| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Send your grain across the seas, and in time, profits will flow back to you. | 1Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again. |
| 2But divide your investments among many places, for you do not know what risks might lie ahead. | 2Divide your portion among seven, or even eight, for you do not know what disaster may befall the land. |
| 3When clouds are heavy, the rains come down. Whether a tree falls north or south, it stays where it falls. | 3If the clouds are full, they will pour out rain upon the earth; whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie. |
| 4Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest. | 4He who watches the wind will fail to sow, and he who observes the clouds will fail to reap. |
| 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. | 5As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the bones are formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. |
| 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 | 6Sow your seed in the morning, and do not rest your hands in the evening, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or if both will equally prosper. |
| 7Light is sweet; how pleasant to see a new day dawning. | 7Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun. |
| 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. | 8So if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all. But let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything to come is futile. |
| 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. | 9Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment. |
| 10So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless. | 10So banish sorrow from your heart, and cast off pain from your body, for youth and vigor are fleeting. |
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