Ecclesiastes 11

11 ¹ Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again. ² Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land. ^a a v2 A Hebrew expression meaning 'be generous and spread your resources widely.' ³ If the clouds are full, they pour out rain upon the earth; and if a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie. ⁴ Whoever watches the wind will never sow, and whoever studies the clouds will never reap.

⁵ Just as you do not know the path of the wind, or how the bones are formed in the womb of a pregnant woman, so you cannot know the work of God, who makes everything.

⁶ Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening do not let your hand rest, for you do not know which will succeed — this or that — or whether both alike will do well.

Light Is Sweet

⁷ Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.

⁸ So if a person lives many years, let them rejoice in them all; but let them remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything that comes is fleeting.

⁹ Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart give you gladness 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 into judgment.

¹⁰ So banish frustration from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are fleeting.