1Remember your Creator when you are young, before the difficult days come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them.”
2Remember Him before the sun, the light, the moon, and the stars grow dim, and before the clouds return after the rain.
3This is when the protectors of the house will tremble, and the strong men will stoop. The women grinding grain will stop because there are so few of them, and those who look out of the windows will see dimly.
4The doors to the street will be shut; the sound of grinding will be faint. People will wake up at the sound of a bird, and all the voices of music will fade.
5Yes, they will be afraid of heights, and dangers will be on the road. The almond tree will blossom, and even a grasshopper will be a burden, and desire will disappear. This happens because humans go to their eternal home, and mourners walk in the streets.
6Remember Him before the silver cord is broken, or the golden bowl is shattered, or the pitcher is broken at the spring, or the wheel is broken at the well.
7Then the body will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.
8The Teacher says, “Meaningless! Meaningless! Everything is meaningless!”
9Because the Preacher was wise, he continued to teach people knowledge. He thought deeply, searched, and arranged many proverbs.
10The Preacher tried to find just the right words, words of truth, written in a faultless way.
11The words of the wise are like cattle prods and like firmly set nails given by leaders of assemblies, coming from one shepherd.
12Additionally, my son, take this warning: there's no end to writing many books, and too much study makes your body tired.
13Here is the conclusion of the whole matter. Everything has been heard. Respect God and obey his commands, because that is what everyone should do.
14Because God will judge everything we do, including every secret act, whether it is good or evil.