127:1 [A Song of Ascents, of Solomon.]
Unless the LORD builds a house,
They who build it labor in vain;
Unless the LORD guards a city,
The watchman stays awake in vain.
127:2 It is futile for you to rise up early,
To ①stay up late,
To eat the bread of painful labor;
This is how He gives to His beloved sleep.
▷ ①Lit sit late
127:3 Behold, children are a ①gift of the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
▷ ①Or heritage
127:4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
127:5 Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;
They will not be ashamed
When they speak with their enemies in the gate.