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 12,9 Pred 12,9
Then spake Solomon, Jehovah hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
I have surely built thee a house of habitation, a place for thee to dwell in for ever.
And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the assembly of Israel: and all the assembly of Israel stood.
And he said, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who spake with his mouth unto David thy father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying,
Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name might be there; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.
Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel.
But Jehovah said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thy heart to build a house for my name, thou didst well that it was in thy heart:
nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name.
And Jehovah hath established his word that he spake; for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as Jehovah promised, and have built the house for the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel.
And there have I set a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of Jehovah, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.
And he spake three thousand proverbs; and his songs were a thousand and five.
Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, that stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.
The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
The proverbs of Solomon.A wise son maketh a glad father;But a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.
These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.