⁵ “Go and speak to my servant David. Tell him, ‘The Lord says, “Are you the one to build me a house to live in? ⁶ I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt. But I have not lived in a house from then until now. I have been moving from place to place. I have been living in a tent. ⁷ I have moved from place to place with all the Israelites. I commanded their rulers to be shepherds over them. I never asked any of those rulers, ‘Why haven’t you built me a house that has beautiful cedar walls?’ ” ’

⁸ “So tell my servant David, ‘The Lord who rules over all says, “I took you away from the grasslands. That’s where you were taking care of your father’s sheep and goats. I made you ruler over my people Israel. ⁹ I have been with you everywhere you have gone. I have destroyed all your enemies. Now I will make you famous. Your name will be just as respected as the names of the most important people on earth. ¹⁰ I will provide a place where my people Israel can live. I will plant them in the land. Then they will have a home of their own. They will not be bothered anymore. Evil people will no longer crush them, as they did at first. ¹¹ That is what your enemies have done ever since I appointed leaders over my people Israel. But I will give you peace and rest from all of them.

“ ‘ “I tell you that I, the Lord, will set up a royal house for you. ¹² Some day your life will come to an end. You will join the members of your family who have already died. Then I will make one of your own sons the next king after you. And I will make his kingdom secure. ¹³ He is the one who will build a house where I will put my Name. I will set up the throne of his kingdom. It will last forever. ¹⁴ I will be his father. And he will be my son. When he does what is wrong, I will use other men to beat him with rods and whips. ¹⁵ I took my love away from Saul. I removed him from being king. You were there when I did it. But I will never take my love away from your son. ¹⁶ Your royal house and your kingdom will last forever in my sight. Your throne will last forever.” ’ ”

²² “Lord and King, how great you are! There isn’t anyone like you. There isn’t any God but you. We have heard about it with our own ears. ²³ Who is like your people Israel? God, we are the one nation on earth you have saved. You have set us free for yourself. Your name has become famous. You have done great and wonderful things. You have driven out nations and their gods to make room for your people. You saved us when you set us free from Egypt. ²⁴ You made Israel your very own people forever. Lord, you have become our God.

²⁵ “And now, Lord God, keep forever the promise you have made to me and my royal house. Do exactly as you promised. ²⁶ Then your name will be honored forever. People will say, ‘The Lord rules over all. He is God over Israel.’ My royal house will be made secure in your sight.

¹² “You are now building this temple. Follow my orders. Keep my rules. Obey all my commands. Then I will make the promise I gave your father David come true. I will do it through you. ¹³ I will live among my people Israel. I will not desert them.”

²³ He said,

“Lord, you are the God of Israel. There is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below. You keep the covenant you made with us. You show us your love. You do that when we follow you with all our hearts. ²⁴ You have kept your promise to my father David. He was your servant. With your mouth you made a promise. With your powerful hand you have made it come true. And today we can see it.

³ The Lord said to him,

“I have heard you pray to me. I have heard you ask me to help you. You have built this temple. I have set it apart for myself. My Name will be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

⁴ “But you must walk faithfully with me, just as your father David did. Your heart must be honest. It must be without blame. Do everything I command you to do. Obey my rules and laws. ⁵ Then I will set up your royal throne over Israel forever. I promised your father David I would do that. I said to him, ‘You will always have a son from your family line on the throne of Israel.’

⁶ “But suppose all of you turn away from me. Or your children turn away from me. You refuse to obey the commands and rules I have given you. And you go off to serve other gods and worship them. ⁷ Then I will remove Israel from the land. It is the land I gave them. I will turn my back on this temple. I will do it even though I have set it apart for my Name to be there. Then Israel will be hated by all the nations. They will laugh and joke about Israel. ⁸ This temple will become a pile of stones. All those who pass by it will be shocked. They will make fun of it. And they will say, ‘Why has the Lord done a thing like this to this land and temple?’ ⁹ People will answer, ‘Because they have deserted the Lord their God. He brought out of Egypt their people of long ago. But they have been holding on to other gods. They’ve been worshiping them. They’ve been serving them. That’s why the Lord has brought all this horrible trouble on them.’ ”