Psalm 127:2
It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.
Cross-reference
Psalm 3:5 reflects the same trust: the psalmist sleeps securely because God sustains — a direct parallel to the gift of sleep to His beloved.
Psalm 4:8 also affirms that peaceful sleep comes from God alone — echoing the same confidence in divine protection and rest.
Psalm 39:6 vividly describes 'turmoil for nothing' and heaping up wealth — directly echoing the 'anxious toil' and its vanity.
Psalm 39:5 emphasizes life's brevity — a handbreadth and breath — reinforcing the futility of anxious toil described here.
Ecclesiastes 2:20-23 echoes the same lament: labor without enjoyment is vanity — the toiler is given over to anxiety and sleeplessness.
Acts 12:6 shows Peter sleeping peacefully in prison—a vivid example of God giving sleep to His beloved even in peril.
Ecclesiastes 6:7 echoes this futility: all labor is for consumption yet never satisfied — a companion theme to vanity of anxious toil.
Ecclesiastes 4:8 portrays a similarly restless laborer working endlessly without satisfaction — paralleling the futility of anxious toil.
Genesis 3:17-19 is the source of the 'painful labors' — the curse that makes toil a struggle, contrasting with God's gift of rest.
Ecclesiastes 1:14 declares all is vanity and striving after wind — the same verdict on human labor apart from God.
Ecclesiastes 2:22 questions the gain from labor—aligning with this verse's theme that painful toil is vain without God.
Ecclesiastes 2:23 describes sleepless toil and grief—mirroring the weary labor and lack of rest condemned here.
Proverbs 3:24 promises sweet sleep without fear—directly echoing the gift of restful sleep from God here.
Habakkuk 2:13 echoes the same futility: peoples labor for fire, weary themselves for nothing — directly mirroring Psalm 127:2's condemnation of anxious toil.
Ecclesiastes 5:12 similarly celebrates sweet sleep for the laborer, but contrasts the working man's rest with the rich man's insomnia.
Luke 5:5 shows Peter toiling all night with no catch, mirroring the futility of human effort without God's blessing in Psalm 127:2.
Leviticus 26:6 promises peaceful rest without fear under God's blessing—matching the gift of secure sleep here.
Ecclesiastes 2:1 tests pleasure and finds it vanity — while a different focus, it shares the theme of futility but less directly on toil.
Ecclesiastes 5:17 similarly describes a life of toil in darkness and vexation, echoing the futility of anxious labor in Psalm 127:2.
Deuteronomy 8:18 emphasizes God as the source of wealth, reinforcing reliance on divine provision rather than anxious toil.
Ecclesiastes 8:16 notes that in worldly business, sleep escapes a person, paralleling the vanity of anxious labor in Psalm 127:2.