| International Standard Version | New International Version |
| 1Spread your bread on the water— after a while you will find it. | 1Ship your grain across the sea; after many days you may receive a return. |
| 2Apportion what you have into seven, or even eight parts, because you don't know what disaster might befall the land. | 2Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land. |
| 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 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 keeps staring at the wind won't sow; whoever daydreams won't reap. | 4Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever 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. | 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 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 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. |
| 7How sweet is the daylight, and how pleasant it is for someone's eyes to behold the sunshine! | 7Light is sweet, and it pleases 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 10Banish sorrow from your heart, and evil from your body, since both childhood and the prime of life are pointless. | 10So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless. |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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