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The Blue Letter Bible

Ecclesiastes 12 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:1

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:1 - Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:2

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:2 - Remember him before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is dim to your old eyes, and rain clouds continually darken your sky.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:3

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:3 - Remember him before your legs—the guards of your house—start to tremble; and before your shoulders—the strong men—stoop. Remember him before your teeth—your few remaining servants—stop grinding; and before your eyes—the women looking through the windows—see dimly.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:4

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:4 - Remember him before the door to life’s opportunities is closed and the sound of work fades. Now you rise at the first chirping of the birds, but then all their sounds will grow faint.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:5

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:5 - Remember him before you become fearful of falling and worry about danger in the streets; before your hair turns white like an almond tree in bloom, and you drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper, and the caperberry no longer inspires sexual desire. Remember him before you near the grave, your everlasting home, when the mourners will weep at your funeral.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:6

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:6 - 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:7

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:7 - For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.
Concluding Thoughts about the Teacher

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:8

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:8 - “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:9

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:9 - 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:10

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:10 - The Teacher sought to find just the right words to express truths clearly.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:11

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:11 - The words of the wise are like cattle prods—painful but helpful. Their collected sayings are like a nail-studded stick with which a shepherd[fn] drives the sheep.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:12

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:12 - But, my child,[fn] let me give you some further advice: Be careful, for writing books is endless, and much study wears you out.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:13

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:13 - That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty.

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Unchecked Copy Box Ecc 12:14

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 12:14 - God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.
See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NLT Footnotes
Or sought to write what was upright and true.
Or one shepherd.
Hebrew my son.
NLT

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

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Ecclesiastes Chapter 12 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras