Ecclesiastes 11

1Be generous: Invest in acts of charity.

Charity yields high returns.

2Don’t hoard your goods; spread them around.

Be a blessing to others. This could be your last night.

3-4When the clouds are full of water, it rains.

When the wind blows down a tree, it lies where it falls.

Don’t sit there watching the wind. Do your own work.

Don’t stare at the clouds. Get on with your life.

5Just as you’ll never understand

the mystery of life forming in a pregnant woman,

So you’ll never understand

the mystery at work in all that God does.

6Go to work in the morning

and stick to it until evening without watching the clock.

You never know from moment to moment

how your work will turn out in the end.

Before the Years Take Their Toll

7-8Oh, how sweet the light of day,

And how wonderful to live in the sunshine!

Even if you live a long time, don’t take a single day for granted.

Take delight in each light-filled hour,

Remembering that there will also be many dark days

And that most of what comes your way is smoke.

9You who are young, make the most of your youth.

Relish your youthful vigor.

Follow the impulses of your heart.

If something looks good to you, pursue it.

But know also that not just anything goes;

You have to answer to God for every last bit of it.

10Live footloose and fancy-free—

You won’t be young forever.

Youth lasts about as long as smoke.

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Ecclesiastes 11

1 Cast your bread on the waters;

for you shall find it after many days.

2 Give a portion to seven, yes, even to eight;

for you don’t know what evil will be on the earth.

3If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth;

and if a tree falls towards the south, or towards the north,

in the place where the tree falls, there shall it be.

4 He who observes the wind won’t sow;

and he who regards the clouds won’t reap.

5 As you don’t know what is the way of the wind,

nor how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child;

even so you don’t know the work of God who does all.

6 In the morning sow your seed,

and in the evening don’t withhold your hand;

for you don’t know which will prosper, whether this or that,

or whether they both will be equally good.

7Truly the light is sweet,

and it is a pleasant thing for the eyes to see the sun.

8 Yes, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all;

but let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many.

All that comes is vanity.

9 Rejoice, young man, in your youth,

and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth,

and 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 judgement.

10 Therefore remove sorrow from your heart,

and put away evil from your flesh;

for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

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