Ecclesiastes 11

Ecclesiastes 11:1

Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.

Bestow thy beneficence upon them, which are utterly unlikely ever to return it; for he, that seeth in secret, will, when thou hast forgotten it, restore it unto thee with a happy increase.

Ecclesiastes 11:2

Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.

Be not straight handed in thine alms, but give them liberally to all that have need; for thou knowest not how soon thou mayest have need of others’ bounty, nor how soon thou shalt be bereaved of an opportunity to give thine own.

Ecclesiastes 11:3

If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth; and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.

ECLESIASTES, CHAP. X. XI. As the clouds which are full of rain empty themselves upon earth, so the liberal heart that is full of bounty empties itself in seasonable contributions; and which way soever thou castest thy beneficence, whether to the south or north, thou shalt be sure there to find it, through God’s gracious remuneration, with advantage.

Ecclesiastes 11:4

He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.

Let not every circumstance of vain fear discourage thee from doing good and distributing: he, that is too curious to observe every wind that blows, shall never find opportunity to sow.

Ecclesiastes 11:5

As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.

As thou knowest not how or when the soul comes into the body; or how and by what degrees the child is formed, in all the several parts thereof, within the womb of the mother; so, much less canst thou know those secret works of God, which he will do in time to come.

Ecclesiastes 11:6

In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether, &c.

Be thou constant and assiduous in doing good, and desist not at any time: if one of thy endeavours succeed not, yet another may; and thou knowest not which of them may speed the best.

Ecclesiastes 11:7

Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun.

Indeed life is sweet, and light gives cheerfulness unto our life; it is a comfortable thing to enjoy the benefit thereof, which our eye sends into our soul.

Ecclesiastes 11:8

But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness: for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.

But let a man live, and enjoy both the light and all the pleasures and delights of this life, never so many years; yet, let him bethink himself of that darkness of death, and the grave whereinto he is entering, and consider the long continuance of that darkness, in comparison of this short and momentary life and light; he shall have no lust to surfeit of these things, but shall confess that all that comes is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 11:9

Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth.

Go to then, O thou vain young man, take thy full scope of pleasure in thy youth, &c. Deny nothing to thyself, that either thine eye seeth or thy heart desireth; live wantonly and jocundly; but be thou assured, that a day of reckoning will come, when, for all these wild and lawless courses of thine, God will call thee to a just and severe judgment.

Ecclesiastes 11:10

Therefore remove sorrow from thine heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.

Therefore strive to refrain all thy headstrong passions, and rid thyself of those vicious affections and dispositions whereto thou art subject; for thy childhood and youth, wherein thou now vainly rejoicest, are momentary things, gone and passed, ere thou canst find thou enjoyest them.