Ecclesiastes 12

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years draw near when you say, “I have no pleasure in them”; before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain; in the day when the keepers of the house tremble and the strong men bend, when the women who grind cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows grow dim; when the doors to the street are shut as the sound of grinding fades, when one rises at the sound of a bird and all the daughters of song are brought low; when they fear heights and terrors are in the road, when the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper is weighed down, and the caper berry fails.
For man goes to his eternal home, and mourners go about the streets. Before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is broken, before the pitcher is shattered at the spring and the wheel is broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “all is vanity.” Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge. He weighed, searched out, and arranged many proverbs. The Preacher sought to find pleasing words and to write upright words of truth. The words of the wise are like goads, and the sayings of the masters of collections like firmly driven nails; they are given by one shepherd. Beyond these, my son, be warned: Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the flesh. The conclusion of the matter, all having been heard: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this concerns all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.

Rights and attribution