Psalm

A Prayer for Protection and Prosperity

A song of ascents. Of Solomon.[a]

127 
Unless Yahweh builds a house,

its builders labor at it in vain.

Unless Yahweh guards a city,

a guard watches in vain.

It is in vain for you who rise early and sit late,

eating the bread of anxious toil,

when thus he[b] provides[c] for his beloved in his sleep.[d]

Look, children[e] are the heritage[f] of Yahweh;

the fruit of the womb is a reward.

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,

so are the children[g] of one’s youth.

Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them.[h]

They shall not be put to shame

when they speak with enemies at the gate.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 127:1 The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm
  2. Psalm 127:2 That is, Yahweh
  3. Psalm 127:2 Hebrew “gives”
  4. Psalm 127:2 Or “so he gives sleep to his beloved”
  5. Psalm 127:3 Hebrew “sons”
  6. Psalm 127:3 That is, gift
  7. Psalm 127:4 Hebrew “sons”
  8. Psalm 127:5 Or “whose quiver he Yahweh fills with them”