Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

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.

22 The angel showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal. The river flows from the throne of God and the Lamb. ² It flows down the middle of the street of the city. The tree of life is on each side of the river, and it produces fruit every month, twelve times a year. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations.

³ Nothing that God judges guilty will be there in that city. The throne of God and the Lamb will be in the city. God’s servants will worship him. ⁴ They will see his face. God’s name will be written on their foreheads. ⁵ There will never be night again. People will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun. The Lord God will give them light. And they will rule like kings forever and ever.

⁶ Then the angel said to me, “These words are true and can be trusted. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must happen soon: ⁷ ‘Listen, I am coming soon! Great blessings belong to the one who obeys the words of prophecy in this book.’”

⁸ I am John. I am the one who heard and saw these things. After I heard and saw them, I bowed down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me. ⁹ But the angel said to me, “Don’t worship me! I am a servant like you and your brothers the prophets. I am a servant like all those who obey the words in this book. You should worship God!”