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before the silver cord is snapped,
    or the golden bowl is crushed,
    or the jug at the cistern is shattered,
or the wheel at the well is broken.
Then the dust returns to the ground it came from,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

“Evanescent vapors,” says Kohelet.
All is futility.

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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(A) to the ground it came from,
    and the spirit returns to God(B) who gave it.(C)

“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.[a](D)
    “Everything is meaningless!(E)

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 12:8 Or the leader of the assembly; also in verses 9 and 10