Eclesiastes 11

The Value of Diligence

1 Cast your bread *Is. 32:20upon the waters,

*(Deut. 15:10; Prov. 19:17; Matt. 10:42; 2 Cor. 9:8; Gal. 6:9, 10; Heb. 6:10)For you will find it after many days.

2 *Ps. 112:9; Matt. 5:42; Luke 6:30; (1 Tim. 6:18, 19)Give a serving *Mic. 5:5to seven, and also to eight,

*Eph. 5:16For you do not know what evil will be on the earth.

3 If the clouds are full of rain,

They empty themselves upon the earth;

And if a tree falls to the south or the north,

In the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie.

4 He who observes the wind will not sow,

And he who regards the clouds will not reap.

5 As *John 3:8you do not know what is the way of the wind,

*Ps. 139:14Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child,

So you do not know the works of God who makes everything.

6 In the morning sow your seed,

And in the evening do not withhold your hand;

For you do not know which will prosper,

Either this or that,

Or whether both alike willbe good.

7 Truly the light is sweet,

And itis pleasant for the eyes *Eccl. 7:11to behold the sun;

8 But if a man lives many years

And*Eccl. 9:7rejoices in them all,

Yet let him *Eccl. 12:1remember the days of darkness,

For they will be many.

All that is coming is vanity.

Seek God in Early Life

9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth,

And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth;

*Num. 15:39; Job 31:7; Eccl. 2:10Walk in the ways of your heart,

And in the sight of your eyes;

But know that for all these

*Eccl. 3:17; 12:14; (Rom. 14:10)God will bring you into judgment.

10 Therefore remove sorrow from your heart,

And *2 Cor. 7:1; 2 Tim. 2:22put away evil from your flesh,

*Ps. 39:5For childhood and youth are vanity.