1 Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years arrive of which you will say, "I have no pleasure in them";
2 before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened, and the clouds come back after the rain;
3 in the day when the guards of the house shake, and the strong men stoop, and the grinding women cease because they are few, and those who gaze through the windows grow dim;
4 when the doors on the street are closed and the sound of the mill fades, when one rises at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song sink low;
5 when they fear heights and dangers on the road; when the almond tree blossoms, and the grasshopper drags itself along, and the caper berry fails; for man is going to his everlasting home, and the mourners go about the streets;
6 before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is broken, before the jar is shattered at the spring and the wheel is broken at the cistern,
7 and the dust goes back to the earth as it was, and the spirit goes back to God who gave it.
8 "Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher; "everything is vanity."
9 Besides being wise, the Preacher went on teaching the people knowledge; he pondered, explored and arranged many proverbs.
10 The Preacher sought to find words that delight, and to write honestly words of truth.
11 The sayings of the wise are like goads, and like firmly fixed nails are the collected sayings; they are given by one shepherd.
12 Beyond these, my son, take warning: there is no end to the making of many books, and much study wearies the body.
13 The conclusion of the matter, now that all has been heard: fear God and keep his commands, for this is the whole of man.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.