Remember also thy Creator in the days of thy youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
before the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars, are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain;
in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the {Or, grinding women}grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows shall be darkened,
and the doors shall be shut in the street; when the sound of the grinding is low, and one shall rise up at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low;
yea, they shall be afraid {Or, of danger from on high}of that which is high, and terrors shall be in the way; and the almond-tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper {Or, shall drag itself along}shall be a burden, and {Or, the caperberry}desire shall {Or, burst}fail; because man goeth to his everlasting home, and the mourners go about the streets:
before the silver cord is {Or, snapped asunder}loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern,
and the dust returneth to the earth as it was, and the spirit returneth unto God who gave it.
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity.
And further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he {Or, gave ear}pondered, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.
The Preacher sought to find out {Hebrew: words of delight.}acceptable words, and that which was written uprightly, even words of truth.
The words of the wise are as goads; and as nails well fastened are the words of the {Or, collectors of sentences}masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.
{Or, And as for more than these, my son, be warned}And furthermore, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
{Or, Let us hear the conclusion of the whole master}This is the end of the matter; all hath been heard: Fear God, and keep his commandments; for {Or, this is the duty of all men}this is the whole duty of man.
For God will bring every work into judgment, {Or, concerning}with every hidden thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Querverweise zu Prediger 12,1 Pred 12,1
Therefore remove {Or, vexation Or, provocation}sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.
{Or, For}Yea, if a man live many years, let him rejoice in them all; {Or, and remember}but let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.
I am this day fourscore years old: can I discern between good and bad? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king?
And Jehovah was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
Yea, the strength of their hands, whereto should it profit me?Men in whom {Or, vigor}ripe age is perished.
But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master {Or, knoweth not with me what is &c.}knoweth not what is with me in the house, and he hath put all that he hath into my hand:
The days of our years are threescore years and ten,Or even by reason of strength fourscore years;Yet is their pride but labor and sorrow;For it is soon gone, and we fly away.
he is not greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are {Hebrew: sprinkled.}here and there upon him, and he knoweth it not.
The keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand, because Jehovah was with him; and that which he did, Jehovah made it to prosper.
therefore also I have {Or, lent}granted him to Jehovah; as long as he liveth he is granted to Jehovah. And he worshipped Jehovah there.
But Samuel ministered before Jehovah, being a child, girded with a linen ephod.
And the child Samuel grew on, and increased in favor both with Jehovah, and also with men.
And Samuel grew, and Jehovah was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.
And all Israel from Dan even to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of Jehovah.
And Jehovah appeared again in Shiloh; for Jehovah revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of Jehovah.
But Jehovah said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him: for Jehovah seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but Jehovah looketh on the heart.
And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal {Hebrew: fair of eyes.}of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look upon. And Jehovah said, Arise, anoint him; for this is he.
Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
Thy servant smote both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath {Or, reproached}defied the armies of the living God.
And David said, Jehovah that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and Jehovah shall be with thee.
And Solomon said, Thou hast showed unto thy servant David my father great lovingkindness, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great lovingkindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.
And now, O Jehovah my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child; I know not how to go out or come in.
And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.
Give thy servant therefore an {Hebrew: hearing.}understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this thy {Hebrew: heavy.}great people?
And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself {Hebrew: many days.}long life, neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies, but hast asked for thyself understanding to {Hebrew: hear.}discern justice;
behold, I have done according to thy word: lo, I have given thee a wise and an {Hebrew: hearing.}understanding heart; so that there hath been none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him; for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward Jehovah, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.
And it will come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of Jehovah will carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he will slay me: but I thy servant fear Jehovah from my youth.
And he did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, and walked in the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.
For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the Asherim, and the graven images, and the molten images.
But thou art he that took me out of the womb;Thou didst make me trust when I was upon my mother's breasts.
I was cast upon thee from the womb;Thou art my God since my mother bare me.
Come, ye children, hearken unto me:I will teach you the fear of Jehovah.
O God, thou hast taught me from my youth;And hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.
Yea, even {Hebrew: unto old age and gray hairs.}when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not,Until I have declared {Hebrew: thine arm.}thy strength unto the next generation,Thy might to every one that is to come.
I love them that love me;And those that seek me {Or, early}diligently shall find me.
Train up a child {Hebrew: according to his way.}in the way he should go,And even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Jehovah, have we waited for thee; to thy name, even to thy memorial name, is the desire of our soul.
It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king's dainties, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
Now God made Daniel to find kindness and compassion in the sight of the prince of the eunuchs.
Now as for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor {Greek: sikera.}strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.
And the child grew, and waxed strong, {Greek: becoming full of wisdom.}filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.
And his parents went every year to Jerusalem at the feast of the passover.
And when he was twelve years old, they went up after the custom of the feast;
and when they had fulfilled the days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem: and his parents knew it not;
but supposing him to be in the company, they went a day's journey; and they sought for him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance:
and when they found him not, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking for him.
And it came to pass, after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the {Or, doctors See chapter 5:17; Acts 5:34.}teachers, both hearing them, and asking them questions:
and all that heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.
And when they saw him, they were astonished; and his mother said unto him, {Greek: Child.}Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing.
And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? knew ye not that I must be {Or, about my Father's business Greek: in the things of my Father.}in my Father's house?
And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.
And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth; and he was subject unto them: and his mother kept all these {Or, things}sayings in her heart.
And Jesus advanced in wisdom and {Or, age}stature, and in {Or, grace}favor with God and men.
But Jesus called them unto him, saying, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for {Or, of such is}to such belongeth the kingdom of God.
And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but nurture them in the chastening and admonition of the Lord.
and that from a babe thou hast known the sacred writings which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.