Unless Yahweh Builds the House
A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
Unless Yahweh builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless Yahweh 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 eat the bread of painful labors;
For in this manner, He gives sleep to His beloved.
3 Behold, children are an inheritance of Yahweh,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
5 How blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them;
They will not be ashamed
When they speak with enemies in the gate.