1 Chronicles 17:1-15
Lexham English Bible
Yahweh’s Covenant with David
17 And as David lived in his house, David said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I live in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of Yahweh is under tent curtains.” 2 And Nathan said to David, “Whatever is in your heart, do, for God is with you.”
3 And it happened that same night the word of God came to Nathan, saying, 4 “Go and say to David my servant, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “You are not to build a house for me to live in, 5 for I have not lived in a house from the day that I brought out Israel unto this day. I have been from tent to tent and from tabernacle to tabernacle. 6 In every place I have moved about, did I say one word with the judges of Israel I commanded to shepherd my people, saying, ‘Why have you not built for me a house of cedar?’”’ 7 So now, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader over my people Israel, 8 and I have been with you wherever you went and have cut down your enemies from before you and will make a name for you, like the name of the great ones on the earth. 9 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them,[a] and they[b] shall dwell in their[c] place and be in anguish no longer. And wicked men will no longer wear them down as before, 10 from the day that I commanded judges over my people Israel. And I will subdue your enemies, and I declare to you that Yahweh will build for you a house.[d] 11 And it shall be that when your days are fulfilled to go and sleep with your ancestors,[e] then I will raise up your seed after you, who will be one of your sons, and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He himself will build for me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. 13 I myself will be a father to him, and he himself will be a son to me. And I will not remove my steadfast love from him as I took it away from whoever was before you. 14 And I will establish him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne will be established forever.”’” 15 According to all these words and according to all this revelation, thus did Nathan speak to David.
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- 1 Chronicles 17:9 Or “him” (i.e., the nation)
- 1 Chronicles 17:9 Or “he”
- 1 Chronicles 17:9 Or “his”
- 1 Chronicles 17:10 Or “household” (that is, a dynasty)
- 1 Chronicles 17:11 Or “fathers”
1 Chronicles 17:1-15
New English Translation
God Makes a Promise to David
17 When David had settled into his palace,[a] he[b] said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I am living in a palace[c] made from cedar, while the ark of the Lord’s covenant is under a tent.”[d] 2 Nathan said to David, “You should do whatever you have in mind,[e] for God is with you.”
3 That night God told Nathan,[f] 4 “Go, tell my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord says: “You must not build me a house in which to live. 5 For I have not lived in a house from the time I brought Israel up from Egypt[g] to the present day. I have lived in a tent that has been in various places.[h] 6 Wherever I moved throughout Israel, I did not say[i] to any of the leaders whom I appointed to care for my people Israel,[j] ‘Why have you not built me a house made from cedar?’”’
7 “So now, say this to my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies[k] says: “I took you from the pasture and from your work as a shepherd[l] to make you a leader of my people Israel. 8 I was with you wherever you went and I defeated[m] all your enemies before you. Now I will make you as famous as the great men of the earth.[n] 9 I will establish a place for my people Israel and settle[o] them there; they will live there and not be disturbed[p] anymore. Violent men will not oppress them again, as they did in the beginning[q] 10 and during the time when I appointed judges to lead my people Israel. I will subdue all your enemies.
“‘“I declare to you that the Lord will build a dynastic house[r] for you! 11 When the time comes for you to die,[s] I will raise up your descendant,[t] one of your own sons, to succeed you, and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He will build me a house, and I will make his dynasty permanent.[u] 13 I will become his father and he will become my son. I will never withhold my loyal love from him, as I withheld it from the one who ruled before you.[v] 14 I will put him in permanent charge of my house and my kingdom; his dynasty will be permanent.”’”[w] 15 Nathan told David all these words that were revealed to him.[x]
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- 1 Chronicles 17:1 tn Heb “house.”
- 1 Chronicles 17:1 tn Heb “David.” The pronoun “he” has been used in the translation here to avoid redundancy in keeping with contemporary English style.
- 1 Chronicles 17:1 tn Heb “house.”
- 1 Chronicles 17:1 tn Heb “tent curtains.”
- 1 Chronicles 17:2 tn Heb “all that is in your heart.”
- 1 Chronicles 17:3 tn Heb “the word of God was [i.e., came] to Nathan.”
- 1 Chronicles 17:5 tn The words “from Egypt” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
- 1 Chronicles 17:5 tc Heb “and I was from tent to tent and from tabernacle.” The words אֶל־מִשְׁכָּן (ʾel mishkan, “to tabernacle”) should probably be added at the end of the sentence to complete this prepositional phrase and produce symmetry with the preceding prepositional phrase. The words probably fell from the text by homoioteleuton.sn I have lived in a tent that has been in various places. The point here is that the Lord moved with the tabernacle as it moved from place to place; he did not confine himself to a particular location.
- 1 Chronicles 17:6 tn In the Hebrew text the statement is phrased as a rhetorical question (“Did I say a word?”) meaning “I did not say a word.”
- 1 Chronicles 17:6 tn Heb “to one of the judges of Israel whom I commanded to shepherd my people.”
- 1 Chronicles 17:7 tn Traditionally, “Lord of hosts.”
- 1 Chronicles 17:7 tn Heb “and from after sheep.”
- 1 Chronicles 17:8 tn Heb “cut off.”
- 1 Chronicles 17:8 tn Heb “and I will make for you a name like the name of the great men who are in the earth.”
- 1 Chronicles 17:9 tn Heb “plant.”
- 1 Chronicles 17:9 tn Heb “shaken.”
- 1 Chronicles 17:9 tn Heb “and sons of violence will no longer consume them as in the beginning.”
- 1 Chronicles 17:10 tn Here the word “house” is used in a metaphorical sense, referring to a royal dynasty. The Lord’s use of the word here plays off the literal sense that David had in mind as he contemplated building a temple (“house”) for the Lord. In the translation the adjective “dynastic” is supplied to indicate that the term is used metaphorically.
- 1 Chronicles 17:11 tn Heb “and it will be when your days are full to go with your ancestors.”
- 1 Chronicles 17:11 tn Heb “your seed.”
- 1 Chronicles 17:12 tn Heb “and I will establish his throne permanently.”
- 1 Chronicles 17:13 sn The one who ruled before you is a reference to Saul, from whom the kingdom was taken and given to David.
- 1 Chronicles 17:14 tn Heb “and his throne will be established permanently.”
- 1 Chronicles 17:15 tn Heb “according to all these words and according to all this revelation, so Nathan said to David.”
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