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 12,10 Pred 12,10
The words of {Hebrew: Koheleth}the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
A man hath joy in the answer of his mouth;And a word in due season, how good is it!
The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
To know wisdom and instruction;To discern the words of understanding;
To receive instruction in wise dealing,In righteousness and justice and equity;
To give prudence to the simple,To the young man knowledge and discretion:
That the wise man may hear, and increase in learning;And that the man of understanding may attain unto sound counsels:
To understand a proverb, and {Or, an interpretation}a figure,The words of the wise, and their {Or, riddles}dark sayings.
I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
Evil devices are an abomination to Jehovah;But {Or, the pure speak pleasant words}pleasant words are pure.
Hear, for I will speak excellent things;And the opening of my lips shall be right things.
For my mouth shall utter truth;And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
All the words of my mouth {Or, are righteousness}are in righteousness;There is nothing crooked or perverse in them.
They are all plain to him that understandeth,And right to them that find knowledge.
Receive my instruction, and not silver;And knowledge rather than choice gold.
The wise in heart shall be called prudent;And the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning.
Understanding is a well-spring of life unto him that hath it;But the correction of fools is their folly.
The heart of the wise instructeth his mouth,And addeth learning to his lips.
Pleasant words are as a honeycomb,Sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
Incline thine ear, and hear the words of the wise,And apply thy heart unto my knowledge.
For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee,If they be established together upon thy lips.
That thy trust may be in Jehovah,I have made them known to thee this day, even to thee.
Have not I written unto thee {The word is doubtful. Another reading is, heretofore.}excellent things {Or, in}Of counsels and knowledge,
To make thee know {Or, of a certainty the words &c.}the certainty of the words of truth,That thou mayest carry back words of truth to them that send thee?
A word {Or, in due season}fitly spokenIs like apples of gold in network of silver.
Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been {Or, fully established}fulfilled among us,
even as they delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word,
it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus;
that thou mightest know the certainty concerning the {Greek: words.}things {Or, which thou wast taught by word of mouth}wherein thou wast instructed.
As {Or, a nose-ring}an ear-ring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold,So is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that which we know, and bear witness of that which we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief:
because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the {Greek: good tidings: and so elsewhere; see marginal note on Matthew 4:23.}gospel,