Ecclesiastes/Qohelet 12

NEW JERUSALEM	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 Remember your Creator while you are still young, before the bad days come, before the years comewhich, you wil say, give you no pleasure;	1 Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth, before the time of affliction come, and the years draw nigh of which thou shalt say: They please me not:
2 before the sun and the light grow dim and the moon and stars, before the clouds return after the rain;	2 Before the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars be darkened, and the clouds return after the rain:
3 the time when your watchmen become shaky, when strong men are bent double, when the women,one by one, quit grinding, and, as they look out of the window, find their sight growing dim.	3 When the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall stagger, and the grinders shall be idle in a small number, and they that look through the holes shall be darkened:
4 When the street-door is kept shut, when the sound of grinding fades away, when the first cry of a birdwakes you up, when all the singing has stopped;	4 And they shall shut the doors in the street, when the grinder's voice shall be low, and they shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall grow deaf.
5 when going uphil is an ordeal and you are frightened at every step you take- yet the almond tree is inflower and the grasshopper is weighed down and the caper-bush loses its tang; while you are on the way to youreverlasting home and the mourners are assembling in the street;	5 And they shall fear high things, and they shall be afraid in the way, the almond tree shall flourish, the locust shall be made fat, and the caper tree shall be destroyed: because man shall go into the house of his eternity, and the mourners shall go round about in the street.
6 before the silver thread snaps, or the golden bowl is cracked, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain,or the pul ey broken at the wel -head:	6 Before the silver cord be broken, and the golden fillet shrink back, and the pitcher be crushed at the fountain, and the wheel be broken upon the cistern,
7 the dust returns to the earth from which it came, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.	7 And the dust return into its earth, from whence it was, and the spirit return to God, who gave it.
8 Sheer futility, Qoheleth says, everything is futile.	8 Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes, and all things are vanity.
9 Besides being a sage, Qoheleth taught the people what he himself knew, having weighed, studied andemended many proverbs.	9 And whereas Ecclesiastes was very wise, he taught the people, and declared the things that he had done: and seeking out, he set forth many parables.
10 Qoheleth took pains to write in an attractive style and by it to convey truths.	10 He sought profitable words, and wrote words most right, and full of truth.
11 The sayings of a sage are like goads, like pegs positioned by shepherds: the same shepherd finds ause for both.	11 The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails deeply fastened in, which by the counsel of masters are given from one shepherd.
12 Furthermore, my child, you must realise that writing books involves endless hard work, and that muchstudy wearies the body.	12 More than these, my son, require not. Of making many books there is no end: and much study is an affliction of the flesh.
13 To sum up the whole matter: fear God and keep his commandments, for that is the duty of everyone.	13 Let us all hear together the conclusion of the discourse. Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is all man:
14 For God wil cal al our deeds to judgement, all that is hidden, be it good or bad.	14 And all things that are done, God will bring into judgment for every error, whether it be good or evil.