Ecclesiastes 11

New American Standard Bible

Cast Your Bread on the Waters

11 ^(A)Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you ^(B)will find it ^[a]after many days. ^2 (C)Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what ^(D)misfortune may occur on the earth. ³ If the clouds are full, they pour out rain on the earth; and whether a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, wherever the tree falls, there it ^[b]lies. ⁴ One who watches the wind will not sow and one who looks at the clouds will not harvest. ⁵ Just as you do not ^(E)know the path of the ^[c]wind, and ^(F)how bones are formed in the womb of the ^[d]pregnant woman, so you do not ^(G)know the activity of God who makes everything.

⁶ Sow your seed ^(H)in the morning and do not ^[e]be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether ^[f]one or the other will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.

⁷ The light is pleasant, and it is good for the eyes to ^(I)see the sun. ⁸ Indeed, if a person lives many years, let him ^(J)rejoice in them all; but let him remember the ^(K)days 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 ^[g]impulses of your heart and the ^[h](L)desires of your eyes. Yet know that ^(M)God will bring you to judgment for all these things. ¹⁰ So remove ^[i]sorrow from your heart and keep ^[j](N)pain away from your body, because childhood and the prime of life are ^[k]fleeting.