1Remember also your Creator inthe days of your youth, beforethe evil days come and the years draw near of whichyou will say, I have no pleasure in them;2beforethe sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain,3in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, andthose who look through the windows are dimmed,4andthe doors on the street are shutwhenthe sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and allthe daughters of song are brought low5they are afraid also of what is high, andterrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along,and desire fails, because man is going to hiseternalhome, and themourners go about the streets6before the silver cord is snapped, orthe golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher isshattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern,7andthe dust returns to the earth as it was, andthe spirit returns to Godwho gave it.8Vanityof vanities, saysthe Preacher; all is vanity.

9Besides being wise,the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arrangingmany proverbs with great care.10The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.

11The words of the wise are like goads, and likenails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they aregiven byone Shepherd.12My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of makingmany books there is no end, andmuch study is a weariness of the flesh.

13The end of the matter; all has been heard.Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.14ForGod will bring every deed into judgment, withevery secret thing, whether good or evil.