Ecc 11:1-12:8 | ESV | STEP | Cast your bread upon the waters , for you will find it after many days .

Ecclesiastes 11

Cast Your Bread upon the Waters

1 ^aCast your bread upon the waters,
^bfor you will find it after many days.
2 ^cGive a portion to ^dseven, or even to eight,
^efor 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 ^fthe spirit comes to ^gthe bones in the womb ^{▼▼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} 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 ⁱwithhold 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 ^jsee the sun.

8 So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember ^kthat the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is ^lvanity. ^{▼▼The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also verse 10 (see note on 1:2)}

9 ⁿRejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. ^oWalk in the ways of your heart and ^pthe sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things ^qGod will bring you into judgment.

10 Remove vexation from your heart, and ^rput away pain ^{▼▼Or evil} from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

Ecclesiastes 12:1-8

Remember Your Creator in Your Youth

1 Remember also your Creator in ^tthe days of your youth, before ^uthe evil days come and the years draw near of which ^vyou will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; 2 before ^wthe sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, 3 in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and ^xthose who look through the windows are dimmed, 4 and ^ythe doors on the street are shut—when ^zthe sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all ^aathe daughters of song are brought low— 5 they are afraid also of what is high, and ^abterrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, ^{▼▼Or is a burden} and desire fails, because man is going to his ^adeternal ^aehome, and the ^afmourners go about the streets— 6 before the silver cord is snapped, or ^agthe golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is ^ahshattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7 and ^aithe dust returns to the earth as it was, and ^ajthe spirit returns to God ^akwho gave it. 8 ^alVanity ^{▼▼The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (three times in this verse); see note on 1:2} of vanities, says ^anthe Preacher; all is vanity.