Ecclesiastes 12:3 (GNV)

Passage

When the keepers of ye house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow them selues, and the grinders shall cease, because they are few, and they waxe darke that looke out by ye windowes:

Nearby Context

Ecclesiastes 12:1 Remember nowe thy Creator in the daies of thy youth, whiles the euill daies come not, nor the yeeres approche, wherein thou shalt say, I haue no pleasure in them:

Ecclesiastes 12:2 Whiles the sunne is not darke, nor ye light, nor the moone, nor the starres, nor the cloudes returne after the raine:

Ecclesiastes 12:3 When the keepers of ye house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow them selues, and the grinders shall cease, because they are few, and they waxe darke that looke out by ye windowes:

Ecclesiastes 12:4 And the doores shall be shut without by the base sound of the grinding, and he shall rise vp at the voice of the birde: and all the daughters of singing shall be abased.

Ecclesiastes 12:5 Also they shalbe afraide of the hie thing, and feare shalbe in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grassehopper shall be a burden, and concupiscence shall be driuen away: for man goeth to the house of his age, and the mourners goe about in the streete.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "keepers", "house", "shall", "tremble", "strong", "selues", and "grinders". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "keepers" and "house", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "Whiles the sunne is not darke nor..." into verse 4's "And the doores shall be shut without...", so "keepers" and "house" belong inside that flow. In Ecclesiastes context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "keepers" and "house" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.