Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who observes the wind won’t sow; and he who regards the clouds won’t reap.
- KJV He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.
- BSB He who watches the wind will fail to sow, and he who observes the clouds will fail to reap.
- NKJV He who observes the wind will not sow, And he who regards the clouds will not reap.
- NASB One who watches the wind will not sow and one who looks at the clouds will not harvest.
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
He who watches the wind will not sow, and he who studies the clouds will not reap. Excessive caution and waiting for perfect conditions lead to inaction.
Overview
Qoheleth warns against paralysis by over-analysis, where demanding ideal circumstances prevents needed work. Faithful labor must proceed despite uncertainty. The verse encourages timely, courageous action, trusting God rather than waiting for guarantees that never come (Proverbs 20:4; 2 Corinthians 5:7).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Prov 20:4The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter; therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.
- Prov 3:27Don’t withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it.
- Prov 22:13The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside! I will be killed in the streets!”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 11:4 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.