they are afraid also of what is high, and (A)terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along,[a] and desire fails, because man is going to his (B)eternal (C)home, and the (D)mourners go about the streets— before the silver cord is snapped, or (E)the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is (F)shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, and (G)the dust returns to the earth as it was, and (H)the spirit returns to God (I)who gave it.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 12:5 Or is a burden

when people are afraid of heights
    and of dangers in the streets;
when the almond tree blossoms
    and the grasshopper drags itself along
    and desire no longer is stirred.
Then people go to their eternal home(A)
    and mourners(B) go about the streets.

Remember him—before the silver cord is severed,
    and the golden bowl is broken;
before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,
    and the wheel broken at the well,
and the dust returns(C) to the ground it came from,
    and the spirit returns to God(D) who gave it.(E)

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