Ecclesiastes 11
The Message
11 Be generous: Invest in acts of charity.
Charity yields high returns.
2 Don’t hoard your goods; spread them around.
Be a blessing to others. This could be your last night.
3-4 When 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.
5 Just 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.
6 Go 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
7-8 Oh, 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.
9 You 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.
10 Live footloose and fancy-free—
You won’t be young forever.
Youth lasts about as long as smoke.
Ecclesiastes 11
New American Standard Bible
Cast Your Bread on the Waters
11 (A)Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you (B)will find it [a]after many days. 2 (C)Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what (D)misfortune may occur on the earth. 3 If the clouds are full, they pour out rain on the earth; and whether a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, wherever the tree falls, there it [b]lies. 4 One who watches the wind will not sow and one who looks at the clouds will not harvest. 5 Just as you do not (E)know the path of the [c]wind, and (F)how bones are formed in the womb of the [d]pregnant woman, so you do not (G)know the activity of God who makes everything.
6 Sow your seed (H)in the morning and do not [e]be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether [f]one or the other will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.
7 The light is pleasant, and it is good for the eyes to (I)see the sun. 8 Indeed, if a person lives many years, let him (J)rejoice in them all; but let him remember the (K)days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything that is to come will be futility.
9 Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the [g]impulses of your heart and the [h](L)desires of your eyes. Yet know that (M)God will bring you to judgment for all these things. 10 So remove [i]sorrow from your heart and keep [j](N)pain away from your body, because childhood and the prime of life are [k]fleeting.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 11:1 Lit in, within
- Ecclesiastes 11:3 Lit is
- Ecclesiastes 11:5 Or with many mss spirit into the bones in the womb
- Ecclesiastes 11:5 Lit full
- Ecclesiastes 11:6 Lit let down your hand
- Ecclesiastes 11:6 Lit this or that
- Ecclesiastes 11:9 Lit ways
- Ecclesiastes 11:9 Lit sights
- Ecclesiastes 11:10 Or anger
- Ecclesiastes 11:10 Lit evil
- Ecclesiastes 11:10 Lit futility
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
