Ecclesiastes 11
Don’t wait, just do it
Go a little crazy
1Take a risk and do something crazy.Throw some bread in the water. [1]
You’ll get it back. You’ll see.
2But don’t toss all your loaves in the sea.
Divide them up and spread them around.
Put them in seven or eight places,
Just in case something bad comes down.
Get busy
3When clouds fill up with waterYou can count on it to rain.
And if a tree falls, no matter the direction,
The tree lies where it falls, there it stays.
4If you wait for the perfect wind,
So it’ll help you spread the seed, [2]
You’ll never get anything planted.
And if you wait for the perfect day [3] to harvest,
You’ll never harvest a thing.
5You have no idea how babies breathe,
As they grow inside their mothers.
And you don’t have a clue what God can do,
For God creates it all.
6So, plant your seeds in the morning.
Keep working the rest of the day.
You don’t know which will pay off,
So, work for that uncertain pay.
Be young at least as long as it lasts
7How sweet to the eyes, the morning sun.It’s a beautiful sight to see.
8Older folks, too, should enjoy sunny days,
Every bright day of their lives.
For dark days are coming, and there will be many.
In the end, it won’t make a difference.
9Have fun while you’re young.
Be happy, let it come from the heart.
Chase what you see and want.
Go where your gut says to go.
But remember the one thing that counts,
God will judge the worth of your life.
10Don’t waste your life worrying.
Don’t let your health go.
Young skin and black hair don’t last forever,
And neither will any of you.
Footnotes
There are several ways scholars interpret this. One is more literal. Throwing bread in the water is crazy because bread will dissolve if the fish or birds don’t get it. This word picture is a metaphor for taking a risk that might somehow pay off. Yet verse 2 says to invest the bread (assets) in several different ways: diversification. A second interpretation, more common, sees the writer talking about giving donations to the poor. A third interpretation says the writer was more likely talking about selling grain overseas, for a return on the venture.
Farmers often sowed seed such as wheat and barley by throwing them in a wide arch, left to right, a bit like many people plant grass seed for yards. A gentle, steady wind would help them cast the seed a little further and shorten their time sowing.
The Hebrew text more literally says, “if you keep watching the clouds.” That’s not likely a reference to someone searching for a cloud that looks like Elvis Presley. Farmers look to the sky to decide when to harvest. They don’t want to harvest a wet field, for example. So, if the clouds look threatening, they’ll rush to bring in the crop. If rains come, a crop can rot in the field before the land dries out.
