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The Holy Bible

Current English Language Version

The Book of Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes Chapter 11

  

Diligence and Fate

1CAST your bread upon the waters,
for after many days you will find it again.

2 Give portions to seven, and even to eight,
for you do not know what disaster may happen on earth.

3 If clouds are full of rain,
they will empty themselves on the earth. Whether a tree falls toward the south or the north,
in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie. 4 Whoever watches the wind will not sow;
and whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

5 Just as you do not know the path of the wind,
or how the bones are formed in a mother’s womb, so you do not know the works of God,
who makes all things.

6 In the morning sow your seed,
and in the evening do not allow your hands to be idle, for you do not know which will prosper,
either this or that, or whether both alike will do equally well.

Remember God While You Are Young

7 Light is sweet,
and it is pleasing for the eyes to see the sun. 8 For if a man lives many years,
let him rejoice in them all. But let him remember the days of darkness,
for they will be many. Everything that comes is futile.

9 Be happy, young man, while you are young,
and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart
and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these things
God will bring you to judgment. 10 So remove sorrow from your heart,
and put away pain from your flesh, for youth and the prime of life are fleeting.