Chronological

7 When the Lord finally sent peace upon the land, and Israel was no longer at war with the surrounding nations, ² David said to Nathan the prophet, “Look! Here I am living in this beautiful cedar palace while the Ark of God is out in a tent!”

³ “Go ahead with what you have in mind,” Nathan replied, “for the Lord is with you.”

⁴ But that night the Lord said to Nathan, ⁵ “Tell my servant David not to do it!^{[a] 6} For I have never lived in a temple. My home has been a tent ever since the time I brought Israel out of Egypt. ⁷ And I have never once complained to Israel’s leaders, the shepherds of my people. Have I ever asked them, ‘Why haven’t you built me a beautiful cedar temple?’

⁸ “Now go and give this message to David from the Lord of heaven: ‘I chose you to be the leader of my people Israel when you were a mere shepherd, tending your sheep in the pastureland. ⁹ I have been with you wherever you have gone and have destroyed your enemies. And I will make your name greater yet, so that you will be one of the most famous men in the world! ^10-11 I have selected a homeland for my people from which they will never have to move. It will be their own land where the heathen nations won’t bother them as they did when the judges ruled my people. There will be no more wars against you; and your descendants shall rule this land for generations to come! ¹² For when you die, I will put one of your sons upon your throne, and I will make his kingdom strong. ¹³ He is the one who shall build me a temple. And I will continue his kingdom into eternity. ¹⁴ I will be his father and he shall be my son. If he sins, I will use other nations to punish him, ¹⁵ but my love and kindness shall not leave him as I took it from Saul, your predecessor. ¹⁶ Your family shall rule my kingdom forever.’”

¹⁷ So Nathan went back to David and told him everything the Lord had said.

¹⁸ Then David went into the Tabernacle and sat before the Lord and prayed, “O Lord God, why have you showered your blessings on such an insignificant person as I am? ¹⁹ And now, in addition to everything else, you speak of giving me an eternal dynasty! Such generosity is far beyond any human standard! O Lord God! ²⁰ What can I say? For you know what I am like! ²¹ You are doing all these things just because you promised to and because you want to! ²² How great you are, Lord God! We have never heard of any other God like you. And there is no other God. ²³ What other nation in all the earth has received such blessings as Israel, your people? For you have rescued your chosen nation in order to bring glory to your name. You have done great miracles to destroy Egypt and its gods. ²⁴ You chose Israel to be your people forever, and you became our God.

²⁵ “And now, Lord God, do as you have promised concerning me and my family. ²⁶ And may you be eternally honored when you have established Israel as your people and have established my dynasty before you. ²⁷ For you have revealed to me, O Lord of heaven, God of Israel, that I am the first of a dynasty which will rule your people forever; that is why I have been bold enough to pray this prayer of acceptance. ²⁸ For you are indeed God, and your words are truth; and you have promised me these good things— ²⁹ so do as you have promised! Bless me and my family forever! May our dynasty continue on and on before you; for you, Lord God, have promised it.”

17 After David had been living in his new palace for some time he said to Nathan the prophet, “Look! I’m living here in a cedar-paneled home while the Ark of the Covenant of God is out there in a tent!”

² And Nathan replied, “Carry out your plan in every detail, for it is the will of the Lord.”

³ But that same night God said to Nathan, ⁴ “Go and give my servant David this message: ‘You are not to build my temple! ⁵ I’ve gone from tent to tent as my home from the time I brought Israel out of Egypt. ⁶ In all that time I never suggested to any of the leaders of Israel—the shepherds I appointed to care for my people—that they should build me a cedar-lined temple.’

⁷ “Tell my servant David, ‘The Lord of heaven says to you, I took you from being a shepherd and made you the king of my people. ⁸ And I have been with you everywhere you’ve gone; I have destroyed your enemies, and I will make your name as great as the greatest of the earth. ⁹ And I will give a permanent home to my people Israel and will plant them in their land. They will not be disturbed again; the wicked nations won’t conquer them as they did before ¹⁰ when the judges ruled them. I will subdue all of your enemies. And I now declare that I will cause your descendants to be kings of Israel just as you are.

¹¹ “‘When your time here on earth is over and you die, I will place one of your sons upon your throne; and I will make his kingdom strong. ¹² He is the one who shall build me a temple, and I will establish his royal line of descent forever. ¹³ I will be his father, and he shall be my son; I will never remove my mercy and love from him as I did from Saul. ¹⁴ I will place him over my people and over the kingdom of Israel forever—and his descendants will always be kings.’”

¹⁵ So Nathan told King David everything the Lord had said.

¹⁶ Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family that you have given me all this? ¹⁷ For all the great things you have already done for me are nothing in comparison to what you have promised to do in the future! For now, O Lord God, you are speaking of future generations of my children being kings too! You speak as though I were someone very great. ¹⁸ What else can I say? You know that I am but a dog, yet you have decided to honor me! ¹⁹ O Lord, you have given me these wonderful promises just because you want to be kind to me, because of your own great heart. ²⁰ O Lord, there is no one like you—there is no other God. In fact, we have never even heard of another god like you!

²¹ “And what other nation in all the earth is like Israel? You have made a unique nation and have redeemed it from Egypt so that the people could be your people. And you made a great name for yourself when you did glorious miracles in driving out the nations from before your people. ²² You have declared that your people Israel belong to you forever, and you have become their God.

²³ “And now I accept your promise, Lord, that I and my children will always rule this nation. ²⁴ And may this bring eternal honor to your name as everyone realizes that you always do what you say. They will exclaim, ‘The Lord of heaven is indeed the God of Israel!’ And Israel shall always be ruled by my children and their posterity! ²⁵ Now I have the courage to pray to you, for you have revealed this to me. ²⁶ God himself has promised this good thing to me! ²⁷ May this blessing rest upon my children forever, for when you grant a blessing, Lord, it is an eternal blessing!”