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The Blue Letter Bible

Ecclesiastes 12 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

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CHAPTER 12
Seek God in Early Life
​
1 Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth,
​​Before the difficult days come,
​​And the years draw near when you say,
​​“I have no pleasure in them”:
2 ​​While the sun and the light,
​​The moon and the stars,
​​Are not darkened,
​​And the clouds do not return after the rain;
3 ​​In the day when the keepers of the house tremble,
​​And the strong men bow down;
​​When the grinders cease because they are few,
​​And those that look through the windows grow dim;
4 ​​When the doors are shut in the streets,
​​And the sound of grinding is low;
​​When one rises up at the sound of a bird,
​​And all the daughters of music are brought low.
5 ​​Also they are afraid of height,
​​And of terrors in the way;
​​When the almond tree blossoms,
​​The grasshopper is a burden,
​​And desire fails.
​​For man goes to his eternal home,
​​And the mourners go about the streets.
​
6 ​​Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed,[fn]
​​Or the golden bowl is broken,
​​Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain,
​​Or the wheel broken at the well.
7 ​​Then the dust will return to the earth as it was,
​​And the spirit will return to God who gave it.
​
8 ​​“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher,
​​“All is vanity.”
The Whole Duty of Man
​
9 And moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yes, he pondered and sought out and set in order many proverbs. 10 The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what was written was upright—words of truth. 11 The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars[fn] are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd. 12 And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh.
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
​
​​Fear God and keep His commandments,
​​For this is man’s all.
14 ​​For God will bring every work into judgment,
​​Including every secret thing,
​​Whether good or evil.
See the NKJV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NKJV Footnotes
Following Qere and Targum; Kethib reads removed; Septuagint and Vulgate read broken.
Literally masters of the assemblies
NKJV

New King James Version, © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

The text of the New King James Version (NKJV) appearing on or deriving from this or any other web page is for personal use only. Any other use of the NKJV must be in conformity with the Quotation Policy for the New King James Version. For more information about the New King James Version, the Quotation Policy, and for inquiries about permission to use the New King James Version, go to Thomas Nelson, Inc..

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

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Ecclesiastes Chapter 12 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New Living Translation New International Version English Standard 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