11
Sell your corn in the market overseas. After a while you might earn something from it.
2 Try to succeed by doing many things.
After all, you don't know what great trouble might come on the land.
3 Clouds that are full of water
pour rain down on the earth.
A tree might fall to the south or the north.
It will stay in the place where it falls.
4 Anyone who keeps on watching the wind won't plant seeds.
Anyone who keeps looking at the clouds won't gather crops.
5 You don't know the path the wind takes.
You don't know how a baby is made inside its mother.
So you can't understand how God works either.
He made everything.
6 In the morning plant your seeds.
In the evening keep your hands busy.
You don't know what will succeed.
It may be one or the other.
Or both might do equally well.
1:12–11:6 The Teacher carefully studied himself and the world around him. He studied the things that human beings spend their time and energy doing. These things make them different from animals and the rest of creation. The Teacher did this in order to test which of these things had meaning. He studied pleasure. This included laughter, beauty and anything that made the body feel good. He studied wisdom, foolishness, knowledge and understanding. People can never have enough wisdom to fully understand the world or fully understand God. The Teacher studied hard work and the things that he and others accomplished. He studied the many different ways that people suffer on earth. He studied the ways that people pray, offer sacrifices and worship God. He studied riches, honour and authority. He also studied the evil things that people do. The teacher learnt that none of these things gives human beings any advantage over animals. This doesn't mean that human beings live like animals do. It doesn't mean that people shouldn't live wisely as explained in the Teacher's proverbs. It means that none of the things human beings do keeps them from dying. The Teacher explained that everyone will die someday. This is true no matter who a person is, what they have or what they do. For the Teacher, things that ended in death didn't have meaning. They made life not worth living. He learnt that what made life worth living was receiving God's gifts and enjoying them. Food, drink, work, wisdom, knowledge, happiness and family are gifts from God. The ability to enjoy these things is also a gift from God. One reason the Teacher respected God is because everything that God does lasts for ever.
7 Light is sweet.
People enjoy being out in the sun.
8 No matter how many years anyone might live,
let them enjoy all of them.
But let them remember the dark days.
There will be many of those.
Nothing that's going to happen will have any meaning.
9 You young people, be happy while you are still young.
Let your heart be joyful while you are still strong.
Do what your heart tells you to do.
Go after what your eyes look at.
But I want you to know
that God will judge you for everything you do.
10 So drive worry out of your heart.
Get rid of all your troubles.
Being young and strong doesn't have any meaning.