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If God to build the house deny God all in all

Isaac Watts's setting of Psalm 127, printed in 1719 in The Psalms of David Imitated, where he set the psalms "in the language of the New Testament".

WRITTEN BY

Isaac Watts 1674–1748

PRINTED

1719 The Psalms of David Imitated · no. 2

METRE

Common Metre 8.6.8.6 · 4 stanzas

WRITTEN ON

Psalm 127 the verse printed above it

The hymn, and the Scripture in it

All 4 stanzas as Watts printed them, with the verses their lines echo beside them. Point at a line to join it to its verse; click to read the passage.

SHARED WORDSthe verse shares the line's wording ECHOproposed by an AI model, confirmed by a separate check Not the author's own notes

AMONG THE SCRIPTURES

The stanzas at the centre; around them, every book its heading and its echoes come from, Old Testament on the left and New on the right. Choose a stanza or a book.

a line echoes this verse its heading or an echo comes from here

STANZA I

If God to build the house deny

If God to build the house deny,

The builders work in vain;

And towns, without his wakeful eye,

An useless watch maintain.

The psalm it sets

Watts made this hymn from Psalm 127, "in the language of the New Testament": a paraphrase, not a translation. The line that comes closest to it is marked.

1Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the LORD protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain. 2In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for bread to eat— for He gives sleep to His beloved. 3Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is His reward. 4Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are children born in one’s youth. … 1 more verses PSALM 127 · ITS FIRST VERSES · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ PSALM 127

If God to build the house deny, The builders work in vain; And towns, without his wakeful eye, An useless watch maintain. STANZA I

Its place in the book

Watts's psalms run from Psalm 1 to Psalm 150, several settings to many psalms: 367 hymns. This is number 2. Point at a tick to see the hymn; click it to open that hymn.

NO. 2 · ISAAC WATTS · THIS HYMN If God to build the house deny

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