Ecclesiastes 11

Chapter 11

Cast Your Bread on the Waters

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

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

³If the clouds are full, they pour out 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 watches 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 activity of God who makes all things.

⁶Sow your seed ^ain the morning and do not ¹be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether ²morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.

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

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

⁹Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the ¹impulses of your heart and the ^2adesires of your eyes. Yet know that ^bGod will bring you to judgment for all these things.

¹⁰So, remove grief and anger from your heart and put away ^1apain from your body, because childhood and the prime of life are fleeting.