Ecclesiastes 11

Ignorance of the Future Demands Diligence in the Present

11:1 Send¹ your grain² overseas,³

for after many days you will get a return.⁴

11:2 Divide your merchandise⁵ among seven or even eight⁶ investments,⁷

for you do not know⁸ what calamity⁹ may happen on earth.

11:3 If the clouds are full of rain, they will empty themselves on the earth,

and whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, the tree will lie wherever it falls.

11:4 He who watches the wind will not sow,

and he who observes the clouds will not reap.¹⁰

11:5 Just as you do not know the path¹¹ of the wind,

or how the bones form¹² in the womb of a pregnant woman,¹³

so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

11:6 Sow your seed in the morning,

and do not stop working¹⁴ until the evening;¹⁵

for you do not know which activity¹⁶ will succeed¹⁷ –

whether this one or that one, or whether both will prosper equally.¹⁸

Life Should Be Enjoyed Because Death is Inevitable

11:7 Light¹⁹ is sweet,²⁰

and it is pleasant for a person²¹ to see the sun.²²

11:8 So, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all,

but let him remember that the days of darkness²³ will be many – all that is about to come is obscure.²⁴

Enjoy Life to the Fullest under the Fear of God

11:9 Rejoice, young man, while you are young,²⁵

and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth.

Follow the impulses²⁶ of your heart and the desires²⁷ of your eyes,

but know that God will judge your motives and actions.²⁸

11:10 Banish²⁹ emotional stress³⁰ from your mind.³¹

and put away pain³² from your body;³³

for youth³⁴ and the prime of life³⁵ are fleeting.³⁶

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