Ecclesiastes 11
11
Do Many Things to Succeed
1Sell your grain in the market overseas.
After a while you might earn something from it.
2Try to succeed by doing many things.
After all, you don’t know what great trouble might come on the land.
3Clouds that are full of water
pour rain down on the earth.
A tree might fall to the south or the north.
It will stay in the place where it falls.
4Anyone who keeps on watching the wind won’t plant seeds.
Anyone who keeps looking at the clouds won’t gather crops.
5You don’t know the path the wind takes.
You don’t know how a baby is made inside its mother.
So you can’t understand how God works either.
He made everything.
6In the morning plant your seeds.
In the evening keep your hands busy.
You don’t know what will succeed.
It may be one or the other.
Or both might do equally well.
Remember Your Creator While You Are Young
7Light is sweet.
People enjoy being out in the sun.
8No matter how many years anyone might live,
let them enjoy all of them.
But let them remember the dark days.
There will be many of those.
Nothing that’s going to happen will have any meaning.
9You young people, be happy while you are still young.
Let your heart be joyful while you are still strong.
Do what your heart tells you to do.
Go after what your eyes look at.
But I want you to know
that God will judge you for everything you do.
10So drive worry out of your heart.
Get rid of all your troubles.
Being young and strong doesn’t have any meaning.
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Ecclesiastes 11: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Ecclesiastes 11
11
Boldly Face the Future
1Do good things everywhere you go.# Literally, “Throw your bread upon the water.”
After a while the good you do will return to help you.
2Invest what you have in several different businesses.
You don’t know what bad things might happen on earth.
3If clouds are full of rain,
they will pour water on the earth.
A tree can fall to the north or south.
But it will stay where it falls.
4If a person waits for perfect weather,
he will never plant his seeds.
And if he is afraid that every cloud will bring rain,
he will never harvest his crops.
5You don’t know where the wind will blow.
And you don’t know how a baby grows in its mother’s body.
In the same way, God certainly made all things.
But you can’t understand what he is doing.
6Begin planting early in the morning,
and don’t stop working until evening.
This is because you don’t know which things you do will succeed.
It is even possible that everything you do will succeed.
Serve God While You Are Young
7It is good to be alive
to enjoy the light of day.
8A person ought to enjoy every day of his life.
This is true no matter how long he lives.
But he should also remember this:
You will be dead much longer than you live.
After you are dead, you accomplish nothing.
9Young people, enjoy yourselves while you are young.
Be happy while you are young.
Do whatever your heart desires.
Do whatever you want to do.
But remember that God will judge you
for everything you do.
10So avoid sorrow and sadness.
Forget about all the bad things that happen to you.
This is because the joys of youth pass quickly away.
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.