⁸ So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember ^(A)that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is ^(B)vanity.^[a]

¹⁸ They^[a] said to you, ^(A)“In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.”

³⁵ So Jesus said to them, ^(A)“The light is among you ^(B)for a little while longer. ^(C)Walk while you have the light, lest darkness ^(D)overtake you. ^(E)The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

Remember Your Creator in Your Youth

12 Remember also your Creator in ^(A)the days of your youth, before ^(B)the evil days come and the years draw near of which ^(C)you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; ² before ^(D)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 ^(E)those who look through the windows are dimmed, ⁴ and ^(F)the doors on the street are shut—when ^(G)the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all ^(H)the daughters of song are brought low— ⁵ they are afraid also of what is high, and ^(I)terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along,^[a] and desire fails, because man is going to his ^(J)eternal ^(K)home, and the ^(L)mourners go about the streets—

¹⁵ And I commend joy, for man ^(A)has nothing better under the sun but to ^(B)eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.

¹² Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and ^(A)prolongs his life, yet I know that ^(B)it will be well with ^(C)those who fear God, because they fear before him.