Psalms 127
127
PSALM 127
Common Meter: 8,6,8,6
1Except the Lord do build the house,
the builders lose their pain:
Except the Lord the city keep,
the watchmen watch in vain.
2'Tis vain for you to rise betimes,
or late from rest to keep,
To feed on sorrows' bread;
so gives he his beloved sleep.
3Lo, children are God's heritage,
the womb's fruit his reward.
4The sons of youth as arrows are,
for strong men's hands prepar'd.
5O happy is the man that hath
his quiver fill'd with those;
They unashamed in the gate
shall speak unto their foes.
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Psalms 127: MP1650
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Psalms 127
127
The Need of God’s Blessing
1A song of ascents. Of Solomon.
I
Unless the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain who build.
Unless the Lord guard the city,
in vain does the guard keep watch.
2It is vain for you to rise early
and put off your rest at night,
To eat bread earned by hard toil—
all this God gives to his beloved in sleep.#Eccl 2:24.
II
3Certainly sons are a gift from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb, a reward.#Ps 115:14; 128:3; Dt 28:11; Prv 17:6.
4Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the sons born in one’s youth.
5Blessed is the man who has filled his quiver with them.
He will never be shamed
for he will destroy his foes at the gate.#At the gate: the reference is not to enemies besieging the walls of a city but to adversaries in litigation. Law courts functioned in the open area near the main city gate. The more adult sons a man had, the more forceful he would appear in disputes, cf. Prv 31:23.
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