Common English Bible CEB
New Revised Standard NRS
1 Remember your creator in your prime, before the days of trouble arrive, and those years, about which you'll say, "I take no pleasure in these"—
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Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come, and the years draw near when you will say, "I have no pleasure in them";
2 before the sun and the light grow dark, the moon and the stars too, before the clouds return after the rain;
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before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return with the rain;
3 on the day when the housekeepers tremble and the strong men stoop; when the women who grind stop working because they're so few, and those who look through the windows grow dim;
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in the day when the guards of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the women who grind cease working because they are few, and those who look through the windows see dimly;
4 when the doors to the street are shut, when the sound of the mill fades, the sound of the bird rises, and all the singers come down low;
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when the doors on the street are shut, and the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low;
5 when people are afraid of things above and of terrors along the way; when the almond tree blanches, the locust droops, and the caper-berry comes to nothing; when the human goes to the eternal abode, with mourners all around in the street;
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when one is afraid of heights, and terrors are in the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along and desire fails; because all must go to their eternal home, and the mourners will go about the streets;
6 before the silver cord snaps and the gold bowl shatters; the jar is broken at the spring and the wheel is crushed at the pit;
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before the silver cord is snapped, and the golden bowl is broken, and the pitcher is broken at the fountain, and the wheel broken at the cistern,
7 before dust returns to the earth as it was before and the life-breath returns to God who gave it.
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and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it.
8 Perfectly pointless, says the Teacher, everything is pointless.
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Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher; all is vanity.
9 Additionally: Because the Teacher was wise, he constantly taught the people knowledge. He listened and investigated. He composed many proverbs.
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Besides being wise, the Teacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs.
10 The Teacher searched for pleasing words, and he wrote truthful words honestly.
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The Teacher sought to find pleasing words, and he wrote words of truth plainly.
11 The words of the wise are like iron-tipped prods; the collected sayings of the masters are like nails fixed firmly by a shepherd.
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The sayings of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings that are given by one shepherd.
12 Be careful, my child, of anything beyond them! There's no end to the excessive production of scrolls. Studying too much wearies the body.
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Of anything beyond these, my child, beware. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
13 So this is the end of the matter; all has been heard. Worship God and keep God's commandments because this is what everyone must do.
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The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for that is the whole duty of everyone.
14 God will definitely bring every deed to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or bad.
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For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.