Ecclesiastes 11

Living in the Light of the Limits of Human Knowledge

11Send out your bread on the water,

for in many days you will find it.

²Divide your share in seven or in eight,

for you do not know what disaster will happen on the earth.

³When the clouds are full,

they empty rain on the earth.

Whether a tree falls to the south or whether it falls to the north,

the place where the tree falls—there it will be.

⁴Whoever watches the wind will not sow;

whoever watches the clouds will not reap.

⁵Just as you do not know how the path of the wind^a goes,

nor how the bones of a fetus form in a mother’s womb,

so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

⁶Sow your seed in the morning,

and do not let your hands rest in the evening,

for you do not know what will prosper—

whether this or that, or whether both of them alike will succeed.

Enjoy Life to the Fullest within the Auspices of the Fear of God

⁷The light is sweet,

and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.

⁸For if a man lives many years,

let him rejoice in all of them!

Let him remember that the days of the darkness will be many—

all that is coming is vanity!

⁹Rejoice, O young man, in your youth,

and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth!

Follow the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes—

but know that God will bring you into judgment for all these things.

¹⁰Banish anxiety from your heart,

and put away pain from your body,

for youth and vigor are vanity.