Ecclesiastes 12:1

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of adversity come and the years approach of which you will say, “I find no pleasure in them,”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The Preacher (Qoheleth) addresses a general audience, issuing a command framed as a warning about the approaching loss of pleasure in life.

The words — בּוֹרְאֶיךָ (bor.'ei.kha, "your Creator") draws on the root barah, the verb reserved for God's creative act, distinguishing this address from a generic "remember God."

The thread — Ecclesiastes 11:8 pairs joy in one's years with remembering the days of darkness to come; Lamentations 3:27 urges bearing the yoke while still young; Psalms 71:17 testifies to being taught from youth.

Why it lands — It is a command, not a suggestion: orient your life toward God now, while capacity and pleasure remain, because the text does not promise the window will stay open.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וּזְכֹר֙u./ze.Khorand/ remember אֶת־'et-<obj.>בּ֣וֹרְאֶ֔יךָbor.'Ei./khacreator<s>/ your בִּימֵ֖יbi./Meiin/ [the] days of בְּחוּרֹתֶ֑יךָbe.chu.ro.Tei./khayouth<s>/ your עַ֣ד'aduntil אֲשֶׁ֤ר'a.Sherthat לֹא־lo'-not יָבֹ֙אוּ֙ya.Vo.'uthey will come יְמֵ֣יye.Mei[the] days of הָֽרָעָ֔הha./ra.'Ah<the>/ evil וְהִגִּ֣יעוּve./hi.Gi.'uand/ they will arrive שָׁנִ֔יםsha.Nimyears אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.Sherwhich תֹּאמַ֔רto.Maryou will say אֵֽין־'ein-notלִ֥יl/i[belongs] to <the>/ meבָהֶ֖םva./Hemin <the>/ themחֵֽפֶץ׃Che.fetzpleasure

King James Version

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

Cross-references

Lamentations 3:27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is still young.
Ecclesiastes 11:8 So if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all. But let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything to come is futile.
Psalms 71:17 O God, You have taught me from my youth, and to this day I proclaim Your marvelous deeds.
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
Luke 18:16 But Jesus called the children to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
Psalms 34:11 Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
2 Timothy 3:15 From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
1 Samuel 16:12 So Jesse sent for his youngest son and brought him in. He was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the LORD said, “Rise and anoint him, for he is the one.”
Psalms 90:10 The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty if we are strong—yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
Ecclesiastes 11:10 So banish sorrow from your heart, and cast off pain from your body, for youth and vigor are fleeting.