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The Blue Letter Bible

Ecclesiastes 12 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

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Remember Your Creator in Your Youth

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:1

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:1 - Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:2

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:2 - before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain,

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:3

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:3 - 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 those who look through the windows are dimmed,

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:4

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:4 - and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low—

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:5

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:5 - they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along,[fn] and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets—

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:6

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:6 - before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern,

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:7

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:7 - and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:8

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:8 - Vanity[fn] of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

Fear God and Keep His Commandments

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:9

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:9 - Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:10

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:10 - The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:11

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:11 - The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:12

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:12 - My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:13

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:13 - The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:14

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:14 - For God will bring every deed into judgment, with[fn] every secret thing, whether good or evil.
See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
ESV Footnotes
Or is a burden
The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (three times in this verse); see note on 1:2
Or the duty of all mankind
Or into the judgment on
ESV

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

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Ecclesiastes Chapter 12 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation New International Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras