LEB ECC Chapter 11

Living in the Light of the Limits of Human Knowledge

• 11 Send out your bread on the water,
  • for in many days you will find it.
• 2 Divide your share in seven or in eight,
  • for you do not know what disaster will happen on the earth.
• 3 When the clouds are full,
  • they empty rain on the earth.
• Whether a tree falls to the south or whether it falls to the north,
  • the place where the tree falls—there it will be.
• 4 Whoever watches the wind will not sow;
  • whoever watches the clouds will not reap.
• 5 Just as you do not know how the path of the wind[fn] goes,
  • nor how the bones of a fetus form in a mother’s womb,
• so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.
• 6 Sow your seed in the morning,
  • and do not let your hands rest in the evening,
• for you do not know what will prosper—
  • whether this or that, or whether both of them alike will succeed.

Enjoy Life to the Fullest within the Auspices of the Fear of God

• 7 The light is sweet,
  • and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.
• 8 For if a man lives many years,
  • let him rejoice in all of them!
• Let him remember that the days of the darkness will be many—
  • all that is coming is vanity!
• 9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth,
  • and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth!
• Follow the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes—
  • but know that God will bring you into judgment for all these things.
• 10 Banish anxiety from your heart,
  • and put away pain from your body,
• for youth and vigor are vanity.