Ecclesiastes 12

uzekhor et-bore'ekha bime bekhurotekha ad asher lo-yavo'u yeme hara'ah vehiggi'u shanim asher tomar en-li vahem khefets

So appreciate your vigor in the days of your youth, before those days of sorrow come and those years arrive of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;

ad asher lo-tekhshakh hashemesh veha'or vehayyareakh vehakkokhavim veshavu he'avim akhar haggashem

before sun and light and moon and stars grow dark, and the clouds come back again after the rain:

bayyom sheyyazu'u shomere habbayit vehitavvetu anshe hekhayil uvatelu hattokhanot ki mi'etu vekhashekhu haro'ot ba'arubbot

When the guards of the house become shaky, And the soldiers are bent, And the maids that grind, grown few, are idle, And the ladies that peer through the windows grow dim,

vesuggeru delatayim bashuq bishfal qol hattakhanah veyaqum leqol hatsippor veyishakhu kol-benot hashir

And the doors to the street are shut— With the noise of the hand mill growing fainter, And the song of the bird growing feebler, And all the strains of music dying down;

gam miggavoah yira'u vekhatkhattim badderekh veyanets hashaqed veyistabbel hekhagav vetafer ha'aviyyonah ki-holekh ha'adam el-bet olamo vesavevu vashuq hassofedim

When one is afraid of heights And there is terror on the road.— For the almond tree may blossom, The grasshopper be burdened, And the caper bush may bud again; But mortals set out for their eternal abode, With mourners all around in the street.—

ad asher lo-[yerateq] (yrkhq) khevel hakkesef vetaruts gullat hazzahav vetishaver kad al-hammabbua venarots haggalgal el-habbor

Before the silver cord snaps And the golden bowl crashes, The jar is shattered at the spring, And the jug is smashed at the cistern.

veyashov he'afar al-ha'arets keshehayah veharuakh tashuv el-ha'elohim asher netanah

And the dust returns to the ground As it was, And the lifebreath returns to God Who bestowed it.

havel havalim amar haqqohelet hakkol havel

Utter futility—said Koheleth— All is futile!

veyoter shehayah qohelet khakham od limmad-da'at et-ha'am ve'izzen vekhiqqer tiqqen meshalim harbeh

A further word: Because Koheleth was a sage, he continued to instruct the people. He listened to and tested the soundness of many maxims.

biqqesh qohelet limtso divre-khefets vekhatuv yosher divre emet

Koheleth sought to discover useful sayings and recorded genuinely truthful sayings.

divre khakhamim kaddarevonot ukhemasmerot netu'im ba'ale asuppot nittenu mero'eh ekhad

The sayings of the wise are like goads, like nails fixed in prodding sticks. They were given by one Shepherd.

veyoter mehemmah beni hizzaher asot sefarim harbeh en qets velahag harbeh yegi'at basar

A further word: Against them, my son, be warned! The making of many books is without limit And much study is a wearying of the flesh.

sof davar hakkol nishma et-ha'elohim yera ve'et-mitsvotayw shemor ki-zeh kol-ha'adam

The sum of the matter, when all is said and done: Revere God and observe the commandments! For this applies to all humankind:

ki et-kol-ma'aseh ha'elohim yavi vemishpat al kol-nelam im-tov ve'im-ra

that God will call every creature to account for everything unknown, be it good or bad. The sum of the matter, when all is said and done: Revere God and observe the commandments! For this applies to all humankind.