1 Unless the Lord the house shall build,
the weary builders toil in vain;
2 unless the LORD the city shield,
the guards a useless watch maintain.
2 In vain you rise at morning break,
in vain your late-night vigils keep,
and draining days of work partake—
those whom God loves fall fast asleep.
3 Yes, children are a great reward,
a gift from God in very truth;
4 as quiver full of arrows stored
are children giv’n in days of youth.
5 How blest are those whose lives are cheered
by children’s growth in strength and grace.
6 Within their house no foes are feared,
for God keeps watch within that place.
– Psalter, 1912, alt.
Oremus 