1
1Cast your bread upon the waters, 2for you will find it after many days.
2
3Give a portion to 4seven, or even to eight, 5for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.
3
If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth, and if a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.
4
He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.
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As you do not know the way 6the spirit comes to 7the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.
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In the morning sow your seed, and at evening 8withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.
7
Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to 9see the sun.
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So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember 10that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is 11vanity.
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12Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. 13Walk in the ways of your heart and 14the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things 15God will bring you into judgment.
10
Remove vexation from your heart, and 16put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.