Investment Advice in the Bible: The Power of Diversification
- Henry Holt
- Jul 29
- 2 min read

📖 Bible Reading: Ecclesiastes 11:1-6
1 Ship your grain across the sea;
after many days you may receive a return.
2 Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight;
you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.
Henry Holt 💬: Diversify your investments, because some could go bad. I find it interesting that it says 7 or 8 investments, and not 2 or 3. If one investment goes bad out of 2, that’s 50% of your invested capital at risk in that one investment.
3 If clouds are full of water,
they pour rain on the earth.
Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,
in the place where it falls, there it will lie.
4 Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
whoever looks at the clouds will not reap
Henry Holt 💬: There are things outside of your control, like rain and wind. Don’t sit there watching things outside of your control, focus on the things you can control. In this example, planting and reaping.
5 As you do not know the path of the wind,
or how the body is formed[a] in a mother’s womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God,
the Maker of all things.
Henry Holt 💬: Don’t get over-confident in a single investment. God is ultimately in control. I also think that we should be in prayer over our investments. Pray that God would bless our efforts. And seek to glorify Him with these investments, as apart from Him we can do nothing.
6 Sow your seed in the morning,
and at evening let your hands not be idle,
for you do not know which will succeed,
whether this or that,
or whether both will do equally well.
Henry Holt 💬: Put in the work and diversify your investments, as you cannot know for sure what's going to be successful and to what degree.
💡 Who is this advice coming from?
The Bible in the inspired Word of God, written by humans.
First and foremost, God knows best, which is why we should take these verses to heart.
Second, it is believed that the human author of these verses was Solomon. It is believed that Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes 3,000 years ago, around 1,000 BC.
If you have heard of King David (the same David who killed Goliath), Solomon was his son.
Solomon prayed to God for wisdom, and it was granted to him (1 Kings 3:5-12).
His wisdom was greater than all the Kings of the earth.
He was also the wealthiest king in his lifetime.
📖 Bible Reading: 1 Kings 10:23
23 King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth.
Given that this advice is the Word of God and written by Solomon who was the wisest and richest of his day, the principle of diversification should be strongly considered when you invest.
Note: God might call you to deviate from the path above. But the general principle stands.