Ignorance of the Future Demands Diversification of Investments
11:1 Send1
your grain2
overseas,3
for after many days you will get a return.4
11:2 Divide your merchandise5
among seven or even eight6
investments,7
for you do not know8
what calamity9
may happen upon earth.
Ignorance of the Most Opportune Time to Act Can Lead to Procrastination
11:3 If the clouds are full of rain, they will empty themselves upon
the earth;
and whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, the tree will lay wherever
it falls.
11:4 He who watches the wind will not sow,
and he who regards the clouds will not reap.10
Ignorance of the Future Demands Diligence in Labor
11:5 Just as you do not know the path11
of the wind,
or how the bones form in the womb of a pregnant woman;12
so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.
11:6 Sow your seed in the morning,
and do not stop working13
until the evening;14
for you do not know which activity will succeed15—
whether this activity or that activity, or whether both will prosper equally.16
Life Should Be Savored Because Death is Imminent
11:7 Light17
is sweet,18
and it is pleasant for a person19
to see the sun.20
11:8 So, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all;
but let him remember that the days of darkness21
will be many—all that is about to come is obscure.22
Youth Should Be Savored, But Its Pleasures Must Be Tempered by the Fear
of God
11:9 Rejoice, young man, in your youth,
and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth;
Follow the impulses23
of your heart and the desires24
of your eyes;
but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
11:10 Banish25
unnecessary emotional stress26
from your mind.27
and put away pain28
from your body;29
for youth30
and the prime of life31
are fleeting.32