God’s Covenant with David^(A)

17 Now ^(B)it came to pass, when David was dwelling in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell 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 all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”

³ But it happened that night that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, ⁴ “Go and tell My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: “You shall ^(C)not build Me a house to dwell in. ⁵ For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought up Israel, even to this day, but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another. ⁶ Wherever I have moved about with all Israel, have I ever spoken a word to 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, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “I took you ^(D)from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ^[a]ruler over My people Israel. ⁸ And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have ^[b]made you a name like the name of the great men who are on the earth. ⁹ Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will ^(E)plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, ¹⁰ since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel. Also I will subdue all your enemies. Furthermore I tell you that the Lord will build you a ^[c]house. ¹¹ And it shall be, when your days are ^(F)fulfilled, when you must ^[d]go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your ^(G)seed after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. ^12 (H)He shall build Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. ^13 (I)I will be his Father, and he shall be My son; and I will not take My mercy away from him, ^(J)as I took it from him who was before you. ¹⁴ And ^(K)I will establish him in My house and in My kingdom forever; and his throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”

¹⁵ According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

^16 (L)Then King David went in and sat before the Lord; and he said: “Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far? ¹⁷ And yet this was a small thing in Your sight, O God; and You have also spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have regarded me according to the rank of a man of high degree, O Lord God. ¹⁸ What more can David say to You for the honor of Your servant? For You know Your servant. ¹⁹ O Lord, for Your servant’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all this greatness, in making 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 (M)And who is like Your people Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people—to make for Yourself a name by great and awesome deeds, by driving out nations from before Your people whom You redeemed from Egypt? ²² For You have made Your people Israel Your very own people forever; and You, Lord, have become their God.

²³ “And now, O Lord, the word which You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house, let it be established forever, and do as You have said. ²⁴ So let it be established, that Your name may be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, is Israel’s God.’ And let the house of Your servant David be established before You. ²⁵ For You, O my God, ^[e]have revealed to Your servant that You will build him a house. Therefore Your servant has found it in his heart to pray before You. ²⁶ And now, Lord, ^[f]You are God, and have promised this goodness to Your servant. ²⁷ Now You have been pleased to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue before You forever; for You have blessed it, O Lord, and it shall be blessed forever.”

Greeting

1 Paul, ^(A)an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

² To the saints ^(B)and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse:

^(C)Grace to you and peace from God our Father ^[a]and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Their Faith in Christ

^3 (D)We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, ^4 (E)since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of ^(F)your love for all the saints; ⁵ because of the hope ^(G)which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, ⁶ which has come to you, ^(H)as it has also in all the world, and ^(I)is bringing forth ^[b]fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew ^(J)the grace of God in truth; ⁷ as you also learned from ^(K)Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is ^(L)a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, ⁸ who also declared to us your ^(M)love in the Spirit.

Preeminence of Christ

^9 (N)For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask ^(O)that you may be filled with ^(P)the knowledge of His will ^(Q)in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; ^10 (R)that you may walk worthy of the Lord, ^(S)fully pleasing Him, ^(T)being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the ^(U)knowledge of God; ^11 (V)strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, ^(W)for all patience and longsuffering ^(X)with joy; ^12 (Y)giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of ^(Z)the inheritance of the saints in the light. ¹³ He has delivered us from ^(AA)the power of darkness ^(AB)and ^[c]conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, ^14 (AC)in whom we have redemption ^[d]through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

¹⁵ He is ^(AD)the image of the invisible God, ^(AE)the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For ^(AF)by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or ^(AG)dominions or ^[e]principalities or ^[f]powers. All things were created ^(AH)through Him and for Him. ^17 (AI)And He is before all things, and in Him ^(AJ)all things consist. ¹⁸ And ^(AK)He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, ^(AL)the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Reconciled in Christ

¹⁹ For it pleased the Father that ^(AM)in Him all the fullness should dwell, ²⁰ and ^(AN)by Him to reconcile ^(AO)all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, ^(AP)having made peace through the blood of His cross.

²¹ And you, ^(AQ)who once were alienated and enemies in your mind ^(AR)by wicked works, yet now He has ^(AS)reconciled ^22 (AT)in the body of His flesh through death, ^(AU)to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— ²³ if indeed you continue ^(AV)in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are ^(AW)not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, ^(AX)which was preached to every creature under heaven, ^(AY)of which I, Paul, became a minister.