Ecclesiastes 11

⁶Sow your seed in the morning, and do not rest your hands in the evening, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or if both will equally prosper.

¹⁷Kindness to the poor is a loan to the Lord, and He will repay the lender.

⁴²And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”

¹⁰For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.

⁶Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

²⁰Blessed are those who sow beside abundant waters, who let the ox and donkey range freely.

¹⁸Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, and to be generous and ready to share,

¹⁹treasuring up for themselves a firm foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

¹⁹He will rescue you from six calamities; no harm will touch you in seven.

⁹He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor.

³⁰Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what is yours, do not demand it back.

³¹Do to others as you would have them do to you.

¹⁶There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to Him:

²⁸One of them named Agabus stood up and predicted through the Spirit that a great famine would sweep across the whole world. (This happened under Claudius.)

²⁹So the disciples, each according to his ability, decided to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.

⁹You attend to the earth and water it; with abundance You enrich it. The streams of God are full of water, for You prepare our grain by providing for the earth.

¹⁰You soak its furrows and level its ridges; You soften it with showers and bless its growth.

¹⁰For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return without watering the earth, making it bud and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat,

¹¹so My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it.

¹⁷If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him?

⁷So he said to the keeper of the vineyard, ‘Look, for the past three years I have come to search for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Therefore cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

⁴⁵Meanwhile, the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and a heavy rain began to fall. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel.

²²One day the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. And the rich man also died and was buried.

²³In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.

⁴The slacker does not plow in season; at harvest time he looks, but nothing is there.

²⁷Do not withhold good from the deserving when it is within your power to act.

¹³The slacker says, “There is a lion outside! I will be slain in the streets!”

⁸The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

⁵How great are Your works, O Lord, how deep are Your thoughts!

¹⁷I saw every work of God, and that a man is unable to comprehend the work that is done under the sun. Despite his efforts to search it out, he cannot find its meaning; even if the wise man claims to know, he is unable to comprehend.

³³O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!

²⁸Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching out.

¹³For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well.

¹⁰Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your store of seed and will increase the harvest of your righteousness.

¹¹You will be enriched in every way to be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will produce thanksgiving to God.

¹⁰For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return without watering the earth, making it bud and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat,

⁶You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into a bag pierced through.”

⁷This is what the Lord of Hosts says: “Consider carefully your ways.

¹²Sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of loving devotion; break up your unplowed ground. For it is time to seek the Lord until He comes and sends righteousness upon you like rain.

⁶Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

¹¹But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as I did in the past,” declares the Lord of Hosts.

¹²“For the seed will be prosperous, the vine will yield its fruit, the ground will yield its produce, and the skies will give their dew. To the remnant of this people I will give all these things as an inheritance.

¹¹Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, and it benefits those who see the sun.

⁴⁵that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

³⁰The light of the eyes cheers the heart, and good news nourishes the bones.

¹¹For the Lord God is a sun and a shield; the Lord gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.

³⁰to bring back his soul from the Pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of life.

¹³The poor man and the oppressor have this in common: The Lord gives light to the eyes of both.

³⁵Then Jesus told them, “For a little while longer, the Light will be among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

²⁹If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate.

¹⁴In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider this: God has made one of these along with the other, so that a man cannot discover anything that will come after him.

²a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like the dawn overspreading the mountains a great and strong army appears, such as never was of old, nor will ever be in ages to come.

¹⁰But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last, and where is he?

¹Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of adversity come and the years approach of which you will say, “I find no pleasure in them,”

²before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is darkened, and the clouds return after the rain,

¹⁴For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.

¹⁵Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

¹⁶For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.

¹Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of adversity come and the years approach of which you will say, “I find no pleasure in them,”

¹⁷I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed.”

²⁷It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is still young.

¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.

¹Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

²²Flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

²“Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!”

¹⁴I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.

¹Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of adversity come and the years approach of which you will say, “I find no pleasure in them,”

¹¹The youthful vigor that fills his bones will lie down with him in the dust.