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David had settled in his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Look at this, I am living in a house of cedar, but the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord is under tent curtains.”
2 So Nathan told David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”
3 But that same night the word of God came to Nathan: 4 “Go and tell My servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: “You are not the one to build Me a house to dwell in. 5 From the day I brought Israel out of Egypt until now I not dwelt in a house. Instead, I have moved from tent to tent, and from tabernacle to tabernacle. 6 Wherever I have moved with the Israelites, have I ever spoken a word to even one of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’ ” ’
7 “Now this is what you are to tell My servant David, ‘This is what the Lord of Hosts says: “I took you from the pasture and from following the flock, to be ruler over My people Israel. 8 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make a name for you like the names of the great men of the earth. 9 I will establish a place for My people Israel and plant them, so that they may live in a place of their own and not be disturbed again. Wicked men will not oppress them anymore, as they have previously, 10 since the time that I appointed judges over My people Israel. I will also subdue all your enemies.
“Furthermore, I declare to you that the Lord will build a house for you. 11 And when your days are over and you go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who is one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He will build a house for Me, and I will establish his throne forever. 13 I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me. I will never withdraw My faithful love from him, as I it away from your predecessor. 14 I will appoint him over My house and My kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever” ’.”
15 Nathan recounted to David all the words and the vision of this entire revelation.
16 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said:
“Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? 17 Yet even this, O God, was but a small thing to You, for You have spoken about the house of Your servant for the future. You regard me as a man of distinction, O Lord God.
18 “What more can David say to You for honouring Your servant? For You know Your servant, 19 O Lord. For the sake of your servant, and according to Your own heart, You have done this great thing, and have made known all these great promises. 20 O Lord, there is no one like You, and there is no other God but You, as we have all heard with our own ears. 21 And who is like Your people Israel—the one nation on earth whose God went out to redeem as His own people, and to make a name for Yourself by performing great and awesome deeds by driving out nations before Your people, whom You redeemed from Egypt? 22 You made Your people Israel Your own people forever, and You, O Lord, have become their God.
23 “And now, O Lord, let the word that You have spoken concerning Your servant and his house be established forever. Do as You have promised, 24 and let it be established, that Your name will be magnified forever. Then men will say, ‘The Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, is God over Israel!’ May the house of Your servant David be established before You.
25 “Since You, my God, have revealed to Your servant that you will build a house for him, Your servant has found courage to pray to You. 26 And now, O Lord, You are God and You have promised these good things to Your servant. 27 Now it has pleased You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You. You have blessed, O Lord, and it will be blessed forever.”