New Living Translation (NLT)
Ecclesiastes 10
15 Fools are so exhausted by a little work that they can’t even find their way home.
16 What sorrow for the land ruled by a servant, the land whose leaders feast in the morning.
17 Happy is the land whose king is a noble leader and whose leaders feast at the proper time to gain strength for their work, not to get drunk.
18 Laziness leads to a sagging roof; idleness leads to a leaky house.
19 A party gives laughter, wine gives happiness, and money gives everything!
20 Never make light of the king, even in your thoughts. And don’t make fun of the powerful, even in your own bedroom. For a little bird might deliver your message and tell them what you said.
Ecclesiastes 11
1 Send your grain across the seas, and in time, profits will flow back to you.
2 But divide your investments among many places, for you do not know what risks might lie ahead.
3 When clouds are heavy, the rains come down. Whether a tree falls north or south, it stays where it falls.
4 Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.
5 Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.