Ecclesiastes 12:8-11 in English

⁸ Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity.

⁹ And further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he pondered, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

¹⁰ The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written uprightly, even words of truth.

¹¹ The words of the wise are as goads; and as nails well fastened are the words of the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.

⁸ Vanity of vanities, said the Preacher; all is vanity.

⁹ And because the Preacher was wise above others, so it was that he taught man excellent knowledge, and the ear will trace out the parables.

¹⁰ The Preacher sought diligently to find out acceptable words, and a correct writing, even words of truth.

¹¹ The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails firmly fastened, which have been given from one shepherd by agreement.

⁸ Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.

⁹ And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

¹⁰ The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.

¹¹ The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.

⁸ Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.

⁹ And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

¹⁰ The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.

¹¹ The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.

⁸ Vanity of vanities, said the Preacher; all is vanity.

⁹ And because the Preacher was wise above others, so it was that he taught man excellent knowledge, and the ear will trace out the parables.

¹⁰ The Preacher sought diligently to find out acceptable words, and a correct writing, even words of truth.

¹¹ The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails firmly fastened, which have been given from one shepherd by agreement.

⁸ Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity.

⁹ And further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he pondered, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

¹⁰ The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written uprightly, even words of truth.

¹¹ The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails well fastened are the words of the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.

⁸ So I say again that it is difficult to understand why everything happens; everything is mysterious.

⁹ I was considered to be a very wise man, and I taught the people many things. I assembled/collected and wrote down many proverbs, and I carefully thought about and studied them.

¹⁰ I searched for the right words, and what I have written is reliable and true.

¹¹ The things that I and other wise people say teach people what they should do; they are like SIM ◄goads/sharp sticks that people use to strike animals to direct where they should go►. They are like SIM nails that stick out of pieces of wood. They are given to us by God, who is like MET our shepherd.

⁸ Vanity of vanities, said the Preacher; all is vanity.

⁹ And because the Preacher was wise above others, so it was that he taught man excellent knowledge, and the ear will trace out the parables.

¹⁰ The Preacher sought diligently to find out acceptable words, and a correct writing, even words of truth.

¹¹ The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails firmly fastened, which have been given from one shepherd by agreement.

⁸ “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher. “All is vanity!”

⁹ Further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge. Yes, he pondered, sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

¹⁰ The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written blamelessly, words of truth.

¹¹ The words of the wise are like goads; and like nails well fastened are words from the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.

⁸ “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher. “All is vanity!”

⁹ Further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge. Yes, he pondered, sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

¹⁰ The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written blamelessly, words of truth.

¹¹ The words of the wise are like goads; and like nails well fastened are words from the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.

⁸ “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher. “All is vanity!”

⁹ Further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge. Yes, he pondered, sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

¹⁰ The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written blamelessly, words of truth.

¹¹ The words of the wise are like goads; and like nails well fastened are words from the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.

⁸ All things are to no purpose, says the Preacher, all is to no purpose.

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.

¹⁰ The Preacher made search for words which were pleasing, but his writing was in words upright and true.

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.

⁸ Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher: all is vanity.

⁹ And moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; and he pondered, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

¹⁰ The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words; and that which was written is upright, words of truth.

¹¹ The words of the wise are as goads, and the collections of them as nails fastened in: they are given from one shepherd.

⁸ Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes, and all things are vanity.

⁹ And whereas Ecclesiastes was very wise, he taught the people, and declared the things that he had done: and seeking out, he set forth many parables.

¹⁰ He sought profitable words, and wrote words most right, and full of truth.

¹¹ The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails deeply fastened in, which by the counsel of masters are given from one shepherd.

⁸ “Everything passes! It's all so hard to understand!” says the Teacher.

⁹ Not only was the Teacher a wise man, he also taught what he knew to others. He thought about many proverbs, studying them and arranging them.

¹⁰ The Teacher looked for the best way to explain things, writing truthfully and honestly.

¹¹ The words of the wise are like cattle prods. Their collected sayings are like nails driven home, given by one shepherd.

⁸ Vanitie of vanities, saieth the Preacher, all is vanitie.

⁹ And the more wise the Preacher was, the more he taught the people knowledge, and caused them to heare, and searched foorth, and prepared many parables.

¹⁰ The Preacher sought to finde out pleasant wordes, and an vpright writing, euen the wordes of trueth.

¹¹ The wordes of the wise are like goads, and like nailes fastened by the masters of the assemblies, which are giuen by one pastour.

⁸ Vanity of vanities, saith Koheleth; all is vanity.

⁹ And besides that Koheleth was wise, he also taught the people knowledge; yea, he pondered, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

¹⁰ Koheleth sought to find out words of delight, and that which was written uprightly, even words of truth.

¹¹ The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails well fastened are those that are composed in collections; they are given from one shepherd.

⁸ Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity.

⁹ And moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

¹⁰ The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.

¹¹ The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.

⁸ Vanity of vanities, saith Koheleth: all is vanity.—

⁹ And in addition to this that Koheleth was wise, he continually also taught the people knowledge, and he probed, and searched out, and composed many proverbs.

¹⁰ Koheleth sought to find out acceptable words, and that which would be written down uprightly, even words of truth.

¹¹ The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails fastened are the words of the men of the assemblies, which are given by one shepherd.

⁸ Vanity of vanities, said the Preacher; All is vanity.

⁹ And because the Preacher was wise above others, So it was that he taught man excellent knowledge, And the ear will trace out the parables.

¹⁰ The Preacher sought diligently To find out acceptable words, And a correct writing, even words of truth.

¹¹ The words of the wise are as goads, And as nails firmly fastened, Which have been given from one shepherd by agreement.

⁸ Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity!

⁹ Moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he considered, and sought out, and set in order, many proverbs.

¹⁰ The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and to write correctly words of truth.

¹¹ The words of the wise are as goads; yea, as nails driven in are the words of members of assemblies, given by one shepherd.

⁸ “A mist of vapor,” says the Teacher, “everything is vanishing vapor.”

⁹ The Teacher was wise and he taught the people knowledge. He studied and contemplated and set in order many proverbs.

¹⁰ The Teacher sought to write using vivid, upright words of truth.

¹¹ The words of wise people are like goads. Like nails driven deeply are the words of the masters in collections of their proverbs, which are taught by one shepherd.

⁸ “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher. “All is vanity!”

⁹ Further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge. Yes, he pondered, sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

¹⁰ The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written blamelessly, words of truth.

¹¹ The words of the wise are like goads; and like nails well fastened are words from the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.

⁸ “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher. “All is vanity!”

⁹ Further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge. Yes, he pondered, sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

¹⁰ The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written blamelessly, words of truth.

¹¹ The words of the wise are like goads; and like nails well fastened are words from the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.

⁸ Vanity of vanities saith the preacher; all is vanity.

⁹ And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge: yes, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

¹⁰ The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.

¹¹ The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.

⁸ “Vanity of vanities,” says Kohelet. “All is vanity!”

⁹ Further, because Kohelet was wise, he still taught the people knowledge. Yes, he pondered, sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

¹⁰ The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written blamelessly, words of truth.

¹¹ The words of the wise are like goads; and like nails well fastened are words from the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.

⁸ “Vanity of vanities,” says Kohelet. “All is vanity!”

⁹ Further, because Kohelet was wise, he still taught the people knowledge. Yes, he pondered, sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

¹⁰ The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written blamelessly, words of truth.

¹¹ The words of the wise are like goads; and like nails well fastened are words from the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.

⁸ The vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes, the vanity of vanities, and all things be vanity. Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes, vanity of vanities, and all things vanity.

⁹ And when Ecclesiastes was most wise, he taught the people, and he told out the things which he did, and he sought out wisdom, and made many parables;

¹⁰ he sought profitable words, and he wrote most rightful or right words, and full of truth.

¹¹ The words of wise men be as pricks, and as nails fastened deep, which be given of one shepherd by the counsels of masters.

⁸ The vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes, the vanity of vanities, and all things be vanity. Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes, vanity of vanities, and all things vanity. (Emptiness and futility, said Ecclesiastes, yea, everything is emptiness and futility.)

⁹ And when Ecclesiastes was most wise (or And for Ecclesiastes was most wise), he taught the people, and he told out the things which he did, and he sought out wisdom, and made many parables;

¹⁰ he sought (out) profitable words, and he wrote most rightful words, and full of truth.

¹¹ The words of wise men be as pricks, and as nails fastened deep, which be given of one shepherd by the counsels of masters. (For the words of the wise be like pricks, and like nails driven deep, for they be given from the one Shepherd for the counsel of us all.)

⁸ Vanity of vanities, said the preacher, the whole is vanity.

⁹ And further, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge, and gave ear, and sought out — he made right many similes.

¹⁰ The preacher sought to find out pleasing words, and, written by the upright, words of truth.

¹¹ Words of the wise are as goads, and as fences planted by the masters of collections, they have been given by one shepherd.