Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.
Parallel translations
- WEB Cast your bread on the waters; for you shall find it after many days.
- BSB Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again.
- NKJV Cast your bread upon the waters, For you will find it after many days.
- NASB Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you will find it after many days.
- NLT Send your grain across the seas, and in time, profits will flow back to you.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Cast your bread on the waters, and you will find it after many days. Generous, venturesome action, though its return is unseen, will be rewarded in time.
Overview
This proverb is widely understood as encouraging either bold commercial venture or open-handed generosity that trusts God for unseen results. Either way it calls for faith-filled action despite uncertainty. It anticipates the gospel principle that liberal giving, entrusted to God, yields a sure harvest in his good time (Proverbs 11:24-25; 2 Corinthians 9:6-8).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Eccl 11:6In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.
- Prov 19:17He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
- Matt 10:42And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.
- Heb 6:10For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
- 2 Cor 9:6But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
- Isa 32:20Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.
- Ps 41:1–2Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
- Gal 6:8–10For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
- Luke 14:14And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.
- Ps 126:5–6They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
- Isa 32:8But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.
- Prov 11:18The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward.
- Deut 15:7–11If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:
- Prov 11:24–25There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.
- Prov 22:9He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.
- Matt 10:13And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.
- Matt 25:40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The search that finds everything 'under the sun' to be vapor exposes the emptiness of life without God and drives us to the one who alone gives meaning, the resurrection that makes our labor not in vain.
How Ecclesiastes 11:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.