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.
Ecclesiastes 11
11
The Value of Diligence
1#Pr 19:17; Mt 10:42; Heb 6:10 Cast your bread upon the waters,
for you will find it after many days.
2#Ps 112:9; 1Ti 6:18–19 Give a portion to seven, or even eight,
for you do not know what calamity may happen on the earth.
3If the clouds are full of rain,
they empty out on the land;
and if a tree falls to the north or south,
in the place that the tree falls, there it will be.
4He who observes the wind will not sow,
and he who regards the clouds will not reap.
5#Jn 3:8; Ecc 8:17 As you do not know the way of the wind,
or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child;
likewise you do not know the work of God
who has made everything.
6#Ecc 9:10 In the morning sow your seed,
and in the evening do not let your hand rest;
because you do not know which activity will find success,
this way or that way,
or if the both will be good.
Remember Your Creator in Your Youth
7#Ecc 7:11 Light is sweet,
and good for the eyes to see the sun;
8for if a man lives many years,
may he rejoice in all of them.
But let him also remember
that the days of darkness are many.
Everything that comes is vanity.
9#Ecc 12:14; Job 31:7 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth,
and in your early years may your heart do you good;
walk in the path of your heart
and the desire of your eyes;
but know that in all these things
God will bring you into judgment.
10#2Co 7:1; 2Ti 2:22 Take away anger from your heart,
and remove distress from your body,
for youth and the dawn are vanity.
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