| Berean Study Bible | NET Bible |
| 1Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again. | 1Send your grain overseas, for after many days you will get a return. |
| 2Divide your portion among seven, or even eight, for you do not know what disaster may befall the land. | 2Divide your merchandise among seven or even eight investments, for you do not know what calamity may happen on earth. |
| 3If the clouds are full, they will pour out rain upon the earth; whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie. | 3If the clouds are full of rain, they will empty themselves on the earth, and whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, the tree will lie wherever it falls. |
| 4He who watches the wind will fail to sow, and he who observes the clouds will fail to reap. | 4He who watches the wind will not sow, and he who observes the clouds will not reap. |
| 5As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the bones are formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. | 5Just as you do not know the path of the wind, or how the bones form in the womb of a pregnant woman, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. |
| 6Sow your seed in the morning, and do not rest your hands in the evening, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or if both will equally prosper. | 6Sow your seed in the morning, and do not stop working until the evening; for you do not know which activity will succeed--whether this one or that one, or whether both will prosper equally. |
| 7Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun. | 7Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for a person to see the sun. |
| 8So if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all. But let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything to come is futile. | 8So, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all, but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many--all that is about to come is obscure. |
| 9Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment. | 9Rejoice, young man, while you are young, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes, but know that God will judge your motives and actions. |
| 10So banish sorrow from your heart, and cast off pain from your body, for youth and vigor are fleeting. | 10Banish emotional stress from your mind. and put away pain from your body; for youth and the prime of life are fleeting. |
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