| Berean Study Bible | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again. | 1Send your bread on the surface of the waters, for after many days you may find it. |
| 2Divide your portion among seven, or even eight, for you do not know what disaster may befall the land. | 2Give a portion to seven or even to eight, for you don't know what disaster may happen on earth. |
| 3If the clouds are full, they will pour out rain upon the earth; whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie. | 3If the clouds are full, they will pour out rain on the earth; whether a tree falls to the south or the north, the place where the tree falls, there it will lie. |
| 4He who watches the wind will fail to sow, and he who observes the clouds will fail to reap. | 4One who watches the wind will not sow, and the one who looks at the clouds will not reap. |
| 5As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the bones are formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. | 5Just as you don't know the path of the wind, or how bones develop in the womb of a pregnant woman, so you don't know the work of God who makes everything. |
| 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. | 6In the morning sow your seed, and at evening do not let your hand rest, because you don't know which will succeed, whether one or the other, or if both of them will be equally good. |
| 7Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun. | 7Light is sweet, and it is pleasing for the eyes to see the sun. |
| 8So if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all. But let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything to come is futile. | 8Indeed, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all, and let him remember the days of darkness, since they will be many. All that comes is futile. |
| 9Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment. | 9Rejoice, young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. And walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all of these things God will bring you to judgment. |
| 10So banish sorrow from your heart, and cast off pain from your body, for youth and vigor are fleeting. | 10Remove sorrow from your heart, and put away pain from your flesh, because youth and the prime of life are fleeting. |
|
