Ecclesiastes 10:16–11:6

16  zWoe to you, O land, when your king is a child,

and your princes feast in the morning!

17  Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility,

and your princes feast at the proper time,

for strength, and not for adrunkenness!

18  Through sloth the roof sinks in,

and through indolence the house leaks.

19  Bread is made for laughter,

and bwine gladdens life,

and cmoney answers everything.

20  Even in your thoughts, ddo not curse the king,

nor in your ebedroom curse the rich,

for a bird of the air will carry your voice,

or some winged creature tell the matter.

Cast Your Bread upon the Waters

11 fCast your bread upon the waters,

gfor you will find it after many days.

2  hGive a portion to iseven, or even to eight,

jfor you know not what disaster may happen on earth.

3  If the clouds are full of rain,

they empty themselves on the earth,

and if a tree falls to the south or to the north,

in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.

4  He who observes the wind will not sow,

and he who regards the clouds will not reap.

5 As you do not know the way kthe spirit comes to lthe bones in the womb1 of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening mwithhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.