| English Standard Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. | 1Send your grain across the seas, and in time, profits will flow back to you. |
| 2Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth. | 2But divide your investments among many places, for you do not know what risks might lie ahead. |
| 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. | 3When clouds are heavy, the rains come down. Whether a tree falls north or south, it stays where it falls. |
| 4He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. | 4Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest. |
| 5As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. | 5Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things. |
| 6In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good. | 6Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both. Advice for Young and Old |
| 7Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. | 7Light is sweet; how pleasant to see a new day dawning. |
| 8So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity. | 8When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life. But let them also remember there will be many dark days. Everything still to come is meaningless. |
| 9Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. | 9Young people, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do. |
| 10Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. | 10So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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