| International Standard Version | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1Spread your bread on the water— after a while you will find it. | 1Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you will find it after many days. |
| 2Apportion what you have into seven, or even eight parts, because you don't know what disaster might befall the land. | 2Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth. |
| 3If the clouds are full of rain, they will pour out on the earth; if a tree falls toward the south or the north, wherever it falls, there it will lay. | 3If 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 lies. |
| 4Whoever keeps staring at the wind won't sow; whoever daydreams won't reap. | 4He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap. |
| 5Just as you do not understand the way of the spirit in the womb of a pregnant mother, so also you do not know what God is doing in everything he makes. | 5Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things. |
| 6Sow your seed in the morning, and don't stop working until evening, since you don't know which of your endeavors will do well, whether this one or that, or even if both will do equally well. | 6Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good. |
| 7How sweet is the daylight, and how pleasant it is for someone's eyes to behold the sunshine! | 7The light is pleasant, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun. |
| 8Even if a person lives many years, let him enjoy them all, recalling that there will be many days of darkness to come—all of which are pointless. | 8Indeed, if a man should live many years, let him rejoice in them all, and let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything that is to come will be futility. |
| 9So enjoy yourself in your youth, young man, and be encouraged during your younger days. Live as you like, consistent with your world view, but keep in mind that God will bring you to account for everything. | 9Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things. |
| 10Banish sorrow from your heart, and evil from your body, since both childhood and the prime of life are pointless. | 10So, remove grief and anger from your heart and put away pain from your body, because childhood and the prime of life are fleeting. |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org |
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