Ecclesiastes 11

1 Send out your bread on the waters, for you will find it again after many days.

Send forth your bread on the face of the waters, For in the multitude of the days you find it.

2 Share it with seven, even eight people, for you do not know what disasters are coming on the earth.

Give a portion to seven, and even to eight, For you do not know what evil is on the earth.

3 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.

If the thick clouds are full of rain, On the earth they empty [themselves]; And if a tree falls in the south or to the north, The place where the tree falls, there it is.

4 Anyone who watches the wind might not plant, and anyone who watches the clouds might not harvest.

Whoever is observing the wind does not sow, And whoever is looking on the thick clouds does not reap.

5 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.

As you do not know what [is] the way of the spirit, How—bones in the womb of the full one, So you do not know the work of God who makes the whole.

6 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.

In the morning sow your seed, And at evening do not withdraw your hand, For you do not know which is right, this or that, Or whether both of them alike [are] good.

7 Truly the light is sweet, and it is a pleasant thing for the eyes to see the sun.

Sweet also [is] the light, And good for the eyes to see the sun.

8 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.

But if man lives many years, In all of them let him rejoice, And remember the days of darkness, For they are many! All that is coming [is] vanity.

9 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.

Rejoice, O young man, in your childhood, And let your heart gladden you in days of your youth, And walk in the ways of your heart, And in the sight of your eyes, And know that for all these, God brings you into judgment.

10 Drive anger away from your heart, and ignore any pain in your body, because youth and its strength are vapor.

And turn aside anger from your heart, And cause evil to pass from your flesh, For the childhood and the age [are] vanity!