path & light
Join the waitlist

Home › Bible verses › Ecclesiastes 12:13

Ecclesiastes 12:13

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”

Ecclesiastes 12:13, King James Version (KJV)

“This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.”

World English Bible (WEB)

Join the waitlistOpen in Path & Light
Read Ecclesiastes 12:13 in the NIV, ESV and 13 more Bibles, with study notes and the original Hebrew, in the Path & Light app.

Ecclesiastes 12 (KJV)

  1. 1Remember 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;
  2. 2While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:
  3. 3In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,
  4. 4And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;
  5. 5Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:
  6. 6Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.
  7. 7Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
  8. 8Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.
  9. 9And 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. 10The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.
  11. 11The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.
  12. 12And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
  13. 13Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
  14. 14For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Related verses

Passages that readers often connect with Ecclesiastes 12:13, in the King James Version.

  • Deuteronomy 10:12

    And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,

  • Micah 6:8

    He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

  • Deuteronomy 6:2

    That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.

  • Psalm 111:10–112:1

    The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever. …

  • Job 28:28

    And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

  • Psalm 145:19

    He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.

More verses about obedience

Study Ecclesiastes 12:13 in the app

Read it in the NIV, ESV and 13 more Bibles, see every related verse, and ask what it means. Join the waitlist and we’ll email you once, at launch.

Read our Privacy Policy for how we handle your email. One message at launch, nothing else.

1769 standardized text (eBible.org eng-kjv). Public domain outside the United Kingdom. Text courtesy of the Crosswire Bible Society and eBible.org. World English Bible Protestant Edition (eBible engwebp, 2026-09-15 snapshot). Public domain. World English Bible is a trademark of eBible.org. Text unmodified; footnotes and formatting omitted. Related verses: OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0), from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.