{Or, Send forth}Cast thy bread {Hebrew: upon the face of the waters}upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days.
{Or, Divide a portion into seven, yea, even into eight}Give a portion to seven, yea, even unto eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.
If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth; and if a tree fall {Or, in}toward the south, or {Or, in}toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there shall it be.
He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.
As thou knowest not what is the way of the {Or, spirit}wind, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child; even so thou knowest not the work of God who doeth all.
In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand; for thou knowest not which shall prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.
Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun.
{Or, For}Yea, if a man live many years, let him rejoice in them all; {Or, and remember}but let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.
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, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.
Therefore remove {Or, vexation Or, provocation}sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.
Querverweise zu Prediger 11,6 Pred 11,6
Whatsoever thy hand {Or, attained to do by thy strength, that do}findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, whither thou goest.
For all this I laid to my heart, even to explore all this: that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God; whether it be love or hatred, man knoweth it not; all is before them.
For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, and giveth seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: {Hebrew: Set your heart on your ways.}Consider your ways.
Go up to the {Or, hill-country}mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith Jehovah.
Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did {Or, blow it away}blow upon it. Why? saith Jehovah of hosts. Because of my house that lieth waste, while ye run every man to his own house.
Therefore {Or, over you}for your sake the heavens withhold the dew, and the earth withholdeth its fruit.
And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the grain, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labor of the hands.
Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap according to kindness; break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek Jehovah, till he come and {Or, teach you rightousness}rain righteousness upon you.
I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the work of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith Jehovah.
Consider, I pray you, from this day and backward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, since the day that the foundation of Jehovah's temple was laid, consider it.
Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, the vine, and the fig-tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive-tree have not brought forth; from this day will I bless you.
And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed upon the earth;
and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and grow, he knoweth not how.
The earth {Or, yielded}beareth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
But when the fruit {Or, alloweth}is ripe, straightway he {Or, sendeth forth}putteth forth the sickle, because the harvest is come.
But now I will not be unto the remnant of this people as in the former days, saith Jehovah of hosts.
He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal; that he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.
For herein is the saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.
I sent you to reap that whereon ye have not labored: others have labored, and ye are entered into their labor.
For there shall be the seed of peace; the vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things.
But this I say, He that soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he that soweth {Greek: with blessings. Compare verse 5.}bountifully shall reap also {Greek: with blessings. Compare verse 5.}bountifully.
But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the {Many ancient authorities read Grecian Jews. See chapter 6:1.}Greeks also, {See marginal note on chapter 5:42.}preaching the Lord Jesus.
preach the word; be urgent in season, out of season; {Or, bring to the proof}reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number that believed turned unto the Lord.
What then is Apollos? and what is Paul? Ministers through whom ye believed; and each as the Lord gave to him.
I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
And he that supplieth seed to the sower and bread for food, shall supply and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness:
ye being enriched in everything unto all {Greek: singleness. Compare chapter 8:2.}liberality, which worketh through us thanksgiving to God.