Study Desk

^(C1)Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you ^(C1)will find it ^(F1)after many days.

^(C1)Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what ^(C2)misfortune may occur on the earth.

If the clouds are full, they pour out rain on the earth; and whether a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, wherever the tree falls, there it ^(F1)lies.

One who watches the wind will not sow and one who looks at the clouds will not harvest.

Just as you do not ^(C1)know the path of the ^(F1)wind, and ^(C2)how bones are formed in the womb of the ^(F2)pregnant woman, so you do not ^(C3)know the activity of God who makes everything.

Sow your seed ^(C1)in the morning and do not ^(F1)be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether ^(F2)one or the other will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.

The light is pleasant, and it is good for the eyes to ^(C1)see the sun.

Indeed, if a person lives many years, let him ^(C1)rejoice in them all; but let him remember the ^(C2)days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything that is to come will be futility.

Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the ^(F1)impulses of your heart and the ^(F2)(C1)desires of your eyes. Yet know that ^(C2)God will bring you to judgment for all these things.

So remove ^(F1)sorrow from your heart and keep ^(F2)(C1)pain away from your body, because childhood and the prime of life are ^(F3)fleeting.

^(C1)Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the ^(C2)evil days come and the years approach when you will say, "I have no pleasure in them";

before the ^(C1)sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened, and clouds return after the rain;

on the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, and strong men are ^(C1)bent over, the grinders stop working because they are few, and ^(C2)those who look through ^(F1)windows grow ^(F2)dim;

and the doors on the street are shut as the ^(C1)sound of the grinding mill is low, and one will arise at the sound of the bird, and all the ^(C2)daughters of song will ^(F1)sing softly.

Furthermore, people are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and the caper berry is ineffective. For man goes to his eternal ^(C1)home while the ^(C2)mourners move around in the street.

Remember your Creator before the silver cord is ^(F1)broken and the ^(C1)golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the spring is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed;

then the ^(C1)dust will return to the earth as it was, and the ^(F1)(C2)spirit will return to ^(C3)God who gave it.

"^(C1)Futility of futilities," says the Preacher, "all is futility!"