Ecclesiastes 11:2-10

2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil there shall be upon the earth.

3 If the clouds be filled with rain, they pour out upon the earth: and if a tree fall southward, or if it fall northward, in the place where the tree shall fall, there it shall be.

4 He that observes the wind sows not; and he that looks at the clouds will not reap.

5 Among whom none knows what is the way of the wind: as the bones in the womb of a pregnant , so thou shalt not know the works of God, all things whatsoever he shall do.

6 In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening let not thine hand be slack: for thou knowest not what sort shall prosper, whether this or that, or whether both shall be good alike.

7 Moreover the light is sweet, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun.

8 For even if a man should live many years, rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that comes is vanity.

9 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 thy heart blameless, but not in the sight of thine eyes: yet know that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.

10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for youth and folly are vanity.

Ecclesiastes 11:2-10 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ECCLESIASTES 11

This chapter begins with an exhortation to liberality to the poor, enforced by several reasons and arguments, and the objections to it removed; and the whole illustrated by various similes, Ec 11:1-6; and then it is observed, that a life attended with outward prosperity and inward peace, and spent in doing good, is very delightful, and very desirable it is to have it continued; yet it should be remembered this will not be always, that many days of darkness in the grave will come; and after all the whole of a man's life is vanity, as is often inculcated, Ec 11:7,8; and the chapter is closed with an ironic address to young men, designed to show them the folly and danger of sinful courses, to reform them from them, and to put them in mind of a future judgment, Ec 11:9,10.