Ecclesiastes Chapter 11
Showing all 10 verses for Ecclesiastes Chapter 11.
The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:
"Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. "
"Send your resources out generously, even onto open water where you can't see the outcome - because in time, they will come back to you."
Give generously without keeping score or demanding exact repayment - that kind of open-handed trust is its own reward, whether or not you ever see where it lands. Give, and it will be given back to you, pressed down and running over.
"Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth. "
"Spread what you give and invest across many people or ventures - seven, even eight - because you don't know what disaster might strike."
Don't let fear of losing it all stop you giving and investing widely in people and causes - hold what you have loosely, since none of us controls what tomorrow brings anyway. Spread your love and generosity as widely as you can.
"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. "
"When clouds are full, rain falls - that's simply how it works; and wherever a tree falls, north or south, that's where it stays."
Make peace with what you cannot control, and put your energy into what you can actually choose - like a farmer who scatters seed and then trusts the process rather than standing over it in anxiety.
"He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. "
"If you wait for perfect weather before planting, you'll never plant - and if you keep watching the sky, you'll never harvest."
Step out and act even without full certainty - the anxious, overcautious heart misses the very harvest life is offering. I told a story once about a servant who buried his gift out of fear rather than risk using it; don't be that servant.
"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. "
"Just as you don't understand how the breath of life works, or how a baby's bones form in the womb, so you can't fully understand what God is doing in the world."
You don't need to understand everything before you can trust and act well - some of the most important things about being alive were always going to stay beyond full explanation. Live with open hands rather than white knuckles.
"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 they both shall be alike good. "
"Plant your seed in the morning, and keep working right through the evening - because you don't know which effort will succeed, this one, that one, or maybe both."
Keep showing up and doing good, even when you can't predict which effort will succeed - some seed falls on good ground even when you can't tell which seed it'll be. Don't grow weary in doing good; the harvest comes in its own time.
"Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun: "
"Daylight really is sweet, and it's a genuine pleasure just to see the sun."
Notice and enjoy the plain, ordinary gift of being alive today - light, sight, breath, a sunrise. Don't let worry about tomorrow rob you of the sweetness that's actually available to you right now.
"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 even if someone lives many years and enjoys them all, they should still remember that the dark days - old age, decline, death - are coming, and there will be many of them. Everything that happens is fleeting, impossible to hold on to."
Let the awareness that this life is short deepen your gratitude rather than curdle it into fear - live fully aware of your mortality, and let that awareness make you love more urgently now, not less.
"Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. "
"Young person, enjoy your youth - let your heart be glad through these years, follow where your heart and eyes lead you. But know this: you will answer to God for everything you do."
Enjoy being young - genuinely, without guilt - laughter, friendship, discovery are gifts meant to be received. And live knowing your choices matter and are seen, not to frighten you, but to protect you from the things that would quietly enslave you later.
"Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity. "
"So let go of anxiety and bitterness in your heart, and turn away from things that harm you - because childhood and youth don't last; they're fleeting."
Don't let worry or self-destructive habits eat up these precious, limited years - choose freedom and genuine life while you still have the chance. I want you to have life, and have it abundantly, not weighed down by needless sorrow.