Cast Your Bread upon the Waters

¹fCast your bread upon the waters,

gfor you will find it after many days.

²hGive a portion to iseven, or even to eight,

jfor you know not what disaster may happen on earth.

³If 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.

⁴He who observes the wind will not sow,

and he who regards the clouds will not reap.

⁵As you do not know the way kthe spirit comes to lthe bones in the womb1 of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

⁶In the morning sow your seed, and at evening mwithhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.

⁷Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to nsee the sun.

⁸So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember othat the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is pvanity.2

⁹qRejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. rWalk in the ways of your heart and sthe sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things tGod will bring you into judgment.

¹⁰Remove vexation from your heart, and uput away pain3 from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.