the Fourth Week of Advent
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Read the Bible
Contemporary English Version
Ecclesiastes 11
It Pays To Work Hard
1 Be generous, and someday
you will be rewarded.[a]
2 Share what you have
with seven or eight others,
because you never know
when disaster may strike.
3 Rain clouds always bring rain;
trees always stay
wherever they fall.
4 If you worry about the weather
and don't plant seeds,
you won't harvest a crop.
5 No one can explain how a baby breathes before it is born.[b] So how can anyone explain what God does? After all, he created everything.
6 Plant your seeds early in the morning and keep working in the field until dark. Who knows? Your work might pay off, and your seeds might produce.
Youth and Old Age
7 Nothing on earth is more beautiful than the morning sun. 8 Even if you live to a ripe old age, you should try to enjoy each day, because darkness will come and will last a long time. Nothing makes sense.[c]
9 Be cheerful and enjoy life while you are young! Do what you want and find pleasure in what you see. But don't forget that God will judge you for everything you do.
10 Rid yourself of all worry and pain, because the wonderful moments of youth quickly disappear.
