In the past you led us in war. You led us even though Saul was the king. The Lord said to you ‘David, you will be the shepherd of my people, the Israelites. You will become the leader over my people.’”

Since the time I brought Israel out of Egypt until now, I have not lived in a house. I have moved around in a tent. I chose people to be special leaders for the Israelites. They were like shepherds for my people. While I was going around in Israel to different places, I never said to any of them: Why haven’t you built a house of cedar wood for me?’

“Now, tell this to my servant David: The Lord All-Powerful says, ‘I took you from the fields and from taking care of the sheep. I made you king of my people Israel.

I am giving this place to my people Israel. They will plant their trees, and they will sit in peace under those trees. They will not be bothered anymore. Evil people will not hurt them as they did at first.

Those bad things happened, but I chose leaders to care for my people Israel. And I will also defeat all your enemies. “‘I tell you that the Lord will build a house for you.

King David stood up and said, “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. In my heart I wanted to build a place to keep the Box of the Lord’s Agreement. I wanted to build a place that would be God’s footstool. And I made the plans for building that house for God.

All these things didn’t come from me and my people. All these things come from you. We are only giving back to you things that came from you.