Ecclesiastes 12
Remember Your Creator in Your Youth
Remember also your Creator in athe days of your youth, before bthe evil days come and the years draw near of which cyou will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; 2 before athe sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, 3 in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and athose who look through the windows are dimmed, 4 and athe doors on the street are shut—when bthe sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all cthe daughters of song are brought low— 5 they are afraid also of what is high, and aterrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his beternal chome, and the dmourners go about the streets— 6 before the silver cord is snapped, or athe golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is bshattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7 and athe dust returns to the earth as it was, and bthe spirit returns to God cwho gave it. 8 aVanity of vanities, says bthe Preacher; all is vanity.
Fear God and Keep His Commandments
9 Besides being wise, athe Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging bmany proverbs with great care. 10 aThe Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.
11 aThe words of the wise are like goads, and like bnails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are cgiven by done Shepherd. 12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making amany books there is no end, and bmuch study is a weariness of the flesh.
13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. aFear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For aGod will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.