Ecclesiastes 12

1Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, while the days of trouble have not yet come and the years have not drawn near when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them,” 2before the sun grows dark, and the light, and the moon and the stars, and the clouds return after the rain, 3on the day when the guards of the house tremble and the strong men stoop, when the women who grind stop because they are few, and the women who look through the windows see only dimly, 4when the doors on the street are closed and the noise of grinding fades, when people rise at the sound of a bird, and all the songs grow faint, 5when people are afraid of heights and of dangers on the road, when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags itself along, and the caper-berry no longer stirs desire, because everyone goes to their eternal home, and mourners go about in the streets, 6before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is broken, before the jar is shattered at the spring and the wheel broken at the well, 7and the dust goes back to the earth it came from, and the spirit returns to God, who gave it. 8Breath upon breath, says the Teacher. Everything is a breath. 9Besides being wise, the Teacher also taught the people knowledge. He weighed and studied and arranged many proverbs. 10The Teacher sought to find pleasing words, and to write honestly words of truth. 11The words of the wise are like goads, and the collected sayings are like nails driven firmly in; they are given by one shepherd. 12Beyond these, my son, take warning: the making of many books never ends, and much study wears out the body. 13Here is the end of the matter, now that all has been heard: Fear God and keep his commandments, because this is the whole of being human. 14For God will bring every deed into judgment, including everything hidden, whether it is good or evil.