Ecclesiastes 12 (Final chapter)
verses 2 - 8
Jacques Ellul considers the first verse of
a grand finale; the author (Qohelet)
has his whole teaching in the closing / conclusion.
Reason For Being (1990) was
translated from French into
this book excerpt (pages 283-4).
___________________________
Before the sun becomes dim,
and the light, the moon,
and the stars, before the clouds
return after the rain; [verse 2]
on the day when the guardians of
the house will tremble, when
strong men will be bent down,
when the grinders will stop,
because they are too few,
when those (women) who look out
from the windows will grow dim, [3]
when both doors to the street will
be closed, on the day when the sound
of the mill fades away,
when one gets up to the cry of
the Sparrow, when all songs
grow faint; [verse 4]
and also one is afraid of heights.
He will find terrors in the way;
when the almond tree blossoms,
the grasshopper becomes weighed
down, and the caper_ loses its effect,
for a person is going toward his
eternal home and the mourners go about
in the streets; [verse 5]
before the silver cord comes undone,
or the golden bowl is shattered,
or the pitcher is broken at the
fountain, or the pulley at the
cistern is broken; [verse 6]
before the dust returns to the
earth as it was,
and the breath returns to God
who gave it. [verse 7]
Vanity of vanities, Qohelet said,
all is vanity! [verse 8]
This book, his commentary on the
Hebrew Bible writing titled usually
ECCLESIASTES, is one of Ellul's
more than 40 books. Eerdmans
published it in 1990 ISBN: 0802804055
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