Ecclesiastes 11
New International Version
Chapter overview
Give generously and diversify wisely because disaster cannot be predicted. Those who wait for perfect conditions will never sow or reap, so work faithfully morning and evening. Light and youth are joyful gifts, but every season should be lived with accountability before God.
GenerosityUncertaintyDiligenceJoyAccountability
1Ship your grain across the sea; after many days you may receive a return.
2Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.
3If clouds are full of water, they pour rain on the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie.
4Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.
5As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.
6Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.
7Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.
8However many years anyone may live, let them enjoy them all. But let them remember the days of darkness, for there will be many. Everything to come is meaningless.
9You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
10So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless.
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Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Text unchanged, provided through API.Bible.