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The Uncertainties of Life

11 Send your grain across the seas,
    and in time, profits will flow back to you.[a]
But divide your investments among many places,[b]
    for you do not know what risks might lie ahead.

When clouds are heavy, the rains come down.
    Whether a tree falls north or south, it stays where it falls.

Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant.
    If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.

Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb,[c] so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.

Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.

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Footnotes

  1. 11:1 Or Give generously, / for your gifts will return to you later. Hebrew reads Throw your bread on the waters, / for after many days you will find it again.
  2. 11:2 Hebrew among seven or even eight.
  3. 11:5 Some manuscripts read Just as you cannot understand how breath comes to a tiny baby in its mother’s womb.

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