.

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

11 Verba sapientium sicut stimuli, et quasi clavi in altum defixi, quæ per magistrorum consilium data sunt a pastore uno.

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 His amplius, fili mi, ne requiras. Faciendi plures libros nullus est finis; frequensque meditatio, carnis afflictio est.

[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 Finem loquendi pariter omnes audiamus. Deum time, et mandata ejus observa: hoc est enim omnis homo,

[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 et cuncta quæ fiunt adducet Deus in judicium pro omni errato, sive bonum, sive malum illud sit.

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