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Ecclesiastes · Literal Standard Version

Ecclesiastes 11 Literal Standard Version

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About LSV
  • Protestant
  • OT: Masoretic Hebrew
  • NT: Majority (Byzantine) text
  • Protestant (66 books)
  • Very literal
  • 2020
  • CC BY-SA 4.0

Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings

LSV Literal Standard Version
WEB World English Bible (Classic, with Deuterocanon)
1 Send forth your bread on the face of the waters, || For in the multitude of the days you find it.
1 Cast your bread on the waters; for you shall find it after many days.
2 Give a portion to seven, and even to eight, || For you do not know what evil is on the earth.
2 Give a portion to seven, yes, even to eight; for you don’t know what evil will be on the earth.
3 If the thick clouds are full of rain, || On the earth they empty [themselves]; And if a tree falls in the south or to the north, || The place where the tree falls, there it is.
3 If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth; and if a tree falls toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there shall it be.
4 Whoever is observing the wind does not sow, || And whoever is looking on the thick clouds does not reap.
4 He who observes the wind won’t sow; and he who regards the clouds won’t reap.
5 As you do not know what [is] the way of the spirit, || How—bones in the womb of the full one, || So you do not know the work of God who makes the whole.
5 As you don’t know what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child; even so you don’t know the work of God who does all.
6 In the morning sow your seed, || And at evening do not withdraw your hand, || For you do not know which is right, this or that, || Or whether both of them alike [are] good.
6 In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening don’t withhold your hand; for you don’t know which will prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both will be equally good.
7 Sweet also [is] the light, || And good for the eyes to see the sun.
7 Truly the light is sweet, and it is a pleasant thing for the eyes to see the sun.
8 But if man lives many years, || In all of them let him rejoice, || And remember the days of darkness, || For they are many! All that is coming [is] vanity.
8 Yes, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that comes is vanity.
9 Rejoice, O young man, in your childhood, || And let your heart gladden you in days of your youth, || And walk in the ways of your heart, || And in the sight of your eyes, || And know that for all these, God brings you into judgment.
9 Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and 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 into judgment.
10 And turn aside anger from your heart, || And cause evil to pass from your flesh, || For the childhood and the age [are] vanity!
10 Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.
Cross references (10)

Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.

  1. 1 Ecclesiastes 11:6; Proverbs 19:17; Matthew 10:42; Hebrews 6:10; 2 Corinthians 9:6
  2. 2 1 Timothy 6:18–19; Job 5:19; Psalm 112:9; Luke 6:30–35; Proverbs 6:16
  3. 3 Psalm 65:9–13; Isaiah 55:10–11; 1 John 3:17; Luke 13:7; 1 Kings 18:45
  4. 4 Proverbs 20:4; Proverbs 3:27; Proverbs 22:13
  5. 5 John 3:8; Psalm 92:5; Ecclesiastes 8:17; Romans 11:33; Isaiah 40:28
  6. 6 2 Corinthians 9:10–11; Isaiah 55:10; Haggai 1:6–11; Hosea 10:12; 2 Corinthians 9:6
  7. 7 Ecclesiastes 7:11; Matthew 5:45; Proverbs 15:30; Psalm 84:11; Job 33:30
  8. 8 John 12:35; Deuteronomy 32:29; Ecclesiastes 7:14; Joel 2:2; Job 14:10
  9. 9 Ecclesiastes 12:14; 1 John 2:15–16; Ecclesiastes 12:1; Ecclesiastes 3:17; Lamentations 3:27
  10. 10 2 Corinthians 7:1; 2 Timothy 2:22; Ecclesiastes 1:2; Ecclesiastes 1:14; Ecclesiastes 12:1

Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences

What the Fathers said

Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).

How these were chosen

“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).

  1. Quotes verse 11:9 Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures (Lecture XV)

    This coming of the Lord, and the end of the world, were known to the Preacher; who says, Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and the rest; Therefore remove anger from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh;...and remember thy Creator...or ever the evil days come,....or ever the sun, and the light, and the moon, and …

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)

  2. Quotes verse 11:2 John of Damascus, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith (Book IV, Chapters XXI–XXIII)

    Further, observe that the number seven denotes all the present time, as the most wise Solomon says, to give a portion to seven and also to eight.

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 9 (1899)