Common English Bible CEB
New Revised Standard NRS
1 Send your bread out on the water because, in the course of time, you may find it again.
1
Send out your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will get it back.
2 Give a portion to seven people, even to eight: you don't know what disaster may come upon the land.
2
Divide your means seven ways, or even eight, for you do not know what disaster may happen on earth.
3 If clouds fill up, they will empty out rain on the earth. If a tree falls, whether to the south or to the north, wherever it falls, there it will lie.
3
When clouds are full, they empty rain on the earth; whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.
4 Those who watch the wind blow will never sow, and those who observe the clouds will never reap.
4
Whoever observes the wind will not sow; and whoever regards the clouds will not reap.
5 Just as you don't understand what the life-breath does in the fetus inside a pregnant woman's womb, so you can't understand the work of God, who makes everything happen.
5
Just as you do not know how the breath comes to the bones in the mother's womb, so you do not know the work of God, who makes everything.
6 Scatter your seed in the morning, and in the evening don't be idle because you don't know which will succeed, this one or that, or whether both will be equally good.
6
In the morning sow your seed, and at evening do not let your hands be idle; for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.
7 Sweet is the light, and it's pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.
7
Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.
8 Even those who live many years should take pleasure in them all. But they should be mindful that there will also be many dark days. Everything that happens is pointless.
8
Even those who live many years should rejoice in them all; yet let them remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.
9 Rejoice, young person, while you are young! Your heart should make you happy in your prime. Follow your heart's inclinations and whatever your eyes see, but know this: God will call you to account for all of these things.
9
Rejoice, young man, while you are young, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Follow the inclination of your heart and the desire of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
10 Remove anxiety from your heart, banish pain from your body, because youth and the dawn of life are pointless too.
10
Banish anxiety from your mind, and put away pain from your body; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.