⁵ they are afraid also of what is high, and ^(A)terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along,^[a] and desire fails, because man is going to his ^(B)eternal ^(C)home, and the ^(D)mourners go about the streets— ⁶ before the silver cord is snapped, or ^(E)the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is ^(F)shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, ⁷ and ^(G)the dust returns to the earth as it was, and ^(H)the spirit returns to God ^(I)who gave it.

²⁷ And just as ^(A)it is appointed for man to die once, and ^(B)after that comes judgment,

⁵ For the living know that they will die, but ^(A)the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for ^(B)the memory of them is forgotten.

⁸ No man has power to ^(A)retain the spirit, ^(B)or power over the day of death. There is no ^(C)discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it.