God’s Covenant with David

17 ^(A)And it came about, when David lived in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under tent curtains.” ² Then Nathan said to David, “Do whatever is in your heart, for God is with you.”

³ But it happened that same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, ⁴ “Go and tell David My servant, ‘This is what the Lord says: “^(B)You shall not build a house for Me to dwell in; ⁵ for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel to this day, ^(C)but I have ^[a]gone from tent to tent and from one dwelling place to another. ⁶ In all places where I have walked with all Israel, have I spoken a word ^(D)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, this is what you shall say to My servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader over My people Israel. ⁸ I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have eliminated all your enemies from you; and I will make for you a name like the name of the great ones who are on the earth. ⁹ And I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them there, so that they may live in their own place and not tremble with anxiety again; and the ^[b]wicked will not make them waste away anymore as they did previously, ¹⁰ even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel. And I will subdue all your enemies.

Moreover, I tell you that the Lord will build a house for you. ¹¹ When your days are fulfilled that you must ^[c]go to be with your fathers, then I will set up one of your ^[d]descendants after you, who will be from your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. ¹² He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. ^13 (E)I will be his father and he shall be My son; and I will not take My favor away from him, ^(F)as I took it from him who was before you. ¹⁴ But I will settle him in My house and in My kingdom forever, and his throne will be established forever.”’” ¹⁵ According to all these words and according to all of this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

David’s Prayer in Response

¹⁶ Then King David came in and sat before the Lord, and said, “^(G)Who am I, Lord God, and what is my house that You have brought me this far? ¹⁷ This was a small thing in Your eyes, God; but You have spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have viewed me according to the standard of a person of high degree, Lord God. ¹⁸ What more can David still say to You concerning the honor bestowed on Your servant? For You know Your servant. ¹⁹ Lord, ^(H)for Your servant’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have accomplished all this greatness, to make known all these great things. ²⁰ Lord, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to everything that we have heard with our ears. ²¹ And what one nation on the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make for You a name by great and awesome things, by driving out nations from before Your people, whom You redeemed from Egypt? ^22 (I)For You have made Your people Israel Your own people forever, and You, Lord, became their God.

²³ “Now, Lord, let the word that You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house be established forever, and do just as You have spoken. ²⁴ Let Your name be established and be great forever, saying, ‘The Lord of armies is the God of Israel, a God to Israel; and the house of Your servant David is established before You.’ ²⁵ For You, my God, have revealed to Your servant that You will build him a house; therefore Your servant has found courage to pray before You. ²⁶ Now, Lord, You are God, and have ^[e]promised this good thing to Your servant. ²⁷ And now You have decided to bless the house of Your servant, that it may ^[f]continue forever before You; for You, Lord, have blessed, and it is blessed forever.”

God, the Refuge of His People.

For the music director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah, ^[a]set to Alamoth. A Song.

Death Plot and Anointing

14 ^(A)Now ^(B)the Passover and Festival of Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes ^(C)were seeking how to arrest Him covertly and kill Him; ² for they were saying, “Not during the festival, otherwise there will be a riot of the people.”

^3 (D)While He was in ^(E)Bethany at the home of Simon ^[a]the Leper, He was reclining at the table, and a woman came with an alabaster vial of very ^(F)expensive perfume of pure ^[b]nard. She broke the vial and poured the perfume over His head. ⁴ But there were some indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted? ⁵ For this perfume could have been sold for over three hundred ^[c]denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her. ⁶ But Jesus said, “Leave her alone! Why are you bothering her? She has done a good deed for Me. ⁷ For you always have ^(G)the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. ⁸ She has done what she could; ^(H)she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. ⁹ Truly I say to you, ^(I)wherever the gospel is preached in the entire world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her.”

^10 (J)Then Judas Iscariot, ^(K)who was one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests in order to ^[d]betray Him to them. ¹¹ They were delighted when they heard this, and promised to give him money. And he began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time.

The Last Passover

^12 (L)On the first day of ^[e](M)Unleavened Bread, when ^[f]the Passover lamb was being ^(N)sacrificed, His disciples *said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?” ¹³ And He *sent two of His disciples and *said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you; follow him; ¹⁴ and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is My ^(O)guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ ¹⁵ And he himself will show you a large upstairs room furnished and ready; prepare for us there.” ¹⁶ The disciples left and came to the city, and found everything just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover.

^17 (P)When it was evening He *came with the twelve. ¹⁸ And as they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will ^[g]betray Me—^[h]one who is eating with Me.” ¹⁹ They began to be grieved and to say to Him one by one, “Surely not I?” ²⁰ But He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, the one who dips bread with Me in the bowl. ²¹ For the Son of Man is going away just as it is written about Him; but woe to that man ^[i]by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good ^[j]for that man if he had not been born.”

The Lord’s Supper

^22 (Q)While they were eating, He took some bread, and ^[k]after a ^(R)blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.” ²³ And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. ²⁴ And He said to them, “This is My ^(S)blood of the ^(T)covenant, which is being poured out for many. ²⁵ Truly I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine again, until that day when I drink it, new, in the kingdom of God.”

^26 (U)And after singing a ^[l]hymn, they went out to ^(V)the Mount of Olives.

^27 (W)And Jesus *said to them, “You will all ^[m]fall away, because it is written: ‘^(X)I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ ²⁸ But after I am raised, ^(Y)I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” ²⁹ But Peter said to Him, “Even if they all ^[n]fall away, yet I will not!” ³⁰ And Jesus *said to him, “Truly I say to you, that ^[o](Z)this very night, before ^(AA)a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny Me three times.” ³¹ But ^[p]Peter repeatedly said insistently, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And they all were saying the same thing as well.