aRemember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the bevil days happen and the years draw near in which you will say, “I have no delight in them”;Deut 8:18; Neh 4:14; Ps 63:6; 119:55Eccl 11:8 2 before the asun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened, and clouds return after the rain;Is 5:30; 13:10; Ezek 32:7, 8; Joel 3:15; Matt 24:29 3 in the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, and valiant men abend down, the grinding ones stand idle because they are few, and bthose who look through 1windows grow dark;Or holesPs 35:14; 38:6Gen 27:1; 48:10; 1 Sam 3:2 4 and the doors on the street are shut as the asound of the grinding mill is low, and one will arise at the sound of the bird, and all the bdaughters of song will 1sing softly.Lit be brought lowJer 25:10; Rev 18:222 Sam 19:35 5 Furthermore, 1men are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road; the almond tree blooms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and the caperberry is ineffective. For man goes to his eternal ahome, but the bmourners go about in the street.Lit theyJob 17:13; 30:23Gen 50:10; Jer 9:17 6 Remember Him before the silver 1cord is 2snapped and the agolden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the spring is broken and the wheel at the cistern is crushed;Or vanityAs in Gr; Heb removedZech 4:2, 3 7 then the adust will return to the earth as it was, and the 1bspirit will return to cGod who gave it.Or breathGen 3:19; Job 34:15; Ps 104:29; Eccl 3:20Job 34:14; Eccl 3:21; Luke 23:46; Acts 7:59Num 16:22; 27:16; Is 57:16; Zech 12:1 8 “aVanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “all is vanity!”Eccl 1:2
9 In addition to being a wise man, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge; and he pondered, searched out, and 1arranged amany proverbs.Lit set straight1 Kin 4:32 10 The Preacher sought to find adelightful words and bwords of truth written uprightly.Prov 10:32Prov 22:20, 21
11 The awords of wise men are like bgoads, and masters of these collections are like 1well-driven cnails; they are given by one Shepherd.Lit plantedProv 1:6; 22:17; Eccl 7:5; 10:12Acts 2:37Ezra 9:8; Is 22:23 12 But in addition to this, my son, be warned: the making of amany books is endless, and much bdevotion to books is wearying to the flesh.1 Kin 4:32Eccl 1:18
13 The end of the matter, all that has been heard: afear God and bkeep His commandments, because this is the end of the matter for call mankind.Eccl 3:14; 5:7; 7:18; 8:12Deut 4:2; Eccl 8:5Deut 10:12; Mic 6:8 14 For aGod will bring every work to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.Eccl 3:17; 11:9; Matt 10:26; Rom 2:16; 1 Cor 4:5