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Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 12

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Ecclesiastes 12 NWT - New World TranslationEcclesiastes 12 NWT - New World Translation

Chapter 12 of Ecclesiastes—New World Translation (NWT)

  1. ¶ Remember, now, your Grand Creator[a]1 in the days of your young manhood,[b]2 before the calamitous days proceed to come,3 or the years have arrived when you will say: “I have no delight in them”;4
  2. before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark,5 and the clouds have returned, afterward the downpour;
  3. in the day when the keepers of the house6 tremble, and the men of vital energy have bent themselves,7 and the grinding women[c]8 have quit working because they have become few, and the ladies seeing[d] at the windows9 have found it dark;
  4. and the doors onto the street have been closed,10 when the sound of the grinding mill becomes low,11 and one gets up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song sound low.12
  5. Also, they have become afraid merely at what is high, and there are terrors in the way. And the almond tree carries blossoms,13 and the grasshopper drags itself along, and the caper berry bursts, because man[e] is walking to his long-lasting house14 and the wailers have marched around in the street;15
  6. before the silver cord is removed, and the golden bowl gets crushed,16 and the jar at the spring is broken, and the waterwheel for the cistern has been crushed.
  7. Then the dust returns to the earth17 just as it happened to be and the spirit18 itself returns to the [true] God19 who gave it.20
  8. ¶ “The greatest vanity!”[f] said the congregator,[g]21 “Everything is vanity.”22
  9. ¶ And besides the fact that the congregator had become wise,23 he also taught the people knowledge continually,24 and he pondered and made a thorough search,25 that he might arrange many proverbs in order.26
  10. The congregator sought to find the delightful words27 and the writing of correct words of truth.28
  11. ¶ The words of the wise ones are like oxgoads,29 and just like nails driven in[h]30 are those indulging in collections[i] [of sentences]; they have been given from one shepherd.31
  12. As regards anything besides these, my son, take a warning: To the making of many books there is no end, and much devotion [to them] is wearisome to the flesh.32
  13. ¶ The conclusion of the matter, everything having been heard, is: Fear the [true] God33 and keep his commandments.34 For this is the whole [obligation] of man.[j]
  14. For the [true] God himself will bring every sort of work into the judgment in relation to every hidden thing, as to whether it is good or bad.35

FOOTNOTES

  1. ^ “Your Grand Creator.” Heb., Boh·reʼeyʹkha. The participle of the Heb. verb “create” is pl. to denote grandeur or excellence.
  2. ^ Or, “youth.”
  3. ^ “The grinding women.” In Heb. a fem. pl. participle because of referring to teeth, fem., and because women did the grinding.
  4. ^ “The ladies seeing,” fem., referring to eyes, fem.
  5. ^ Lit., “the earthling man.” Heb., ha·ʼa·dhamʹ.
  6. ^ Lit., “Vanity of vanities!” M(Heb., havelʹ hava·limʹ)LXXSyVg.
  7. ^ See 1:1 ftn.
  8. ^ Lit., “planted,” as if built into a house.
  9. ^ “Collections.” Heb., ʼasup·pohthʹ (from ʼa·saphʹ, “to collect”).
  10. ^ Or, “mankind.” Heb., ha·ʼa·dhamʹ.

REFERENCES

  1. ^ Ge 1:1, 27
  2. ^ Ps 71:17; 110:3; 148:12; Lu 2:49; 2Ti 3:15
  3. ^ Ps 90:10
  4. ^ 2Sa 19:35
  5. ^ Ge 27:1; 1Sa 4:15
  6. ^ Jb 4:19; Mt 12:44; 2Co 5:1; 2Pe 1:13
  7. ^ 2Sa 21:15; Ps 22:15; 90:9; 102:23
  8. ^ Jb 31:10; Is 47:2; Mt 24:41
  9. ^ Ge 48:10; Is 59:10; Mt 9:29
  10. ^ Jb 41:14
  11. ^ Ps 58:6
  12. ^ 2Sa 19:35
  13. ^ Jb 15:10; Pr 16:31
  14. ^ Jb 17:13; 30:23; Ps 49:14; Ec 9:10
  15. ^ Ge 50:10; Mr 5:38
  16. ^ Jg 9:53
  17. ^ Ge 3:19; Jb 34:15; Ps 146:4; Ec 3:20
  18. ^ Jb 34:14; Ps 104:29; Ec 3:21
  19. ^ 1Co 8:4
  20. ^ Ge 2:7; Jb 27:3; Is 42:5; Zc 12:1
  21. ^ 1Ki 8:1
  22. ^ Ec 1:2, 14
  23. ^ 1Ki 3:12; 10:23
  24. ^ 1Ki 10:3, 8
  25. ^ Pr 25:2; Lu 1:3
  26. ^ 1Ki 4:32; Pr 1:1
  27. ^ Pr 15:23; 16:21, 24; 25:11
  28. ^ Lu 1:4; Jn 17:17
  29. ^ Ac 2:37; 2Co 10:4; Ti 2:4; Heb 4:12
  30. ^ Ps 112:8; 1Co 15:58; Eph 6:14
  31. ^ Ps 23:1; 80:1; 1Pe 5:4
  32. ^ Ec 1:18; Ac 19:19; Col 2:8
  33. ^ De 10:12; Jb 28:28; Ps 111:10; Pr 1:7; 8:13; 9:10
  34. ^ De 6:2; Ps 119:35; 1Pe 2:17; 1Jo 5:3
  35. ^ Ps 62:12; Ec 11:9; Mt 12:36; Lu 12:2; Ac 17:31; 1Co 4:5; 2Co 5:10; 1Ti 5:24

Read Ecclesiastes Chapter 12 in other Bible versions:

Comments

  1. David yakubuDavid yakubu
    Oct 29, 2022 08:05 GMT

    When i do read some comments and seeing that its the same people that are supposed to be called believers but are talking ill of other denominations, it hurts. Let us all remember that We should judge not

    1. jonas smithjonas smith
      Apr 23, 2023 02:57 GMT

      The bible tells us to test the spirits. Satan disguises himself as angel of light. So yes some denomination are not teaching the truth. You are responsible for judging which ones are not. You have to judge the truth at all times. this is what the bible teaches

  2. THTH
    Apr 7, 2021 00:20 GMT

    The NWT is a very good translation. Dr. Jason David BeDuhn PhD attests to that in his book Truth in Translation. drive.google.com/...5p16melHzg8/view

    1. James LernerJames Lerner
      Jul 20, 2024 09:48 GMT

      The NWT is Satanic filth to its very core.

      The JW Cult is Satanic to its very core.

      Praise Yahweh I will never be a victim of JW brainwashing. If I burn in Hell for eternity or I am ultimately annihilated so be it

      May Yahweh's curse rest on the Watchtower Society and its Satanic leadership

    2. jim mcleodjim mcleod
      Aug 22, 2021 06:16 GMT

      NWT is a false translation that takes away from the deity of Jesus !

  3. SlightlyChaoticSlightlyChaotic
    Jan 30, 2021 16:33 GMT

    Thank you for taking the time to provide this service. I like seeing the NASB on your web page in the same format as I read on paper. On other sites, the text area is smaller, and so I have to keep scrolling down to read and sometimes I lose the context. So I really appreciate the format.

    As far as the NWT, you are certainly free to do whatever you think best with your own web pages. I'd suggest that you make a note anytime you have a translation that is associated with only one denomination or church, for example:
    New World Translation (Jehovah's Witness version).

    In Jesus' parable of the wheat and the tares. the main idea seems to be that you can't easily distinguish between God's people and not-God's people on this earth, so our Lord's response is to wait until they are shown to be the kind of people they are inside. But the NWT seems like false teaching to me. So I think the warning passages from Jesus' apostles are more applicable, as in 2 Peter 3:15-16, when he talks about Paul's writings:
    "There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures."
    And we also have the positive exhortations, as in 2 Timothy 2:15:
    "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth."

    1. BroderickBroderick
      Jan 31, 2021 00:57 GMT

      Your suggestion regarding the denominational flagging is duly noted. But I can’t help but wonder, wouldn’t a Catholic also want “Protestant versions” marked as well?

      As for the parable, I’m pretty sure the slaves were convinced in their own minds that they could tell the tares from the wheat. After all, aren’t they the ones who identified the problem in the first place? But the master obviously thought otherwise.

      Furthermore, even at the time when Jesus himself was walking the earth, not everybody who claimed fellowship actually followed him causing John to inquire at Mark 9:39, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him . . . for he who is not against us is for us.”

  4. Joshua HarderJoshua Harder
    Dec 11, 2020 17:48 GMT

    Hello, question.. why have you included the NWT with other legitimate bible translations? Or why have you not atleast included a warning to readers? Don't you fear that someone could be influenced by the Watchtower's intentional heresies? Thank you.

    1. KevinKevin
      Jul 11, 2021 17:45 GMT

      en.m.wikipedia.org/..._Holy_Scriptures

      See the section critical review

    2. ChrisChris
      Jan 8, 2021 07:15 GMT

      Please site these intentional heresies. I am well versed in the watch tower outline and agree they are in many ways incorrect but i also bet i can point many out from EVERY established or main denomination. There is much to learn from them all as one who drinks milk?

      Judge not lest ye be judged, that is not to pass judgement on you either brother.

      I debate with scripture. I don't hold it to be true that Michael is Y'Shua HaMeshiach but I also firmly hold it to be true that our G-d and Heavenly Father are not the word encarnate and only begotten son.

      I love not seeing "lord" which i relate to baal. I feel the catholic church is a satanic establishment and I am aware a freemason started the hovies but there are evil in high places and our fight is also with principalities.

      What i'm saying is that in my darkest hours, those two were some of if not the only ones who would bring a Bible and eucharist and pray with me.

      We all fall short of the glory of G-d.

      Don't forget the NWT was recognized as the most accurate translation on Jeopardy.

      Lastly, this is different I noted than the NWT i have read and am very familiar with. Pull up the watchtower page and compare. I truly look forward to getting this one!

  5. julietjuliet
    Aug 17, 2022 09:36 GMT

    the sky is blue

  6. mercymercy
    Aug 12, 2022 21:23 GMT

    i am Mercy, the sky is blue what else do you need

    1. mercymercy
      Aug 12, 2022 21:25 GMT

      i am so sorry, it was a big mistake

  7. God is able to do all thingsGod is able to do all things
    May 17, 2021 17:59 GMT

    Jesus how much love calling yo name

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