Chronological

David Wants to Build a Temple

7 After King David moved into his new house the Lord gave him some relief from all of his enemies around him. ² King David said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I am living in a fancy house made of cedar wood, but God’s Holy Box is still kept in a tent!”

³ Nathan said to King David, “Do whatever you want to do. The Lord will be with you.”

⁴ But that night, the Lord’s word came to Nathan:

⁵ “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not the one to build a house for me to live in. ⁶ I did not live in a house at the time I took the Israelites out of Egypt. No, I traveled around in a tent. I used the tent for my home. ⁷ I never told any of the tribes of Israel to build me a fancy house made from cedar wood.’

⁸ “You must say this to my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: I chose you while you were out in the pasture following the sheep. I took you from that job and made you the leader of my people, the Israelites. ⁹ I have been with you every place you went. I have defeated your enemies for you. I will make you one of the most famous people on earth. ^10-11 And I chose a place for my people, the Israelites. I planted the Israelites. I gave them their own place to live so that they will not have to move from place to place anymore. In the past, I sent judges to lead my people, but evil people gave them many troubles. That will not happen now. I am giving you peace from all of your enemies. I promise that I will make your family a family of kings.^[a]

¹² “‘When your life is finished, you will die and be buried with your ancestors. But then I will make one of your own children become the king. ¹³ He will build a house for my name, and I will make his kingdom strong forever. ¹⁴ I will be his father, and he will be my son.^[b] When he sins, I will use other people to punish him. They will be my whips. ¹⁵ But I will never stop loving him. I will continue to be loyal to him. I took away my love and kindness from Saul. I pushed Saul away when I turned to you. ¹⁶ Your family of kings will continue—you can depend on that! For you, your kingdom will continue forever! Your throne will stand forever!’”

¹⁷ Nathan told David about that vision. He told David everything God had said.

David Prays to God

¹⁸ Then King David went in and sat in front of the Lord. David said,

“Lord God, why am I so important to you? Why is my family important? Why have you made me so important? ¹⁹ I am nothing but a servant, but Lord God, you have also said these kind things about my future family. Lord God, you don’t always talk like this to people, do you? ²⁰ How can I continue talking to you? Lord God, you know that I am only a servant. ²¹ You will do all these wonderful things because you said you would do them and because you want to do them. And you decided to let me know about all these things. ²² Lord God, this is why you are so great! There is no one like you. There is no god except you! We know that because of what we ourselves have heard about what you did.

²³ “And there is no nation on earth like your people, Israel. They are a special people. They were slaves, but you took them out of Egypt and made them free. You made them your people. You did great and wonderful things for the Israelites and for your land. ²⁴ You made the people of Israel your very own people forever, and Lord, you became their God.

²⁵ “Now, Lord God, you promised to do something for me, your servant, and for my family. Now please do what you promised—make my family a family of kings forever! ²⁶ Then your name will be honored forever. People will say, ‘The Lord God All-Powerful rules Israel! And may the family of your servant David continue to be strong in serving you.’

²⁷ “You, Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, have shown things to me. You said, ‘I will make your family great.’ That is why I, your servant, decided to pray this prayer to you. ²⁸ Lord God, you are God, and I can trust what you say. And you said that these good things would happen to me, your servant. ²⁹ Now, please, bless my family. Let them stand before you and serve you forever. Lord God, you yourself said these things. You yourself blessed my family with a blessing that will continue forever.”

God’s Promise to David

17 After David had moved into his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I am living in this nice palace made of cedar, but the Box of the Lord’s Agreement sits in a tent.”

² Nathan answered David, “You may do what you want to do. God is with you.”

³ But that night the word of God came to Nathan. ⁴ God said,

“Go and tell this to my servant David: The Lord says, ‘David, you are not the one to build a house for me to live in. ^5-6 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?’

⁷ “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. ⁸ I have been with you everywhere you went. I went ahead of you and I killed your enemies. Now I will make you one of the most famous men on earth. ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ 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.^{[a] 11} When you die, and you join your ancestors, then I will let your own son be the new king. The new king will be one of your sons, and I will make his kingdom strong. ¹² Your son will build a house for me. I will make your son’s family rule forever. ¹³ I will be his father, and he will be my son. Saul was the king before you, and I took away my support from Saul. But I will never stop loving your son. ¹⁴ I will put him in charge of my house and kingdom forever. His rule will continue forever!’”

¹⁵ Nathan told David about the vision and everything God had said.

David’s Prayer

¹⁶ Then King David went to the Holy Tent and sat before the Lord. David said,

“Lord God, you have done so much for me and my family. And I don’t understand why. ¹⁷ Besides all these things, God, you let me know what will happen to my family in the future. Lord God, you have treated me like a very important man. ¹⁸ What more can I say? You have done so much for me. And I am only your servant. You know that. ¹⁹ Lord, you have done this wonderful thing for me and because you wanted to. ²⁰ There is no one like you, Lord. There is no God except you. We have never heard of any god doing wonderful things like those! ²¹ Is there any other nation like Israel? No, Israel is the only nation on earth that you have done these wonderful things for. You took us out of Egypt and you made us free. You made yourself famous. You went in front of your people, and forced other people to leave their land for us. ²² You took Israel to be your people forever, and you, Lord, became their God!

²³ “Lord, you made this promise to me and my family. Now, keep your promise forever. Do what you said you would. ²⁴ Keep your promise so that people will honor your name forever. Then people will say, ‘The Lord All-Powerful is Israel’s God!’ I am your servant. Please let my family be strong and continue to serve you.

²⁵ “My God, you spoke to me, your servant. You made it clear that you would make my family a family of kings. That is why I am being so bold—that is why I am asking you to do these things. ²⁶ Lord, you are God, and you yourself promised to do these good things for me. ²⁷ You have been kind enough to bless my family. You were kind enough to promise that my family will serve you forever. Lord, you yourself blessed my family, so my family really will be blessed forever.”