1 Send forth thy bread on the face of the waters, For in the multitude of the days thou dost find it.
Whoso is lending `to' Jehovah is favouring the poor, And his deed He repayeth to him.
and whoever may give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say to you, he may not lose his reward.'
In the morning sow thy seed, And at even withdraw not thy hand, For thou knowest not which is right, this or that, Or whether both of them alike `are' good.
because he who is sowing to his own flesh, of the flesh shall reap corruption; and he who is sowing to the Spirit, of the Spirit shall reap life age-during; and in the doing good we may not be faint-hearted, for at the proper time we shall reap -- not desponding; therefore, then, as we have opportunity, may we work the good to all, and especially unto those of the household of the faith.
To the Overseer. -- A Psalm of David. O the happiness of him Who is acting wisely unto the poor, In a day of evil doth Jehovah deliver him. Jehovah doth preserve him and revive him, He is happy in the land, And Thou givest him not into the will of his enemies.
And this: He who is sowing sparingly, sparingly also shall reap; and he who is sowing in blessings, in blessings also shall reap;
And the noble counselled noble things, And he for noble things riseth up.
There is who is scattering, and yet is increased, And who is keeping back from uprightness, only to want. A liberal soul is made fat, And whoso is watering, he also is watered.
`When there is with thee any needy one of one of thy brethren, in one of thy cities, in thy land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee, thou dost not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy needy brother; for thou dost certainly open thy hand to him, and dost certainly lend him sufficient for his lack which he lacketh. `Take heed to thee lest there be a word in thy heart -- worthless, saying, Near `is' the seventh year, the year of release; and thine eye is evil against thy needy brother, and thou dost not give to him, and he hath called concerning thee unto Jehovah, and it hath been in thee sin; thou dost certainly give to him, and thy heart is not sad in thy giving to him, for because of this thing doth Jehovah thy God bless thee in all thy works, and in every putting forth of thy hand; because the needy one doth not cease out of the land, therefore I am commanding thee, saying, Thou dost certainly open thy hand to thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy one, in thy land.
`And the king answering, shall say to them, Verily I say to you, Inasmuch as ye did `it' to one of these my brethren -- the least -- to me ye did `it'.
and if indeed the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it; and if it be not worthy, let your peace turn back to you.
The wicked is getting a lying wage, And whoso is sowing righteousness -- a true reward.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Ecclesiastes 11
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 11 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 11
In this chapter we have,
Ecc 11:1-6
Solomon had often, in this book, pressed it upon rich people to take the comfort of their riches themselves; here he presses it upon them to do good to others with them and to abound in liberality to the poor, which will, another day, abound to their account. Observe,
Ecc 11:7-10
Here is an admonition both to old people and to young people, to think of dying, and get ready for it. Having by many excellent precepts taught us how to live well, the preacher comes now, towards the close of his discourse, to teach us how to die well and to put us in mind of our latter end.