| New Living Translation | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1Send your grain across the seas, and in time, profits will flow back to you. | 1Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you will find it after many days. |
| 2But divide your investments among many places, for you do not know what risks might lie ahead. | 2Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth. |
| 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 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. |
| 4Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest. | 4He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not 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. | 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. |
| 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 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. |
| 7Light is sweet; how pleasant to see a new day dawning. | 7The light is pleasant, and it is good for 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. | 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. |
| 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, 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. |
| 10So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless. | 10So, remove grief and anger from your heart and put away pain from your body, because childhood and the prime of life are fleeting. |
| 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. | 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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