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Psalm 127
New American Bible (Revised Edition)

Psalm 127[a]

The Need of God’s Blessing

1 A 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.
2 It 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.(A)

II

3 Certainly sons are a gift from the Lord,
    the fruit of the womb, a reward.(B)
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
    are the sons born in one’s youth.
5 Blessed is the man who has filled his quiver with them.
He will never be shamed
    for he will destroy his foes at the gate.[b]

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 127 The Psalm puts together two proverbs (Ps 127:1–2, 3–5) on God establishing “houses” or families. The prosperity of human groups is not the work of human beings but the gift of God.
  2. 127:5 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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Psalm 127
Legacy Standard Bible

Unless Yahweh Builds the House

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.

127 Unless Yahweh (A)builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless Yahweh (B)watches the city,
The watchman keeps awake in vain.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early,
That you sit out late,
O you who (C)eat the bread of [a]painful labors;
For in this manner, He gives (D)sleep to His (E)beloved.

3 Behold, (F)children are [b]an inheritance of Yahweh,
The (G)fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a (H)warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
5 How (I)blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them;
(J)They will not be ashamed
When they (K)speak with enemies (L)in the gate.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 127:2 Lit toils
  2. Psalm 127:3 Or a heritage
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Psalm 127
New International Version

Psalm 127

A song of ascents. Of Solomon.

1 Unless the Lord builds(A) the house,
    the builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches(B) over the city,
    the guards stand watch in vain.
2 In vain you rise early
    and stay up late,
toiling for food(C) to eat—
    for he grants sleep(D) to[a] those he loves.(E)

3 Children are a heritage from the Lord,
    offspring a reward(F) from him.
4 Like arrows(G) in the hands of a warrior
    are children born in one’s youth.
5 Blessed is the man
    whose quiver is full of them.(H)
They will not be put to shame
    when they contend with their opponents(I) in court.(J)

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 127:2 Or eat— / for while they sleep he provides for
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New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Legacy Standard Bible (LSB)

Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.

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