² Someday the light of the sun
and the moon and the stars
    will all seem dim to you.
Rain clouds will remain
    over your head.
³ Your body will grow feeble,
your teeth will decay,
    and your eyesight fail.
⁴ The noisy grinding of grain
will be shut out
    by your deaf ears,
but even the song of a bird
    will keep you awake.

⁵ You will be afraid
to climb up a hill
    or walk down a road.
Your hair will turn as white
    as almond blossoms.
You will feel lifeless
and drag along
    like an old grasshopper.

We each go to our eternal home,
and the streets are filled
    with those who mourn.
⁶ The silver cord snaps,
    the golden bowl breaks;
the water pitcher is smashed,
and the pulley at the well
    is shattered.
⁷ So our bodies return
    to the earth,
and the life-giving breath^[a]
    returns to God.
⁸ Nothing makes sense.
I have seen it all—
    nothing makes sense.

There is no end to books,
and too much study
    will wear you out.

Respect and obey God!
This is what life
    is all about.
¹⁴ God will judge
    everything we do,
even what is done in secret,
    whether good or bad.