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
Wisdom of the Long View
1Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it.
2Give portions to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what disaster may happen upon the earth.
3If the clouds are full, they empty out rain upon the earth. Whether a tree falls to south or north, the tree lies wherever it falls.
4Whoever keeps watching the wind will not sow and whoever gazes at the clouds will not reap.
5Just as you do not know how the spirit passes into the bones in the womb of a pregnant woman, so you do not know the work of God who makes all things.
6In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not let your hand be idle, for you do not know if this or that will succeed, or if both will prosper together.
7Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.
8For if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all. But let him remember the days of darkness— for there will be many. Everything to come is obscure.
9Rejoice, young man, in your childhood, 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.
10So banish anxiety from your heart and cast off distress from your body, for youth and prime of life are fleeting.
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Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society