David Plans to Build a Temple

7 ^(A)Now it came about when the king lived in his house, and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies, ² that the king said to ^(B)Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in ^(C)a house of cedar, but the ark of God ^(D)dwells within tent curtains.” ³ Nathan said to the king, “^(E)Go, do all that is in your mind, for the Lord is with you.”

⁴ But in the same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, ⁵ “Go and say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord, “^(F)Are you the one who should build Me a house to dwell in? ⁶ For ^(G)I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the sons of Israel from Egypt, even to this day; but I have been moving about ^(H)in a tent, even in a ^[a]tabernacle. ^7 (I)Wherever I have gone with all the sons of Israel, did I speak a word with one of the tribes of Israel, ^(J)which I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’”’

God’s Covenant with David

⁸ “Now therefore, thus you shall say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “^(K)I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, ^(L)to be ruler over My people Israel. ^9 (M)I have been with you wherever you have gone and ^(N)have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like the names of the great men who are on the earth. ¹⁰ I will also appoint a place for My people Israel and ^(O)will plant them, that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, ^(P)nor will the ^[b]wicked afflict them any more as formerly, ¹¹ even ^(Q)from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel; and ^(R)I will give you rest from all your enemies. The Lord also declares to you that ^(S)the Lord will make a house for you. ^12 (T)When your days are complete and you ^(U)lie down with your fathers, ^(V)I will raise up your ^[c]descendant after you, who will come forth from ^[d]you, and I will establish his kingdom. ^13 (W)He shall build a house for My name, and ^(X)I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. ^14 (Y)I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; ^(Z)when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, ¹⁵ but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, ^(AA)as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. ^16 (AB)Your house and your kingdom shall endure before ^[e]Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”’” ¹⁷ In accordance with all these words and all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

David’s Prayer

¹⁸ Then David the king went in and sat before the Lord, and he said, “^(AC)Who am I, O Lord ^[f]God, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far? ¹⁹ And yet this was insignificant in Your eyes, O Lord God, ^(AD)for You have spoken also of the house of Your servant concerning the distant future. And ^(AE)this is the ^[g]custom of man, O Lord God. ²⁰ Again what more can David say to You? For ^(AF)You know Your servant, O Lord God! ^21 (AG)For the sake of Your word, and according to Your own heart, You have done all this greatness to let Your servant know. ²² For this reason ^(AH)You are great, O Lord God; for ^(AI)there is none like You, and there is no God besides You, ^(AJ)according to all that we have heard with our ears. ²³ And ^(AK)what one nation on the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people and to make a name for Himself, and ^(AL)to do a great thing for You and awesome things for Your land, before ^(AM)Your people whom ^(AN)You have redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, from nations and their gods? ²⁴ For ^(AO)You have established for Yourself Your people Israel as Your own people forever, and ^(AP)You, O Lord, have become their God. ²⁵ Now therefore, O Lord God, the word that You have spoken concerning Your servant and his house, confirm it forever, and do as You have spoken, ^26 (AQ)that Your name may be magnified forever, by saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel’; and may the house of Your servant David be established before You. ²⁷ For You, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have ^[h]made a revelation to Your servant, saying, ‘^(AR)I will build you a house’; therefore Your servant has found ^[i]courage to pray this prayer to You. ²⁸ Now, O Lord God, You are God, and ^(AS)Your words are truth, and You have ^[j]promised this good thing to Your servant. ²⁹ Now therefore, may it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You. For You, O Lord God, have spoken; and ^(AT)with Your blessing may the house of Your servant be blessed forever.”

The Excellence of Love

13 If I speak with the ^(A)tongues of men and of ^(B)angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a ^(C)clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of ^(D)prophecy, and know all ^(E)mysteries and all ^(F)knowledge; and if I have ^(G)all faith, so as to ^(H)remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ And if I ^(I)give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I ^(J)surrender my body ^[a]to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

⁴ Love ^(K)is patient, love is kind and ^(L)is not jealous; love does not brag and is not ^(M)arrogant, ⁵ does not act unbecomingly; it ^(N)does not seek its own, is not provoked, ^(O)does not take into account a wrong suffered, ^6 (P)does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but ^(Q)rejoices with the truth; ^7 [b](R)bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸ Love never fails; but if there are gifts of ^[c](S)prophecy, they will be done away; if there are ^(T)tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. ⁹ For we ^(U)know in part and we prophesy in part; ¹⁰ but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. ¹¹ When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I ^[d]became a man, I did away with childish things. ¹² For now we ^(V)see in a mirror ^[e]dimly, but then ^(W)face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also ^(X)have been fully known. ¹³ But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the ^[f]greatest of these is ^(Y)love.

Prophecy a Superior Gift

14 ^(Z)Pursue love, yet ^(AA)desire earnestly ^(AB)spiritual gifts, but especially that you may ^(AC)prophesy. ² For one who ^(AD)speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one ^[g]understands, but ^[h]in his spirit he speaks ^(AE)mysteries. ³ But one who prophesies speaks to men for ^(AF)edification and ^(AG)exhortation and consolation. ⁴ One who ^(AH)speaks in a tongue ^(AI)edifies himself; but one who ^(AJ)prophesies ^(AK)edifies the church. ⁵ Now I wish that you all ^(AL)spoke in tongues, but ^(AM)even more that you would prophesy; and greater is one who prophesies than one who ^(AN)speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may receive ^(AO)edifying.

⁶ But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what will I profit you unless I speak to you either by way of ^(AP)revelation or of ^(AQ)knowledge or of ^(AR)prophecy or of ^(AS)teaching? ⁷ Yet even lifeless things, either flute or harp, in producing a sound, if they do not produce a distinction in the tones, how will it be known what is played on the flute or on the harp? ⁸ For if ^(AT)the ^[i]bugle produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle? ⁹ So also you, unless you utter by the tongue speech that is clear, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be ^(AU)speaking into the air. ¹⁰ There are, perhaps, a great many kinds of ^[j]languages in the world, and no kind is without meaning. ¹¹ If then I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be to the one who speaks a ^[k](AV)barbarian, and the one who speaks will be a ^[l]barbarian ^[m]to me. ¹² So also you, since you are zealous of ^[n]spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the ^(AW)edification of the church.

¹³ Therefore let one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. ¹⁴ For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. ^15 (AX)What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will ^(AY)sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also. ¹⁶ Otherwise if you bless ^[o]in the spirit only, how will the one who fills the place of the ^[p]ungifted say ^(AZ)the “Amen” at your ^(BA)giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying? ¹⁷ For you are giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not ^(BB)edified. ¹⁸ I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all; ¹⁹ however, in the church I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct others also, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue.

Instruction for the Church

^20 (BC)Brethren, ^(BD)do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil ^(BE)be infants, but in your thinking be mature. ²¹ In ^(BF)the Law it is written, “^(BG)By men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, and even so they will not listen to Me,” says the Lord. ²² So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but ^(BH)prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers but to those who believe. ²³ Therefore if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, and ^[q]ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that ^(BI)you are mad? ²⁴ But if all ^(BJ)prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ^[r]ungifted man enters, he is ^(BK)convicted by all, he is called to account by all; ^25 (BL)the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will ^(BM)fall on his face and worship God, ^(BN)declaring that God is certainly among you.

^26 (BO)What is the outcome then, ^(BP)brethren? When you assemble, ^(BQ)each one has a ^(BR)psalm, has a ^(BS)teaching, has a ^(BT)revelation, has a ^(BU)tongue, has an ^(BV)interpretation. Let ^(BW)all things be done for edification. ²⁷ If anyone speaks in a ^(BX)tongue, it should be by two or at the most three, and each in turn, and one must ^(BY)interpret; ²⁸ but if there is no interpreter, he must keep silent in the church; and let him speak to himself and to God. ²⁹ Let two or three ^(BZ)prophets speak, and let the others ^(CA)pass judgment. ³⁰ But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, the first one must keep silent. ³¹ For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted; ³² and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; ³³ for God is not a God of ^(CB)confusion but of ^[s]peace, as in ^(CC)all the churches of the ^(CD)saints.

³⁴ The women are to ^(CE)keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but ^(CF)are to subject themselves, just as ^(CG)the Law also says. ³⁵ If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is ^[t]improper for a woman to speak in church. ^36 [u]Was it from you that the word of God first went forth? Or has it come to you only?

^37 (CH)If anyone thinks he is a prophet or ^(CI)spiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you ^(CJ)are the Lord’s commandment. ³⁸ But if anyone does not recognize this, he ^[v]is not recognized.

³⁹ Therefore, my brethren, ^(CK)desire earnestly to ^(CL)prophesy, and do not forbid to speak in tongues. ⁴⁰ But ^(CM)all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner.

Prayer of an Old Man for Deliverance.