Ecclesiastes 11 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

The Uncertainties of Life

Ecc 11:1

Ecc 11:1Send your grain across the seas,
and in time, profits will flow back to you.[fn]

Ecc 11:2

Ecc 11:2But divide your investments among many places,[fn]
for you do not know what risks might lie ahead.

Ecc 11:3

Ecc 11:3When clouds are heavy, the rains come down.
Whether a tree falls north or south, it stays where it falls.

Ecc 11:4

Ecc 11:4Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant.
If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.

Ecc 11:5

Ecc 11:5Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb,[fn] so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.

Ecc 11:6

Ecc 11:6Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.

Advice for Young and Old

Ecc 11:7

Ecc 11:7Light is sweet; how pleasant to see a new day dawning.

Ecc 11:8

Ecc 11:8When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life. But let them also remember there will be many dark days. Everything still to come is meaningless.

Ecc 11:9

Ecc 11:9Young people,[fn] it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do.

Ecc 11:10

Ecc 11:10So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless.

See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NLT Footnotes

(11:1)

Or Give generously, / for your gifts will return to you later. Hebrew reads Throw your bread on the waters, / for after many days you will find it again.

(11:2)

Hebrew among seven or even eight.

(11:5)

Some manuscripts read Just as you cannot understand how breath comes to a tiny baby in its mother’s womb.

(11:9)

Hebrew Young man.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

Ecclesiastes Chapter 11 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras

Ecclesiastes 11 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

NLT Footnotes

Ecclesiastes Chapter 11 — Additional Translations:

Did You Know BLB Is User Supported?