Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:8

International Standard Version

12 So remember your Creator during your youth!
Otherwise, troublesome days will come
and years will creep up on you when you’ll say,
        “I find no pleasure in them,”
² Otherwise, when the sun, daylight, moon, or stars turn dark,
    or when clouds fail to return after the rain—
³ when that day comes, the palace guards will tremble,
    strong men will stoop down,
women grinders will cease because they are few,
    and the sight of^[b] those who peer through the lattice will grow dim.
⁴ The doors to the street will be shut
    when the sound of grinding decreases,
when one wakes up at the song of a bird,
    and all of the singing women are silenced.
⁵ At that time they will fear climbing^[c] heights
    and dangers along the road
while the almond tree will blossom,
    and the grasshopper is weighed down.
Desire will cease,^[d]
    because the person goes to his eternal home,
        and mourners will gather in the marketplace.
⁶ When the silver cord is severed,
    the golden vessel is broken,
the pitcher is shattered at the fountain,
    and the wheel is broken at the cistern,
⁷ then man’s^[e] dust will go back to the earth,
    returning to what it was,
        and the spirit^[f] will return to the God who gave it.