Ecclesiastes 12 :: New International Version (NIV)

Ecc 12:1

Ecc 12:1Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”—

Ecc 12:2

Ecc 12:2before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain;

Ecc 12:3

Ecc 12:3when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few, and those looking through the windows grow dim;

Ecc 12:4

Ecc 12:4when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when people rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint;

Ecc 12:5

Ecc 12:5when people are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags itself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then people go to their eternal home and mourners go about the streets.

Ecc 12:6

Ecc 12:6Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, and the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the wheel broken at the well,

Ecc 12:7

Ecc 12:7and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

Ecc 12:8

Ecc 12:8“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.[fn] “Everything is meaningless!”

The Conclusion of the Matter

Ecc 12:9

Ecc 12:9Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs.

Ecc 12:10

Ecc 12:10The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.

Ecc 12:11

Ecc 12:11The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one shepherd.[fn]

Ecc 12:12

Ecc 12:12Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.

Ecc 12:13

Ecc 12:13Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.

Ecc 12:14

Ecc 12:14For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

See the NIV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NIV Footnotes

(12:8)

Or the leader of the assembly; also in verses 9 and 10

(12:11)

Or Shepherd

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