Parallel Bible results for "ecclesiastes 12"

Ecclesiastes 12

The Message Bible MSG

1 onor and enjoy your Creator while you're still young, Before the years take their toll and your vigor wanes,

2 Before your vision dims and the world blurs And the winter years keep you close to the fire.

3 In old age, your body no longer serves you so well. Muscles slacken, grip weakens, joints stiffen. The shades are pulled down on the world.

4 You can't come and go at will. Things grind to a halt. The hum of the household fades away. You are wakened now by bird-song.

5 Hikes to the mountains are a thing of the past. Even a stroll down the road has its terrors. Your hair turns apple-blossom white, Adorning a fragile and impotent matchstick body. Yes, you're well on your way to eternal rest, While your friends make plans for your funeral.

6 Life, lovely while it lasts, is soon over. Life as we know it, precious and beautiful, ends.

7 The body is put back in the same ground it came from. The spirit returns to God, who first breathed it.

8 It's all smoke, nothing but smoke. The Quester says that everything's smoke.

9 Besides being wise himself, the Quester also taught others knowledge. He weighed, examined, and arranged many proverbs.

10 The Quester did his best to find the right words and write the plain truth.

11 The words of the wise prod us to live well. They're like nails hammered home, holding life together. They are given by God, the one Shepherd.

12 But regarding anything beyond this, dear friend, go easy. There's no end to the publishing of books, and constant study wears you out so you're no good for anything else.

13 The last and final word is this: Fear God. Do what he tells you.

14 And that's it. Eventually God will bring everything that we do out into the open and judge it according to its hidden intent, whether it's good or evil.

King James Version KJV

1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:

3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,

4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;

5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:

6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.

7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

8 Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.

9 And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

10 The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.

11 The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.

12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.