Remember Your Creator in Your Youth
1 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near vof which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; 2 before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, 3 in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, 4 and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low— 5 they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along,1 and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets— 6 before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7 and the wdust returns to the earth as it was, and the xspirit returns to God who gave it. 8 yVanity2 of vanities, says the zPreacher; all is vanity.
Fear God and Keep His Commandments
9 Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many aproverbs with great care. 10 The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.
11 bThe words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one cShepherd. 12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and dmuch study is a weariness of the flesh.
13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. eFear God and keep his commandments, for fthis is the whole duty of man.3 14 For gGod will bring every deed into judgment, with4 every secret thing, hwhether good or evil.
The Death of Lazarus
1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister iMartha. 2 It was Mary who janointed the kLord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, lso that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus1 was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea magain.” 8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, nthe Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the olight is not in him.” 11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen pasleep, but I go to qawaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them rplainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 sSo Thomas, called the tTwin,2 said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
