Ecclesiastes · Bible in Basic English
Ecclesiastes 12 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 Let your mind be turned to your Maker in the days of your strength, while the evil days come not, and the years are far away when you will say, I have no pleasure in them;
1 Y ACUÉRDATE de tu Criador en los días de tu juventud, antes que vengan los malos días, y lleguen los años, de los cuales digas, No tengo en ellos contentamiento;
2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, are not dark, and the clouds come not back after the rain;
2 Antes que se oscurezca el sol, y la luz, y la luna y las estrellas, y las nubes se tornen tras la lluvia:
3 In the day when the keepers of the house are shaking for fear, and the strong men are bent down, and the women who were crushing the grain are at rest because their number is small, and those looking out of the windows are unable to see;
3 Cuando temblarán los guardas de la casa, y se encorvarán los hombres fuertes, y cesarán las muelas, porque han disminuído, y se oscurecerán los que miran por las ventanas;
4 When the doors are shut in the street, and the sound of the crushing is low, and the voice of the bird is soft, and the daughters of music will be made low;
4 Y las puertas de afuera se cerrarán, por la bajeza de la voz de la muela; y levantaráse á la voz del ave, y todas las hijas de canción serán humilladas;
5 And he is in fear of that which is high, and danger is in the road, and the tree is white with flower, and the least thing is a weight, and desire is at an end, because man goes to his last resting-place, and those who are sorrowing are in the streets;
5 [Cuando] también temerán de lo alto, y los tropezones en el camino; y florecerá el almendro, y se agravará la langosta, y perderáse el apetito: porque el hombre va á la casa de su siglo, y los endechadores andarán en derredor por la plaza:
6 Before ever the silver cord is cut, or the vessel of gold is broken, or the pot is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the water-hole;
6 Antes que la cadena de plata se quiebre, y se rompa el cuenco de oro, y el cántaro se quiebre junto á la fuente, y la rueda sea rota sobre el pozo;
7 And the dust goes back to the earth as it was, and the spirit goes back to God who gave it.
7 Y el polvo se torne á la tierra, como era, y el espíritu se vuelva á Dios que lo dió.
8 All things are to no purpose, says the Preacher, all is to no purpose.
8 Vanidad de vanidades, dijo el Predicador, todo vanidad.
9 And because the Preacher was wise he still gave the people knowledge; searching out, testing, and putting in order a great number of wise sayings.
9 Y cuanto más sabio fué el Predicador, tanto más enseñó sabiduría al pueblo; é hizo escuchar, é hizo escudriñar, y compuso muchos proverbios.
10 The Preacher made search for words which were pleasing, but his writing was in words upright and true.
10 Procuró el Predicador hallar palabras agradables, y escritura recta, palabras de verdad.
11 The words of the wise are pointed, and sayings grouped together are like nails fixed with a hammer; they are given by one guide.
11 Las palabras de los sabios son como aguijones; y como clavos hincados, [las] de los maestros de las congregaciones, dadas por un Pastor.
12 And further, my son, take note of this: of the making of books there is no end, and much learning is a weariness to the flesh.
12 Ahora, hijo mío, á más de esto, sé avisado. No hay fin de hacer muchos libros; y el mucho estudio aflicción es de la carne.
13 This is the last word. All has been said. Have fear of God and keep his laws; because this is right for every man.
13 El fin de todo el discurso oído [es este]: Teme á Dios, y guarda sus mandamientos; porque esto es el todo del hombre.
14 God will be judge of every work, with every secret thing, good or evil.
14 Porque Dios traerá toda obra á juicio, [el cual se hará] sobre toda cosa oculta, buena ó mala.
Cross references (14)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Lamentations 3:27; Ecclesiastes 11:8; Psalm 71:17–18; Proverbs 22:6; Luke 18:16
- 2 Isaiah 5:30; 1 Samuel 4:15; 1 Samuel 4:18; 1 Samuel 3:2; Ezekiel 32:7–8
- 3 Psalm 90:9–10; Psalm 102:23; Genesis 48:10; 1 Samuel 3:2; Zechariah 8:4
- 4 Jeremiah 25:10; 2 Samuel 19:35; Revelation 18:22
- 5 Job 17:13; Jeremiah 9:17–20; Job 30:23; Proverbs 16:31; Psalm 71:18
- 6 Zechariah 4:2–3
- 7 Daniel 12:2; Ecclesiastes 3:20–21; Psalm 146:4; Genesis 3:19; Job 34:14–15
- 8 Ecclesiastes 1:2; Ecclesiastes 8:8; Ecclesiastes 6:12; Ecclesiastes 4:4; Psalm 62:9
- 9 Proverbs 1:1; 1 Kings 4:32; Proverbs 25:1; 1 Kings 10:8; Proverbs 10:1
- 10 Colossians 1:5; 1 Timothy 1:15; Proverbs 16:21–24; Proverbs 1:1–6; Proverbs 8:6–10
- 11 Jeremiah 23:29; Acts 2:37; Hebrews 4:12; Ezekiel 34:23; John 3:10
- 12 Ecclesiastes 1:18; John 21:25; 2 Peter 1:19–21; John 5:39; 1 Kings 4:32
- 13 Deuteronomy 10:12; Micah 6:8; Deuteronomy 6:2; Psalms 111:10–112:1; Psalm 145:19
- 14 2 Corinthians 5:10; Romans 2:16; Matthew 12:36; 1 Corinthians 4:5; Matthew 10:26
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
The almond tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall grow heavy, and the caper-berry shall be scattered abroad.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)