Ecclesiastes

12 Yet remember thy Creator, in the days of thy vigour,—Or ever come in the days of discomfort, And the years arrive in which thou shalt say—I have in them no pleasure;

2 Or ever be darkened—The sun and the light, and the moon and the stars,—And the clouds return after a downpour of rain;

3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, And the men of might bow themselves,—And the grinders cease because they are few, And they who look through the windows are darkened;

4 And the doors in the street be closed, When the sound of the mill become low,—And one rise at the chirp of a small bird, And low-voiced be all the daughters of song;

5 Yea at what is high they be in fear And there be terrors in the way, And the almond be rejected And the grasshopper drag itself along, And desire perish,—For man is going to his age-abiding home, When the wailers shall go round in the streets;

6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, Or the golden bowl be broken,—Or the bucket by the fountain be shivered, Or the wheel at the well be broken;

7 And the dust return to the earth as it was,—And the spirit return unto God who gave it.

8 Vanity of vanities, saith the Proclaimer, all is vanity.

9 Besides that the Proclaimer being wise,—still further taught knowledge unto the people, and weighed and searched, arranged proverbs in abundance.

10 The Proclaimer sought to find out words giving delight, And to note down rightly the words of truth.

11 The words of the wise are as goads, Yea as driven nails their well-ordered sayings,—Given from one shepherd.

12 And besides from them my son, be admonished,—Of making many books there is no end, And much study is a weariness of the flesh.

13 The conclusion of the matter—the whole let us hear,—Towards God be reverent And his commandments observe, For this [concerneth] all mankind.

14 For every work will God bring into judgment With every hidden thing,—Whether good or evil.