CHAPTER 12
1And recall your Creator in the days of your prime, until the days of evil come, and the years arrive, when you will say, “I have no delight in them.” 2Until the sun goes dark, and the light and the moon and the stars, and the clouds come back after the rain.
3On the day that the guards of the house will quake
and the stalwart men be twisted,
and the maids who grind grow idle, for they are now few,
and those who look from the casements go dark.
4And the double doors close in the market
as the sound of the mill sinks down,
and the sound of the bird arises,
and all the songstresses are bowed.
5Of the very height they are afraid,
and terror is in the road.
and the locust tree is laden,
and the caper fruit falls apart.
For man is going to his everlasting house,
and the mourners turn round in the market.
6Until the silver cord is snapped,
and the golden bowl is smashed,
and the pitcher is broken against the well,
and the jug smashed at the pit.
7And dust returns to the earth as it was,
and the life-breath returns to God Who gave it.
8Merest breath, said Qohelet. All is mere breath.
9And more than being wise, Qohelet further taught knowledge to the people and weighed and searched out and framed many maxims. 10Qohelet sought to find apt words and wrote honestly words of truth. 11The words of the wise are like goads and like nails driven in—from the composers of collections, given from a certain shepherd. 12And more than these, my son, beware: of making many books there is no end, and much chatter is a weariness of the flesh. 13The last word, all being heard: fear God and keep His commands, for that is all humankind. 14Since every deed will God bring to judgment, for every hidden act, be it good or evil.