Ecclesiastes 11

EasyEnglish Bible

11 Freely give your things to other people.
If you do that, one day you will receive your things back again.
² Share your things with several other people.
You do not know when trouble will come.
    Then those people can help you.
³ When clouds are full of water,
    rain will fall on the earth.
If a tree falls to the ground,
    it will stay there, in the same place.
⁴ A farmer who waits for the right wind
    will never plant any seeds.
If he is always looking at the clouds,
    he will never bring in his crops.
⁵ We do not know the path that the wind blows along.
Nor do we know how a baby's body grows
    inside a pregnant woman.
So nobody can explain the things that God does.
    He is the one who has made everything.
⁶ Plant your seeds in the morning,
    and continue to work until the evening.
You do not know which seeds will become strong plants.
    Perhaps only some of them will grow.
    Perhaps they will all grow well.

⁷ Light makes people happy.
    It is good to see the sun rise in the morning.
⁸ People may live for many years,
    and they should happily enjoy every day.
But they should remember that their lives will end in death.
    There will be many days of trouble ahead.
We cannot understand everything that will happen to us in the future.