1  Cast your bread upon the waters,

for you will find it after many days.

2  Give a portion to seven, or even to eight,

for you ^pknow not what disaster may happen on earth.

3  If the clouds are full of rain,

they empty themselves on the earth,

and if a tree falls to the south or to the north,

in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.

4  He who observes the wind will not sow,

and he who regards the clouds will not reap.