⁷ Then Solomon said, “My father, David, wanted to build this Temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

The Lord’s Covenant Promise to David

17 When David was settled in his palace, he summoned Nathan the prophet. “Look,” David said, “I am living in a beautiful cedar palace,^[a] but the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant is out there under a tent!”

² David rose to his feet and said: “My brothers and my people! It was my desire to build a Temple where the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant, God’s footstool, could rest permanently. I made the necessary preparations for building it, ³ but God said to me, ‘You must not build a Temple to honor my name, for you are a warrior and have shed much blood.’

⁴ “Yet the Lord, the God of Israel, has chosen me from among all my father’s family to be king over Israel forever. For he has chosen the tribe of Judah to rule, and from among the families of Judah he chose my father’s family. And from among my father’s sons the Lord was pleased to make me king over all Israel.

⁷ “My son, I wanted to build a Temple to honor the name of the Lord my God,” David told him.

¹⁷ Then Solomon said, “My father, David, wanted to build this Temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

² the king summoned Nathan the prophet. “Look,” David said, “I am living in a beautiful cedar palace,^[a] but the Ark of God is out there in a tent!”

³ Nathan replied to the king, “Go ahead and do whatever you have in mind, for the Lord is with you.”