Chapter 11

Cast Your Bread on the Waters

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

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

3 If 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.

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

5 Just 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.

6 Sow 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.

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

8 Indeed, 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.

9 Rejoice, 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.

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

Chapter 12

Remember God in Your Youth

1 aRemember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the bevil days come and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no delight in them”;

2 before the asun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened, and clouds return after the rain;

3 in the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, and mighty men astoop, the grinding ones stand idle because they are few, and bthose who look through 1windows grow dim;

4 and the doors on the street are shut as the asound of the grinding mill is low, and one will arise at the sound of the bird, and all the bdaughters of song will 1sing softly.

5 Furthermore, 1men are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags himself along, and the caperberry is ineffective. For man goes to his eternal ahome while bmourners go about in the street.

6 Remember Him before the silver cord is 1broken and the agolden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed;

7 then the adust will return to the earth as it was, and the 1bspirit will return to cGod who gave it.

8 “aVanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “all is vanity!”

Purpose of the Preacher

9 In addition to being a wise man, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge; and he pondered, searched out and arranged amany proverbs.

10 The Preacher sought to find adelightful words and to write bwords of truth correctly.

11 The awords of wise men are like bgoads, and masters of these collections are like 1well-driven cnails; they are given by one Shepherd.

12 But beyond this, my son, be warned: the 1writing of amany books is endless, and excessive bdevotion to books is wearying to the body.

13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: afear God and bkeep His commandments, because this applies to cevery person.

14 For aGod will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.

The Song of

SOLOMON