Ecclesiastes 11
1 Send your bread out on the surface of the water, and many days later you will find it again.
Send out your bread on the waters, for you will find it again after many days.
2 Share what you own with seven or eight people, for you never know what disaster could happen.
Share it with seven, even eight people, for you do not know what disasters are coming on the earth.
3 When the clouds are full they pour rain down upon the earth. Whether a tree falls to the north or to the south, it stays where it fell.
If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth, and if a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, wherever the tree falls, there it will remain.
4 The farmer who pays attention to the direction of the wind knows when not to sow, and by watching the clouds knows when not to reap.
Anyone who watches the wind might not plant, and anyone who watches the clouds might not harvest.
5 Just as you don't know how the breath of life comes to the child in its mother's womb, so you can't understand the work of God, the Creator of everything.
As you do not know the path of the wind, nor how a baby's bones grow in the pregnant womb, so also you cannot comprehend the work of God, who created everything.
6 In the morning, sow your seed. In the evening, don't stop. For you have no way of knowing which crop will grow well—one may be profitable, or the other—or maybe both.
In the morning plant your seed; until the evening, work with your hands as needed, for you know not which will prosper, whether morning or evening, or this or that, or whether they will both alike be good.
7 How sweet it is to live in the light, to see the sun rise on another day.
Truly the light is sweet, and it is a pleasant thing for the eyes to see the sun.
8 May you live for many years, and may you enjoy them all. But remember there will many days of darkness, and all that is to come is uncertain.
If someone lives many years, let him be happy in all of them, but let him think about the coming days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything to come is vanishing vapor.
9 Young people, enjoy your youth! Be happy with what's good! While you're young, let your mind guide your life, and do as you think best. But remember that God will judge you for all your thoughts and actions.
Take joy, young man, in your youth, and let your heart be joyful in the days of your youth. Pursue the good desires of your heart, and whatever is within the sight of your eyes. However, know that God will bring you into judgment for all these things.
10 So don't let your mind worry, and avoid things that hurt your body. Even so, despite youth and enthusiasm, life is still so hard to understand!
Drive anger away from your heart, and ignore any pain in your body, because youth and its strength are vapor.
