God’s Covenant with David

17 Now when David dwelt in his house, David said to Nathan the prophet, “Behold, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent.” ² And Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”

³ But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, ⁴ “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: You shall not build me a house to dwell in. ⁵ For I have not dwelt in a house since the day I led up Israel to this day, but I have gone from tent to tent and from dwelling to dwelling. ⁶ In all places where I have moved with all Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ ⁷ Now therefore thus shall you say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel; ⁸ and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. ⁹ And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and violent men shall waste them no more, as formerly, ¹⁰ from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover I declare to you that the Lord will build you a house. ¹¹ When your days are fulfilled to go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹² He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne for ever. ¹³ I will be his father, and he shall be my son; I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from him who was before you, ¹⁴ but I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom for ever and his throne shall be established for ever.’” ¹⁵ In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

David’s Prayer

¹⁶ Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me thus far? ¹⁷ And this was a small thing in thy eyes, O God; thou hast also spoken of thy servant’s house for a great while to come, and hast shown me future generations,^[a] O Lord God! ¹⁸ And what more can David say to thee for honoring thy servant? For thou knowest thy servant. ¹⁹ For thy servant’s sake, O Lord, and according to thy own heart, thou hast wrought all this greatness, in making known all these great things. ²⁰ There is none like thee, O Lord, and there is no God besides thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. ²¹ What other^[b] nation on earth is like thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem to be his people, making for thyself a name for great and terrible things, in driving out nations before thy people whom thou didst redeem from Egypt? ²² And thou didst make thy people Israel to be thy people for ever; and thou, O Lord, didst become their God. ²³ And now, O Lord, let the word which thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his house be established for ever, and do as thou hast spoken; ²⁴ and thy name will be established and magnified for ever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, is Israel’s God,’ and the house of thy servant David will be established before thee. ²⁵ For thou, my God, hast revealed to thy servant that thou wilt build a house for him; therefore thy servant has found courage to pray before thee. ²⁶ And now, O Lord, thou art God, and thou hast promised this good thing to thy servant; ²⁷ now therefore may it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee; for what thou, O Lord, hast blessed is blessed for ever.”