Ecclesiastes 11 English Standard Version
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.
3 If 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.
4 He who observes the wind will not sow,
and he who regards the clouds will not reap.
5 As 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.
6 In 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.
7 Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to (I)see the sun.
8 So 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.
10 Remove vexation from your heart, and (P)put away pain[c] from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 11:5 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Targum; most Hebrew manuscripts As you do not know the way of the wind, or how the bones grow in the womb
- Ecclesiastes 11:8 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also verse 10 (see note on 1:2)
- Ecclesiastes 11:10 Or evil
Cross references
- Ecclesiastes 11:1 : [Isa. 32:20]
- Ecclesiastes 11:1 : [Deut. 15:10; Prov. 19:17; Matt. 10:42; Luke 14:14; 2 Cor. 9:8; Gal. 6:9, 10; Heb. 6:10]
- Ecclesiastes 11:2 : [Ps. 112:9; Matt. 5:42; Luke 6:30; 1 Tim. 6:18, 19]
- Ecclesiastes 11:2 : Mic. 5:5; See Job 5:19; Prov. 6:16
- Ecclesiastes 11:2 : [Luke 16:9; Eph. 5:16]
- Ecclesiastes 11:5 : [ch. 1:6; John 3:8]
- Ecclesiastes 11:5 : See Ps. 139:13-16
- Ecclesiastes 11:6 : ch. 7:18
- Ecclesiastes 11:7 : ch. 6:5; 7:11
- Ecclesiastes 11:8 : [ch. 12:1, 2]
- Ecclesiastes 11:8 : ch. 2:23; See ch. 1:2
- Ecclesiastes 11:9 : [ch. 2:10; 9:7]
- Ecclesiastes 11:9 : [Num. 15:39; Job 31:7]
- Ecclesiastes 11:9 : ch. 6:9
- Ecclesiastes 11:9 : See ch. 12:14
- Ecclesiastes 11:10 : 2 Cor. 7:1; 2 Tim. 2:22
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
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