Ecc 11 | NASB1995 | STEP | Cast your bread on the surface of the waters , for you will find it after many days .

Ecclesiastes 11

Cast Your Bread on the Waters

1 ^aCast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you ^bwill find it ^{▼▼ Lit in, within}after many days. 2 ^dDivide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what ^emisfortune may occur on the earth. 3 If the clouds are full, they pour out rain upon the earth; and whether a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, wherever the tree falls, there it ^{▼▼ Lit is}lies. 4 He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap. 5 Just as you do not ^gknow ^{▼▼ Or with many mss how the spirit enters the bones in the womb}the path of the wind and ⁱhow bones are formed in the womb of the ^{▼▼ Lit full}pregnant woman, so you do not ^kknow the activity of God who makes all things.

6 Sow your seed ^lin the morning and do not ^{▼▼ Lit let down your hand}be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether ^{▼▼ Lit this or that}morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.

7 The light is pleasant, and it is good for the eyes to ^osee the sun. 8 Indeed, if a man should live many years, let him ^prejoice in them all, and let him remember the ^qdays 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 ^{▼▼ Lit ways}impulses of your heart and the ^{▼▼ Lit sights
,} ^tdesires of your eyes. Yet know that ^uGod will bring you to judgment for all these things. 10 So, remove grief and anger from your heart and put away ^{▼▼ Lit evil
,} ^wpain from your body, because childhood and the prime of life are fleeting.