A Song of Ascents; of Solomon.
Except Jehovah build the house,
They labor in vain that build it:
Except Jehovah keep the city,
The watchman waketh but in vain.
It is vain for you to rise up early,
To take rest late,
To eat the bread of toil;
For so he giveth unto his beloved {Or, in sleep}sleep.
Lo, children are a heritage of Jehovah;
And the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows in the hand of a mighty man,
So are the children of youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them:
They shall not be put to shame,
When they speak with their enemies in the gate.
Querverweise zu Psalm 127,1 Ps 127,1
A Song of Ascents.In my distress I cried unto Jehovah,And he answered me.
A Psalm of Solomon.Give the king thy judgments, O God,And thy righteousness unto the king's son.
There is no king saved by {Or, a great power}the multitude of a host:A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.
A horse is a vain thing for safety;Neither doth he deliver any by his great power.
Behold, the eye of Jehovah is upon them that fear him,Upon them that {Or, wait for}hope in his lovingkindness;
He shall build a house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.
and if Christ hath not been raised, then is our preaching {Or, void}vain, {Some ancient authorities read our.}your faith also is {Or, void}vain.
{Or, Let him not suffer…Let him not slumber that &c.}He will not suffer thy foot to be moved:He that keepeth thee will not slumber.
Behold, he that keepeth IsraelWill neither slumber nor sleep.
Jehovah is thy keeper:Jehovah is thy shade upon thy right hand.
The watchmen that go about the city found me;To whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?
A Song of Ascents.I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains:From whence shall my help come?
A man's heart deviseth his way;But Jehovah directeth his steps.
Now, my son, Jehovah be with thee; and prosper thou, and build the house of Jehovah thy God, as he hath spoken concerning thee.
I am afraid of you, lest by any means I have bestowed labor upon you in vain.
I Jehovah am its keeper; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.
The watchmen that go about the city found me,They smote me, they wounded me;The keepers of the walls took away my {Or, veil}mantle from me.
A Song of Ascents; of David.I was glad when they said unto me,Let us go unto the house of Jehovah.
There is no wisdom nor understandingNor counsel against Jehovah.
Take heed now; for Jehovah hath chosen thee to build a house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it.
and said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall {Or, dwell}be inhabited as villages without walls, by reason of the multitude of men and cattle therein.
They prepare the table, they {Or, spread the carpets}set the watch, they eat, they drink: rise up, ye princes, anoint the shield.
For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman: let him declare what he seeth:
{Or, and he saw…and he hearkened}and when he seeth {Or, a chariot Or, chariots}a troop, {Or, a pair of horsemen}horsemen in pairs, {Or, a chariot Or, chariots}a troop of asses, {Or, a chariot Or, chariots}a troop of camels, he shall hearken diligently with much heed.
And he cried as a lion: O Lord, I stand continually upon the watch-tower in the day-time, and am set in my ward {Or, every night}whole nights;
and, behold, here {Or, come chariots of men}cometh a troop of men, {Or, a pair of horsemen}horsemen in pairs. And he answered and said, Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the graven images of her gods are broken unto the ground.
O thou my threshing, and the {Hebrew: son.}grain of my floor! that which I have heard from Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you.
The {Or, oracle concerning}burden of Dumah.One calleth unto me out of Seir, Watchman, {Or, what hour}what of the night? Watchman, {Or, what hour}what of the night?
The watchman said, The morning {Or, is come}cometh, and also the night: if ye will inquire, inquire ye: {Or, come ye again}turn ye, come.
A Song of Ascents.Unto thee do I lift up mine eyes,O thou that sittest in the heavens.
The horse is prepared against the day of battle;But {Or, deliverance}victory is of Jehovah.
And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed; for Jehovah God, even my God, is with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until all the work for the service of the house of Jehovah be finished.
For I, saith Jehovah, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and I will be the glory in the midst of her.
His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.
A Song of Ascents; of David.If it had not been Jehovah who was on our side,Let Israel now say,
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
and give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace, for which I have made provision.
I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that are Jehovah's remembrancers, {Or, keep not silence}take ye no rest,
A Song of Ascents.They that trust in JehovahAre as mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abideth for ever.
So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
For we are God's fellow-workers: ye are God's {Greek: tilled land.}husbandry, God's building.
According to the grace of God which was given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder I laid a foundation; and another buildeth thereon. But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon.
For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
But if any man buildeth on the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble;
each man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire; {Or, and each man's work, of what sort it is, the fire shall prove it.}and the fire itself shall prove each man's work of what sort it is.
If any man's work shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward.
If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as through fire.
Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set the watchmen, prepare the ambushes; for Jehovah hath both purposed and done that which he spake concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
A Song of Ascents.When Jehovah brought back those that returned to Zion,We were like unto them that dream.
One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter:
Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him for their watchman;
if, when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning, if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him; whereas if he had taken warning, he would have delivered his soul.
But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned, and the sword come, and take any person from among them; he is taken away {Or, for}in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.
So thou, son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die, and thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man shall die {Or, for}in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thy hand.
Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he turn not from his way; he shall die {Or, for}in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul.