12 Remember to serve God while you are young.
    He is the one who made you.
Your life will have many troubles in the future.
During those years, you will say,
    ‘I do not enjoy my life any more.’
² When you are old, the light from the sun will not seem to be bright.
    You will not see the moon or the stars.
There will always be dark clouds after the rain.
³ Your arms that have kept you safe will shake.
    Your legs will become weak.
You will have only a few teeth to eat with.
    Your eyes will no longer see very well.
⁴ Your ears will not hear noises outside in the streets.
    You will not hear the sound of people as they work.
    You will not hear the sound of people as they sing songs.
But a bird's song will wake you
    when you want to sleep.
⁵ You will be afraid to stand on high places.
    You will worry about danger in the streets.
When you are old, your hair will become white,
    like the flowers on an almond tree.
You will feel too tired to move yourself,
    like an old grasshopper.
    You will not want to have sex.
Finally, we will all die and go to our home in the ground.
    Many people will weep at our funeral.
⁶ Remember to serve God while you are young,
    because one day your life will finish.
It will be like a silver chain that breaks;
    like a gold bowl that breaks;
    like a water pot at the well that breaks into pieces;
    like a rope at the well that breaks apart.^[a]
7 Our bodies go back into the ground as dust.
The breath of our life goes back to God,
    who gave it to us.^[b]

‘All these things have no purpose.
We cannot understand why they happen.’