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Psalm 127:3
Behold, children are a heritage of the LORD. The fruit of the womb is his reward.
1A Song of Ascents. By Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, they who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman guards it in vain.
2It is vain for you to rise up early, to stay up late, eating the bread of toil, for he gives sleep to his loved ones.
3Behold, children are a heritage of the LORD. The fruit of the womb is his reward.
4As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children of youth.
5Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. They won’t be disappointed when they speak with their enemies in the gate.
Notice
The word “heritage” names children as something received from YHWH, which can meet both the gladness of parenthood and the pain of longing.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
How does calling children a “heritage of the LORD” shape the way you regard them?
Write on thisWhat gratitude or difficulty comes to mind when you read “his reward”?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 128:3–4Your wife will be as a fruitful vine in the innermost parts of your house, your children like olive shoots around your table.Both psalms describe children as a good within the household, using the language of heritage and flourishing plants.
Deuteronomy 28:4You shall be blessed in the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your animals, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your …Both passages speak of the fruit of the body as a blessing received from God.
1 Samuel 1:27I prayed for this child, and the LORD has given me my petition which I asked of him.Hannah names her child as the LORD's answer to prayer, sharing the psalm's recognition that children come from him.
Genesis 48:4and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful, and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your offspring …Both passages attribute the gift of descendants to God, with Genesis also recording his promise of land.
Genesis 33:5He lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, “Who are these with you?” He said, “The children whom God has graciously given your …Jacob describes his children as gracious gifts from God, matching the psalm's language of children as the LORD's heritage.
Isaiah 8:18Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of Armies, who dwells in Mount Zion.Isaiah names his children as given by the LORD, the same source of children named in the psalm.
Genesis 1:28God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, …Genesis connects fruitfulness with God's blessing, while the psalm describes the fruit of the womb as his reward.
1 Samuel 1:19–20They rose up in the morning early and worshiped the LORD, then returned and came to their house to Ramah. Then Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD …The shared thread is God's involvement in family life: the psalm names his gift, while Hannah's account records his remembrance.
Joshua 24:3–4I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his offspring, and gave him Isaac.God names Isaac as a son he gave Abraham, a specific instance of the psalm's claim that children come from him.
Genesis 24:60They blessed Rebekah, and said to her, “Our sister, may you be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your offspring possess the gate of those who …Rebekah's family blesses her with the hope of many descendants, sharing the psalm's positive regard for children.
1 Samuel 2:20–21Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, “May the LORD give you offspring from this woman for the petition which was asked of the LORD.” Then they went to …Eli's blessing asks the LORD to give offspring, recognizing the same giver whom the psalm names.
1 Chronicles 28:5Of all my sons (for the LORD has given me many sons), he has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the LORD’s kingdom over Israel.David credits the LORD with giving him many sons, sharing the psalm's recognition of children as God's gift.
Where this verse fits
Parenting. gratitude. miscarriage or infertility.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Calling children God's reward does not explain why some long for them without receiving them. The verse affirms their worth and names YHWH as giver.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).