¹Cast seed for your bread alongside water,

For then after many days

You will find it.

²Give a part to seven,

And also to eight,

For you do not know

What will become a calamity on the earth.

³If the thick clouds are full of rain,

They will empty it on the land,

And whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,

In the place where the tree falls,

There it remains.

⁴He who takes note of the wind will not sow,

And he who observes the clouds will not reap.

⁵Just as you do not know the route of the wind,

Nor the way of the bones in the womb of her that is pregnant,

So you do not know the work of God,

Who makes everything.

⁶Sow your seed in the morning,

And do not rest your hand in the evening,

Because you do not know what will give success

– This or that –

Or whether both alike will be good.

⁷Light is sweet,

And it is also good for the eyes to see the sunlight.

⁸For if a man lives for many years,

May he rejoice in them all,

But may he remember the days of darkness,

For they will be many.

Everything that comes is vanity.

⁹Rejoice, O young man, in your youth,

And let your heart make you cheerful in your youthful days,

And walk in the ways of your heart

And the sight of your eyes,

But know that concerning all these things

God will bring you into judgment.

¹⁰Put away anger from your heart,

And remove evil from your flesh,

For childhood and tender age are vanity.