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— ⁶ before the silver cord is snapped, or ^(M)the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is ^(N)shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, ⁷ and ^(O)the dust returns to the earth as it was, and ^(P)the spirit returns to God ^(Q)who gave it. ^8 (R)Vanity^[b] of vanities, says ^(S)the Preacher; all is vanity.

Fear God and Keep His Commandments

⁹ Besides being wise, ^(T)the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging ^(U)many proverbs with great care. ^10 (V)The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.

^11 (W)The words of the wise are like goads, and like ^(X)nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are ^(Y)given by ^(Z)one Shepherd. ¹² My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making ^(AA)many books there is no end, and ^(AB)much study is a weariness of the flesh.

¹³ The end of the matter; all has been heard. ^(AC)Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.^{[c] 14} For ^(AD)God will bring every deed into judgment, with^[d] every secret thing, whether good or evil.

By Grace Through Faith

2 ^(A)And you were ^(B)dead in the trespasses and sins ^2 (C)in which you once walked, following the course^[a] of this world, following ^(D)the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in ^(E)the sons of disobedience— ³ among whom we all once lived in ^(F)the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and ^(G)were by nature ^(H)children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.^{[b] 4} But^[c] God, being ^(I)rich in mercy, ^(J)because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even ^(K)when we were dead in our trespasses, ^(L)made us alive together with Christ—^(M)by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him and ^(N)seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable ^(O)riches of his grace in ^(P)kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For ^(Q)by grace you have been saved ^(R)through faith. And this is ^(S)not your own doing; ^(T)it is the gift of God, ^9 (U)not a result of works, ^(V)so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For ^(W)we are his workmanship, ^(X)created in Christ Jesus ^(Y)for good works, ^(Z)which God prepared beforehand, ^(AA)that we should walk in them.

One in Christ

¹¹ Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called ^(AB)the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— ¹² remember ^(AC)that you were at that time separated from Christ, ^(AD)alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to ^(AE)the covenants of promise, ^(AF)having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were ^(AG)far off have been brought near ^(AH)by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴ For ^(AI)he himself is our peace, ^(AJ)who has made us both one and has broken down ^(AK)in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility ¹⁵ by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ^(AL)ordinances, that he might create in himself one ^(AM)new man in place of the two, so making peace, ¹⁶ and might ^(AN)reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. ¹⁷ And he came and ^(AO)preached peace to you who were ^(AP)far off and peace to those who were ^(AQ)near. ¹⁸ For ^(AR)through him we both have ^(AS)access in ^(AT)one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹ So then you are no longer ^(AU)strangers and aliens,^[d] but you are ^(AV)fellow citizens with the saints and ^(AW)members of the household of God, ^20 (AX)built on the foundation of the ^(AY)apostles and prophets, ^(AZ)Christ Jesus himself being ^(BA)the cornerstone, ^21 (BB)in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into ^(BC)a holy temple in the Lord. ²² In him ^(BD)you also are being built together ^(BE)into a dwelling place for God by^[e] the Spirit.