Ecclesiastes 12:6–10

6 Remember him—before the silver cord is severed,

and the golden bowl is broken;

before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,

and the wheel broken at the well,

7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from,

and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

8 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.

“Everything is meaningless!”

9 Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. 10 The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.

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.

6 Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don’t wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well. 7 For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

8 “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless.”

9 Keep this in mind: The Teacher was considered wise, and he taught the people everything he knew. He listened carefully to many proverbs, studying and classifying them. 10 The Teacher sought to find just the right words to express truths clearly.

6 Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed,

Or the golden bowl is broken,

Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain,

Or the wheel broken at the well.

7 Then the dust will return to the earth as it was,

And the spirit will return to God who gave it.

8 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher,

“All is vanity.”

9 And moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yes, he pondered and sought out and set in order many proverbs. 10 The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what was written was upright—words of truth.

6 Soon your life will snap like a silver chain

or break like a golden bowl.

You will be like a broken pitcher at a spring,

or a broken wheel at a well.

7 You will turn back into the dust of the earth again,

but your spirit will return to God who gave it.

8 Everything is useless!

The Teacher says that everything is useless.

9 The Teacher was very wise and taught the people what he knew. He very carefully thought about, studied, and set in order many wise teachings. 10 The Teacher looked for just the right words to write what is dependable and true.

6 before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7 and the dust returneth to the earth as it was, and the spirit returneth unto God who gave it. 8 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity.

9 And further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he pondered, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. 10 The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written uprightly, even words of truth.

6 —before the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be shattered at the fountain, or the wheel be broken at the cistern; 7 and the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit 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; and he pondered, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. 10 The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words; and that which was written is upright, words of truth.

6 Remember your Creator before the silver cord is snapped, 

the golden bowl is broken, 

the pitcher is smashed near the spring, 

and the water wheel is broken at the cistern. 

7 Then the dust ⸤of mortals⸥ goes back to the ground as it was before, 

and the breath of life goes back to God who gave it. 

8 “Absolutely pointless!” says the spokesman. “Everything is pointless!” 

9 Besides being wise, the spokesman also taught the people what he knew. He very carefully thought about it, studied it, and arranged it in many proverbs. 10 The spokesman tried to find just the right words. He wrote the words of truth very carefully. 

6 before the silver cord is snapped,

and the gold bowl is broken,

and the jar is shattered at the spring,

and the wheel is broken into the well;

7 and the dust returns to the earth as it once was,

and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

8 “Absolute futility,” says the Teacher. “Everything is futile.”

9 In addition to the Teacher being a wise man, he constantly taught the people knowledge; he weighed, explored, and arranged many proverbs. 10 The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and write words of truth accurately.

6 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 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it. 8 Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher; all is vanity.

9 Besides being wise, the Teacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs. 10 The Teacher sought to find pleasing words, and he wrote words of truth plainly.

6 Before the silver cord is snapped

and the golden bowl is broken;

and the jar at the foundation is broken,

and the wheel at the cistern is broken.

7 And the dust returns to the earth as it was,

and the breath returns to God who gave it.

8 “Vanity of vanity!” says the Teacher.

“Everything is vanity!”

9 The Teacher was full of wisdom, and he taught the people with knowledge. He carefully considered many proverbs and carefully arranged them. 10 The Teacher sought to find delightful words, and he wrote what is upright—truthful words.

6 Remember your Creator before the silver cord is cut.

That’s when the golden bowl will be broken.

The wheel will be broken at the well.

The pitcher will be smashed at the spring.

7 Remember your Creator before you return to the dust you came from.

That’s when your spirit will go back to God who gave it.

8 “Meaningless! Everything is meaningless!”

says the Teacher.

“Nothing has any meaning.”

9 The Teacher was wise. He gave knowledge to people. He put many proverbs to the test. He thought about them carefully. Then he wrote them down in order. 10 He did his best to find just the right words. And what he wrote was honest and true.

6 Remember Him before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed;

7 then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

8 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “all is vanity!”

9 In addition to being a wise man, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge; and he pondered, searched out and arranged many proverbs.

10 The Preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly.