Ecclesiastes 11

CHAPTER 11

Cast Your Bread on the Waters

^1aCast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you ^bwill find it ¹after many days.

^2aDivide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what ^bcalamity may occur on the earth.

³If the clouds are full, they empty the rain upon the earth; and whether a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, wherever the tree falls, there it ¹lies.

⁴He who ¹watches the wind will not sow, and he who looks at the clouds will not reap.

⁵Just as you do not ^aknow ¹the path of the wind and ^bhow bones are formed in the womb of the ²pregnant woman, so you do not ^cknow the work of God who works all things.

⁶Sow your seed ^ain the morning and do not put your hands down in the evening, for you do not know whether ¹morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.

⁷The light is sweet, and it is good for the eyes to ^asee the sun.

⁸Indeed, if a man should live many years, let him ^abe glad in them all, and let him remember the ^bdays of darkness, for they will be many. Everything that is to come will be vanity.

⁹Be glad, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be merry during the days of young manhood. And walk in the ways of your heart and in the ^asights of your eyes. Yet know that ^bGod will bring you to judgment for all these things.

¹⁰So, remove vexation from your heart and put away ^aevil from your flesh because childhood and the prime of life are vanity.