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Ecclesiastes 11 English Standard Version (ESV)

Cast Your Bread upon the Waters

11 ^(A)Cast your bread upon the waters,
    ^(B)for you will find it after many days.
²^(C)Give a portion to ^(D)seven, or even to eight,
    ^(E)for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.
³If the clouds are full of rain,
    they empty themselves on the earth,
and if a tree falls to the south or to the north,
    in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.
⁴He who observes the wind will not sow,
    and he who regards the clouds will not reap.

⁵As you do not know the way ^(F)the spirit comes to ^(G)the bones in the womb^[a] of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

⁶In the morning sow your seed, and at evening ^(H)withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.

⁷Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to ^(I)see the sun.

⁸So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember ^(J)that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is ^(K)vanity.^[b]

⁹^(L)Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. ^(M)Walk in the ways of your heart and ^(N)the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things ^(O)God will bring you into judgment.

¹⁰Remove vexation from your heart, and ^(P)put away pain^[c] from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

English Standard Version (ESV)