Ecclesiastes 12

²⁷It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is still young.

⁸So if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all. But let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything to come is futile.

¹⁷O God, You have taught me from my youth, and to this day I proclaim Your marvelous deeds.

¹⁸Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, until I proclaim Your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come.

⁶Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

¹⁶But Jesus called the children to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

¹¹Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

³⁰In that day they will roar over it, like the roaring of the sea. If one looks over the land, he will see darkness and distress; even the light will be obscured by clouds.

¹⁵Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his gaze was fixed because he could not see.

¹⁸As soon as the ark of God was mentioned, Eli fell backward from his chair by the city gate, and being old and heavy, he broke his neck and died. And Eli had judged Israel forty years.

²And at that time Eli, whose eyesight had grown so dim that he could not see, was lying in his room.

⁷When I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light.

⁸All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you, and I will bring darkness upon your land,’ declares the Lord God.

¹⁶The waters saw You, O God; the waters saw You and swirled; even the depths were shaken.

⁹For all our days decline in Your fury; we finish our years with a sigh.

¹⁰The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty if we are strong—yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

²³He has broken my strength on the way; He has cut short my days.

¹⁰Now Israel’s eyesight was poor because of old age; he could hardly see. Joseph brought his sons to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.

²And at that time Eli, whose eyesight had grown so dim that he could not see, was lying in his room.

⁴This is what the Lord of Hosts says: “Old men and old women will again sit along the streets of Jerusalem, each with a staff in hand because of great age.

¹⁵Once again the Philistines waged war against Israel, and David and his servants went down and fought against the Philistines. But David became exhausted.

¹⁶Then Ishbi-benob, a descendant of Rapha, whose bronze spear weighed three hundred shekels and who was bearing a new sword, resolved to kill David.

¹⁰Moreover, I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp.

³⁵I am now eighty years old. Can I discern what is good and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or drinks? Can I still hear the voice of singing men and women? Why should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king?

²²And the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will never ring out in you again. Nor will any craftsmen of any trade be found in you again, nor the sound of a millstone be heard in you again.

¹³If I look for Sheol as my home, if I spread out my bed in darkness,

¹⁷This is what the Lord of Hosts says: “Take note, and summon the wailing women; send for the most skillful among them.

¹⁸Let them come quickly and take up a lament over us, that our eyes may overflow with tears, and our eyelids may gush with water.

²³Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.

³¹Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is attained along the path of righteousness.

¹⁸Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, until I proclaim Your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come.

³taking the forty days required to complete the embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.

⁴When the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s court, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please tell Pharaoh that

²“What do you see?” he asked. “I see a solid gold lampstand,” I replied, “with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven spouts to the lamps.

³There are also two olive trees beside it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left.”

²And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt.

²⁰All go to one place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.

²¹Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and the spirit of the animal descends into the earth?

⁴When his spirit departs, he returns to the ground; on that very day his plans perish.

¹⁹By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”

¹⁴If He were to set His heart to it and withdraw His Spirit and breath,

¹⁵all flesh would perish together and mankind would return to the dust.

¹This is the burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel. Thus declares the Lord, who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth, who forms the spirit of man within him:

²“Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!”

⁸As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

¹²For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?

⁴I saw that all labor and success spring from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

⁹Lowborn men are but a vapor; the exalted are but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.

¹⁴I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.

¹These are the proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel,

³²Solomon composed three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five.

¹These are additional proverbs of Solomon, which were copied by the men of Hezekiah king of Judah:

⁸How blessed are your men! How blessed are these servants of yours who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom!

¹The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.

⁵the faith and love proceeding from the hope stored up for you in heaven, of which you have already heard in the word of truth, the gospel

¹⁵This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.

²¹The wise in heart are called discerning, and pleasant speech promotes instruction.

²²Understanding is a fountain of life to its possessor, but the discipline of fools is folly.

¹These are the proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel,

²for gaining wisdom and discipline, for comprehending words of insight,

⁶Listen, for I speak of noble things, and the opening of my lips will reveal right.

⁷For my mouth will speak the truth, and wickedness is detestable to my lips.

¹⁷Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise—apply your mind to my knowledge—

¹⁸for it is pleasing when you keep them within you and they are constantly on your lips.

²⁹“Is not My word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that smashes a rock?”

³⁷When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

¹²For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

²³I will appoint over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them. He will feed them and be their shepherd.

¹⁰“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and you do not understand these things?

¹⁷Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise—apply your mind to my knowledge—

¹⁸For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, and as knowledge grows, grief increases.

²⁵There are many more things that Jesus did. If all of them were written down, I suppose that not even the world itself would have space for the books that would be written.

¹⁹We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

²⁰Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation.

³⁹You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me,

³²Solomon composed three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five.

²⁹But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let your brothers listen to them.’

³⁰‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone is sent to them from the dead, they will repent.’

¹²And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

⁸He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

²so that you and your children and grandchildren may fear the Lord your God all the days of your lives by keeping all His statutes and commandments that I give you, and so that your days may be prolonged.

¹⁰The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts gain rich understanding. His praise endures forever!

¹⁹He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.

²⁸And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.

¹⁶on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Christ Jesus, as proclaimed by my gospel.

³⁶But I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.

⁵Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

²⁶So do not be afraid of them. For there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known.

¹⁰Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.

¹¹It is written: “As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before Me; every tongue will confess to God.”