Psalm 127
Good News Translation
In Praise of God's Goodness[a]
127 If the Lord does not build the house,
the work of the builders is useless;
if the Lord does not protect the city,
it does no good for the sentries to stand guard.
2 It is useless to work so hard for a living,
getting up early and going to bed late.
For the Lord provides for those he loves,
while they are asleep.
3 Children are a gift from the Lord;
they are a real blessing.
4 The sons a man has when he is young
are like arrows in a soldier's hand.
5 Happy is the man who has many such arrows.
He will never be defeated
when he meets his enemies in the place of judgment.
Footnotes
- Psalm 127:1 HEBREW TITLE: By Solomon.
Psalm 127
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
127 Blessed are all they that fear the Lord: that walk in his ways.
2 For thou shalt eat the labours of thy hands: blessed art thou, and it shall be well with thee.
3 Thy wife as a fruitful vine, on the sides of thy house.
4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord.
5 May the Lord bless thee out of Sion: and mayest thou see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.
6 And mayest thou see thy children's children, peace upon Israel.
Psalm 127
The Message
127 1-2 If God doesn’t build the house,
the builders only build shacks.
If God doesn’t guard the city,
the night watchman might as well nap.
It’s useless to rise early and go to bed late,
and work your worried fingers to the bone.
Don’t you know he enjoys
giving rest to those he loves?
3-5 Don’t you see that children are God’s best gift?
the fruit of the womb his generous legacy?
Like a warrior’s fistful of arrows
are the children of a vigorous youth.
Oh, how blessed are you parents,
with your quivers full of children!
Your enemies don’t stand a chance against you;
you’ll sweep them right off your doorstep.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson