Font Size
Ecclesiastes 12
1599 Geneva Bible
Ecclesiastes 12
1599 Geneva Bible
12 1 To think on God in youth, and not to defer till age. 7 The soul returneth to God. 11 Wisdom is the gift of God, and consisteth in fearing him and keeping his commandments.
1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years approach, wherein thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them:
2 While the sun is not dark, nor the light, nor the moon, nor the stars, nor the [a]clouds return after the rain.
3 When the [b]keepers of the house shall tremble, and the [c]strong men shall bow themselves, and the [d]grinders shall cease, because they are few, and they wax dark that [e]look out by the windows:
4 And the [f]doors shall be shut without by the base sound of the [g]grinding, and he shall rise up at the voice of the [h]bird: and all the [i]daughters of singing shall be abased:
5 Also they shall be afraid of the [j]high thing, and fear shall be in the [k]way, and the almond tree shall [l]flourish, and the [m]grasshopper shall be a burden, and concupiscence shall be driven away: for man goeth to the house of his age, and the mourners go about in the street.
6 While the [n]silver cord is not lengthened, nor the golden [o]ewer broken, nor the [p]pitcher broken at the [q]well, nor the [r]wheel broken at the [s]cistern,
7 And dust return to the earth as it was, and the [t]spirit return to God that gave it.
8 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, all is vanity.
9 And the more wise the Preacher was, the more he taught the people knowledge, and caused them to hear, and searched forth, and prepared many parables.
10 The Preacher sought to find out pleasant words, and an upright writing, even the words of truth.
11 The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails [u]fastened by the masters of the assemblies, which are given by one [v]pastor.
12 And of other things beside these, my son, take thou heed: for there is none end in making many [w]books, and much reading is a weariness of the flesh.
13 Let us hear the end of all: fear God and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
14 For God will bring every work unto judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or evil.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 12:2 Before thou come to a continual misery: for when the clouds remain after the rain, man’s grief is increased.
- Ecclesiastes 12:3 The hands, which keep the body.
- Ecclesiastes 12:3 The legs.
- Ecclesiastes 12:3 The teeth.
- Ecclesiastes 12:3 The eyes.
- Ecclesiastes 12:4 The lips, or mouth.
- Ecclesiastes 12:4 When the jaws, shall scarce open, and not be able to chew anymore.
- Ecclesiastes 12:4 He shall not be able to sleep.
- Ecclesiastes 12:4 That is, the wind pipes, or the ears shall be deaf and not able to hear singing.
- Ecclesiastes 12:5 To climb high because of their weakness, or they stoop down, as though they were afraid, lest anything should hit them.
- Ecclesiastes 12:5 They shall tremble as they go, as though they were afraid.
- Ecclesiastes 12:5 Their head shall be as white as the blossoms of an almond tree.
- Ecclesiastes 12:5 They shall be able to bear nothing.
- Ecclesiastes 12:6 Meaning, the marrow of the backbone and the sinews.
- Ecclesiastes 12:6 The little skin that covereth the brain, which is in color like gold.
- Ecclesiastes 12:6 That is, the veins.
- Ecclesiastes 12:6 Meaning, the liver.
- Ecclesiastes 12:6 Which is the head.
- Ecclesiastes 12:6 That is, the heart, out of which the head draweth the powers of life.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7 The soul incontinently goeth either to joy or torment, and sleepeth not as the wicked imagine.
- Ecclesiastes 12:11 Which are well applied by the ministers, whom he calleth masters.
- Ecclesiastes 12:11 That is, by God.
- Ecclesiastes 12:12 These things cannot be comprehended in books or learned by study, but God must instruct thine heart that thou mayest only know that wisdom is the true felicity, and the way thereunto is to fear God.
Ecclesiastes 12
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 12
New International Version
12 Remember(A) your Creator
in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble(B) come
and the years approach when you will say,
“I find no pleasure in them”—
2 before the sun and the light
and the moon and the stars grow dark,
and the clouds return after the rain;
3 when the keepers of the house tremble,
and the strong men stoop,
when the grinders cease because they are few,
and those looking through the windows grow dim;
4 when the doors to the street are closed
and the sound of grinding fades;
when people rise up at the sound of birds,
but all their songs grow faint;(C)
5 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(D)
and mourners(E) go about the streets.
6 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,
7 and the dust returns(F) to the ground it came from,
and the spirit returns to God(G) who gave it.(H)
The Conclusion of the Matter
9 Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs.(K) 10 The Teacher(L) searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.(M)
11 The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails(N)—given by one shepherd.[b] 12 Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.
Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.(O)
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 12:8 Or the leader of the assembly; also in verses 9 and 10
- Ecclesiastes 12:11 Or Shepherd
1599 Geneva Bible (GNV) 
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.