- Except the Lord the house do build,
- And thereunto do set his hand:
- What men do build it cannot stand,
- Likewise in vain men undertake
- Cities and holds to watch and ward,
- Except the Lord be their safeguard.
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- 2 Though ye arise early in the morn,
- And so at night go late to bed,
- Feeding full hardy with brown bread:
- Yet were your labor lost and worn,
- But they whom God doth love and keep
- Receive all things with quiet sleep.
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- 3 Therefore mark well when ever you see
- That men have heirs to enjoy their land,
- it is the gift of God’s own hand:
- For God himself doth multiply
- Of his great liberality,
- The blessings of posterity.
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- 4 And when the children come to age,
- They grow in strength and activeness,
- In person and in comeliness:
- So that a shaft shot with courage,
- Of one that hath a most strong arm,
- Flies not so swift, nor doth like harm.
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- 5 O well is he that hath his quiver
- Furnished with such artillery:
- For when in peril he shall be,
- Such one shall never shake nor shiver,
- When that he pleadeth before the Judge
- Against his foes that bear him grudge.
