Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:8
Expanded Bible
Serve God While You Are Young
7 ·Sunshine [L Light] is sweet;
it is good ·to see the light of day [L for the eyes to see the sun].
8 People ought to enjoy every day of their lives,
·no matter how long they live [L if they live many years].
But they should also remember this:
·You will be dead a long time [L There will be many dark days].
Everything that happens then is useless [1:2].
9 Young people, enjoy yourselves while you are young;
·be happy [L let your heart be merry] while you are young.
·Do whatever your heart desires [L Follow the ways of your heart],
·whatever you want to do [L follow the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes].
But ·remember [L know] that God will ·judge you
for everything you do.
10 ·Don’t worry [L Put away anger from your heart],
and ·forget the troubles of [L turn away evil from] your body,
because youth and ·childhood [vitality] are useless [1:2].
The Problems of Old Age
12 Remember your ·Creator [or health]
·while you are young [L in the days of your youth],
before the days of ·trouble [evil] come
and the years when you say,
“I find no ·pleasure [delight] in them.”
2 When you get old,
the light from the sun, moon, and stars will grow dark,
and the rain clouds ·will never seem to go away [L return after the rain].
3 At that time ·your arms [L the guards of the house] will shake
and ·your legs [L the landowners] will ·become weak [bend].
·Your teeth will fall out so you cannot chew [L The grinders cease because they are few; C women who grind grain],
and ·your eyes will not see clearly [L those who look through the windows grow dim; C another group of women].
4 ·Your ears will be deaf to the noise [L The doors are shut] in the streets,
and ·you will barely hear the millstone grinding grain [L the sound of grinding decreases].
·You’ll wake up when a bird starts singing [L One rises at the sound of a bird],
·but you will barely hear singing [L and the daughters of song are brought low].
5 ·You [L They] will fear high places
and ·will be afraid to go for a walk [L the terrors of the street].
·Your hair will become white like the flowers on an almond tree [L The almond tree blossoms].
·You will limp along like a grasshopper when you walk [L The grasshopper drags itself along].
Your ·appetite [or sexual desire] will be gone.
Then ·you will [L people] go to ·your [L their] everlasting home [C the grave],
and ·people will go to your funeral [L mourners walk around in the street].
6 Soon ·your life will snap like a silver chain [L the silver thread will be snapped]
·or break like a golden bowl [L and the golden bowl will be crushed].
·You will be like a broken pitcher at a spring [L The jar will be broken by the well],
·or a broken wheel at a well [L and the wheel crushed by the cistern; C metaphors of death].
7 ·You will turn back into the dust of the earth again [L The dust will return to the earth as it was],
·but your [L and the] spirit will return to God who gave it [3:21; Gen. 2:7; 3:19].
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