| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Send your grain overseas, for after many days you will get a return. | 1Send your grain across the seas, and in time, profits will flow back to you. |
| 2Divide your merchandise among seven or even eight investments, for you do not know what calamity may happen on earth. | 2But divide your investments among many places, for you do not know what risks might lie ahead. |
| 3If the clouds are full of rain, they will empty themselves on the earth, and whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, the tree will lie wherever it falls. | 3When clouds are heavy, the rains come down. Whether a tree falls north or south, it stays where it falls. |
| 4He who watches the wind will not sow, and he who observes the clouds will not reap. | 4Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest. |
| 5Just as you do not know the path of the wind, or how the bones form in the womb of a pregnant woman, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. | 5Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things. |
| 6Sow your seed in the morning, and do not stop working until the evening; for you do not know which activity will succeed--whether this one or that one, or whether both will prosper equally. | 6Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both. Advice for Young and Old |
| 7Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for a person to see the sun. | 7Light is sweet; how pleasant to see a new day dawning. |
| 8So, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all, but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many--all that is about to come is obscure. | 8When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life. But let them also remember there will be many dark days. Everything still to come is meaningless. |
| 9Rejoice, young man, while you are young, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes, but know that God will judge your motives and actions. | 9Young people, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do. |
| 10Banish emotional stress from your mind. and put away pain from your body; for youth and the prime of life are fleeting. | 10So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless. |
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