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God Makes a Promise to David

¹ When David had settled into his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, "Look, I am living in a palace made from cedar, while the ark of the Lord's covenant is under a tent." ² Nathan said to David, "You should do whatever you have in mind, for God is with you."

³ That night God told Nathan the prophet, ⁴ "Go, tell my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord says: "You must not build me a house in which to live. ⁵ For I have not lived in a house from the time I brought Israel up from Egypt to the present day. I have lived in a tent that has been in various places. ⁶ Wherever I moved throughout Israel, I did not say to any of the leaders whom I appointed to care for my people Israel, ‘Why have you not built me a house made from cedar?'"'

⁷ "So now, say this to my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord who commands armies says: "I took you from the pasture and from your work as a shepherd to make you a leader of my people Israel. ⁸ I was with you wherever you went and I defeated all your enemies before you. Now I will make you as famous as the great men of the earth. ⁹ I will establish a place for my people Israel and settle them there; they will live there and not be disturbed anymore. Violent men will not oppress them again, as they did in the beginning ¹⁰ and during the time when I appointed judges to lead my people Israel. I will subdue all your enemies.

"‘"I declare to you that the Lord will build a dynastic house for you! ¹¹ When the time comes for you to die, I will raise up your descendant, one of your own sons, to succeed you, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹² He will build me a house, and I will make his dynasty permanent. ¹³ I will become his father and he will become my son. I will never withhold my loyal love from him, as I withheld it from the one who ruled before you. ¹⁴ I will put him in permanent charge of my house and my kingdom; his dynasty will be permanent."'" ¹⁵ Nathan told David all these words that were revealed to him.

David Praises God

¹⁶ David went in, sat before the Lord, and said: "Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you should have brought me to this point? ¹⁷ And you did not stop there, O God! You have also spoken about the future of your servant's family. You have revealed to me what men long to know, O Lord God. ¹⁸ What more can David say to you? You have honored your servant; you have given your servant special recognition. ¹⁹ O Lord, for the sake of your servant and according to your will, you have done this great thing in order to reveal your greatness. ²⁰ O Lord, there is none like you; there is no God besides you! What we heard is true! ²¹ And who is like your people, Israel, a unique nation in the earth? Their God went to claim a nation for himself! You made a name for yourself by doing great and awesome deeds when you drove out nations before your people whom you had delivered from the Egyptian empire and its gods. ²² You made Israel your very own nation for all time. You, O Lord, became their God. ²³ So now, O Lord, may the promise you made about your servant and his family become a permanent reality! Do as you promised, ²⁴ so it may become a reality and you may gain lasting fame, as people say, ‘The Lord who commands armies is the God of Israel.' David's dynasty will be established before you, ²⁵ for you, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build a dynasty for him. That is why your servant has had the courage to pray to you. ²⁶ Now, O Lord, you are the true God; you have made this good promise to your servant. ²⁷ Now you are willing to bless your servant's dynasty so that it may stand permanently before you, for you, O Lord, have blessed it and it will be blessed from now on into the future."