Ecclesiastes 12

VULGATA	NEW JERUSALEM
1 Memento Creatoris tui in diebus juventutis tuæ, antequam veniat tempus afflictionis, et appropinquent anni de quibus dicas : Non mihi placent ;	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;
2 antequam tenebrescat sol, et lumen, et luna, et stellæ, et revertantur nubes post pluviam ;	2 before the sun and the light grow dim and the moon and stars, before the clouds return after the rain;
3 quando commovebuntur custodes domus, et nutabunt viri fortissimi, et otiosæ erunt molentes in minuto numero, et tenebrescent videntes per foramina ;	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.
4 et claudent ostia in platea, in humilitate vocis molentis, et consurgent ad vocem volucris, et obsurdescent omnes filiæ carminis :	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;
5 excelsa quoque timebunt, et formidabunt in via. Florebit amygdalus, impinguabitur locusta, et dissipabitur capparis, quoniam ibit homo in domum æternitatis suæ, et circuibunt in platea plangentes.	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;
6 Antequam rumpatur funiculus argenteus, et recurrat vitta aurea, et conteratur hydria super fontem, et confringatur rota super cisternam,	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:
7 et revertatur pulvis in terram suam unde erat, et spiritus redeat ad Deum, qui dedit illum.	7 the dust returns to the earth from which it came, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
8 Vanitas vanitatum, dixit Ecclesiastes, et omnia vanitas.	8 Sheer futility, Qoheleth says, everything is futile.
9 Cumque esset sapientissimus Ecclesiastes, docuit populum, et enarravit quæ fecerat ; et investigans composuit parabolas multas.	9 Besides being a sage, Qoheleth taught the people what he himself knew, having weighed, studied andemended many proverbs.
10 Quæsivit verba utilia, et conscripsit sermones rectissimos ac veritate plenos.	10 Qoheleth took pains to write in an attractive style and by it to convey truths.
11 Verba sapientium sicut stimuli, et quasi clavi in altum defixi, quæ per magistrorum consilium data sunt a pastore uno.	11 The sayings of a sage are like goads, like pegs positioned by shepherds: the same shepherd finds ause for both.
12 His amplius, fili mi, ne requiras. Faciendi plures libros nullus est finis ; frequensque meditatio, carnis afflictio est.	12 Furthermore, my child, you must realise that writing books involves endless hard work, and that muchstudy wearies the body.
13 Finem loquendi pariter omnes audiamus. Deum time, et mandata ejus observa : hoc est enim omnis homo,	13 To sum up the whole matter: fear God and keep his commandments, for that is the duty of everyone.
14 et cuncta quæ fiunt adducet Deus in judicium pro omni errato, sive bonum, sive malum illud sit.	14 For God wil cal al our deeds to judgement, all that is hidden, be it good or bad.