See in Reader
79 lines
2.8 KiB
Plaintext
79 lines
2.8 KiB
Plaintext
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\s5
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\c 12
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\q1
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\v 1 While you are still young, keep thinking about God, who created you.
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\q2 Do that before you are old and you experience many troubles,
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\q1 during the years when you say,
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\q2 "I no longer enjoy being alive."
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\q1
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\v 2 When you become old, the light from the sun and moon and stars will seem dim to you,
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\q2 and it will seem that the rain clouds always return quickly after it rains.
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\s5
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\q1
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\v 3 Then your arms that you use to protect yourself,
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\q2 and your legs that support your body will become weak.
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\q1 Many of the teeth that you use to grind your food will fall out,
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\q2 and your eyes that you use to look out of windows will not see clearly.
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\s5
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\q1
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\v 4 Your ears will no longer hear the noise in the streets,
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\q2 and you will no longer be able to hear clearly the sound of people grinding grain with millstones.
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\q1 You will be awakened in the morning by hearing the birds singing,
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\q2 but you will not be able to hear well the songs that the birds sing.
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\s5
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\q1
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\v 5 You will be afraid to be in high places
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\q2 and afraid of dangers on the roads that you walk on.
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\q1 Your hair will become white like the flowers of almond trees.
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\q2 When you try to walk, you will drag yourself along like grasshoppers,
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\q2 and you will no longer desire a woman at all.
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\q1 Then you will die and go to your eternal home,
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\q2 and the people who will mourn for you will be in the streets.
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\q1
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\s5
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\v 6 Think much about God now, because soon our lives will end,
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\q2 like silver chains or golden bowls that break easily,
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\q1 or like pitchers that are broken at the water fountain,
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\q2 or like broken pulleys at a well.
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\q1
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\v 7 Then our corpses will decay and become dirt again,
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\q2 and our spirits will return to God, the one who gave us our spirits.
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\b
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\s5
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\q1
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\v 8 So I, the Teacher, say again that everything is temporary and useless.
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\p
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\v 9 I, the Teacher, was considered to be a very wise man, and I taught the people many things. I assembled and wrote down many proverbs, and I carefully thought about them and put them in order.
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\s5
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\v 10 I searched for words that would be pleasing to hear, and what I have written is reliable and true.
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\p
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\v 11 The things that I and other wise people say teach people what they should do. They are like our shepherd.
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\s5
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\v 12 So, my son, pay careful attention to what I have written, and choose carefully what you read that others have written. This work of writing many books is endless. Trying to study them all will be an endless task.
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\b
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\s5
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\q1
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\v 13 Now you have heard all that I have told you,
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\q2 and here is the conclusion:
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\q1 Revere God, and obey his commandments,
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\q2 because those commandments summarize everything that people should do.
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\q1
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\v 14 And do not forget that God will judge everything that we do,
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\q2 good things and bad things,
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\q2 even things that we do secretly.
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