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, “^(A)Who am I, O Lord ^[a]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, ^(B)for You have spoken also of the house of Your servant concerning the distant future. And ^(C)this is the ^[b]custom of man, O Lord God. ²⁰ Again what more can David say to You? For ^(D)You know Your servant, O Lord God! ^21 (E)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 ^(F)You are great, O Lord God; for ^(G)there is none like You, and there is no God besides You, ^(H)according to all that we have heard with our ears. ²³ And ^(I)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 ^(J)to do a great thing for You and awesome things for Your land, before ^(K)Your people whom ^(L)You have redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, from nations and their gods? ²⁴ For ^(M)You have established for Yourself Your people Israel as Your own people forever, and ^(N)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 (O)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 ^[c]made a revelation to Your servant, saying, ‘^(P)I will build you a house’; therefore Your servant has found ^[d]courage to pray this prayer to You. ²⁸ Now, O Lord God, You are God, and ^(Q)Your words are truth, and You have ^[e]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 ^(R)with Your blessing may the house of Your servant be blessed forever.”

David’s Prayer in Response

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

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

David’s Triumphs

8 ^(A)Now after this it came about that David ^[a]defeated the Philistines and subdued them; and David took ^[b]control of the chief city from the hand of the Philistines.

^2 (B)He ^[c]defeated ^(C)Moab, and measured them with the line, making them lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death and one full line to keep alive. And ^(D)the Moabites became servants to David, ^(E)bringing tribute.

³ Then David ^[d]defeated ^(F)Hadadezer, the son of Rehob king of Zobah, as ^(G)he went to restore his ^[e]rule at the ^[f]River. ⁴ David captured from him 1,700 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers; and David ^(H)hamstrung the chariot horses, but reserved enough of them for 100 chariots. ⁵ When ^(I)the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah, David ^[g]killed 22,000 Arameans. ⁶ Then David put garrisons among the Arameans of Damascus, and ^(J)the Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And ^(K)the Lord helped David wherever he went. ⁷ David took the shields of gold which were ^[h]carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ From ^[i]Betah and from ^(L)Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took a very large amount of bronze.

⁹ Now when Toi king of ^(M)Hamath heard that David had ^[j]defeated all the army of Hadadezer, ¹⁰ Toi sent ^[k]Joram his son to King David to ^[l]greet him and bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and ^[m]defeated him; for Hadadezer ^[n]had been at war with Toi. And ^[o]Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold and of bronze. ¹¹ King David also ^(N)dedicated these to the Lord, with the silver and gold that he had dedicated from all the nations which he had subdued: ¹² from ^[p]Aram and ^(O)Moab and ^(P)the sons of Ammon and ^(Q)the Philistines and ^(R)Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

¹³ So ^(S)David made a name for himself when he returned from ^[q]killing 18,000 ^[r]Arameans in ^(T)the Valley of Salt. ¹⁴ He put garrisons in Edom. In all Edom he put garrisons, and ^(U)all the Edomites became servants to David. And ^(V)the Lord helped David wherever he went.

David’s Kingdom Strengthened

18 Now after this ^(A)it came about that David ^[a]defeated the Philistines and subdued them and took Gath and its towns from the hand of the Philistines. ² He defeated Moab, and the Moabites became servants to David, bringing tribute.

³ David also defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah as far as Hamath, as he went to establish his ^[b]rule to the Euphrates River. ⁴ David took from him 1,000 chariots and 7,000 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers, and David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but reserved enough of them for 100 chariots.

⁵ When the Arameans of ^[c]Damascus came to help Hadadezer king ^(B)of Zobah, David ^[d]killed 22,000 men of the Arameans. ⁶ Then David put garrisons among the Arameans of ^[e]Damascus; and the Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And the Lord helped David wherever he went. ⁷ David took the shields of gold which were ^[f]carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ Also from ^[g]Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a very large amount of bronze, with which ^(C)Solomon made the bronze sea and the pillars and the bronze utensils.

⁹ Now when ^[h]Tou king of Hamath heard that David had ^[i]defeated all the army of Hadadezer king of Zobah, ¹⁰ he sent ^[j]Hadoram his son to King David to ^[k]greet him and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and had ^[l]defeated him; for Hadadezer had been at war with Tou. And Hadoram brought all kinds of articles of gold and silver and bronze. ¹¹ King David also dedicated these to the Lord with the silver and the gold which he had carried away from all the nations: from Edom, Moab, the sons of Ammon, the Philistines, and from Amalek.

¹² Moreover Abishai the son of Zeruiah ^[m]defeated 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. ¹³ Then he put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became servants to David. And the Lord helped David wherever he went.

Lament over Defeat in Battle, and Prayer for Help.

For the choir director; according to ^[a]Shushan Eduth. A ^[b]Mikhtam of David, to teach; ^[c]when he struggled with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and smote twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.