Ecclesiastes 11

Chapter 11

¹Cast your bread upon the waters,

for you will find it after many days.

²Give a portion to seven, or even to eight,

for you know not what evil may happen on earth.

³If 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.

⁴He who observes the wind will not sow;

and he who regards the clouds will not reap.

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

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

⁷Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun.

⁸For if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.

⁹Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

¹⁰Remove vexation from your mind, and put away pain from your body; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.