1 Chronicles 17
1 Now when David was living in his house, he said to the prophet Nathan: “Behold, I live in a house of cedar. But the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under tent skins.”
Now it came to pass, as David sat in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in an house of cedars, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD [remaineth] under curtains.
2 And Nathan said to David: “Do all that is in your heart. For God is with you.”
Then Nathan said unto David, Do all that [is] in thine heart; for God [is] with thee.
3 And yet, that night the word of God came to Nathan, saying:
And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying,
4 “Go, and speak to my servant David: Thus says the Lord: You shall not build a house for me as a dwelling place.
Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in:
5 For I have not stayed in a house from the time when I led out Israel, even to this day. Instead, I have been continually changing places, in a tabernacle and tent,
For I have not dwelt in an house since the day that I brought up Israel unto this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from [one] tabernacle [to another].
6 dwelling with all of Israel. When did I ever speak to any one at all, among the judges of Israel whom I placed in charge so that they might pasture my people, saying: ‘Why have you not built a house of cedar for me?’
Wheresoever I have walked with all Israel, spake I a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have ye not built me an house of cedars?
7 And so, now you shall say this to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you when you were following the flock in the pastures, so that you would be the leader of my people Israel.
Now therefore thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, [even] from following the sheep, that thou shouldest be ruler over my people Israel:
8 And I have been with you wherever you have gone. And I have slain all your enemies before you, and I have made a name for you like one of the great ones who are celebrated upon the earth.
And I have been with thee whithersoever thou hast walked, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee, and have made thee a name like the name of the great men that [are] in the earth.
9 And I have given a place to my people Israel. They shall be planted, and they shall live in it, and they shall no longer be moved. Neither shall the sons of iniquity wear them away, as in the beginning,
Also I will ordain a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, and they shall dwell in their place, and shall be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the beginning,
10 from the days when I gave judges to my people Israel, and I humbled all your enemies. Therefore, I announce to you that the Lord will build a house for you.
And since the time that I commanded judges [to be] over my people Israel. Moreover I will subdue all thine enemies. Furthermore I tell thee that the LORD will build thee an house.
11 And when you will have completed your days, so that you go to your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall be from your sons. And I will establish his kingdom.
And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go [to be] with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom.
12 He shall build a house for me, and I will make firm his throne, even unto eternity.
He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever.
13 I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. And I will not take away my mercy from him, as I took it away from the one who was before you.
I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took [it] from [him] that was before thee:
14 And I will station him in my house and in my kingdom, even forever. And his throne will be very firm, in perpetuity.”
But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore.
15 According to all these words, and according to this entire vision, so did Nathan speak to David.
According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.
16 And when king David had departed, and had sat down before the Lord, he said: “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you would grant such things to me?
And David the king came and sat before the LORD, and said, Who [am] I, O LORD God, and what [is] mine house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?
17 But even this has seemed little in your sight, and therefore you have also spoken about the house of your servant even for the future. And you have made me a spectacle above all men, O Lord God.
And [yet] this was a small thing in thine eyes, O God; for thou hast [also] spoken of thy servant’s house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O LORD God.
18 What more can David add, since you have so glorified your servant, and have known him?
What can David [speak] more to thee for the honour of thy servant? for thou knowest thy servant.
19 O Lord, because of your servant, in accord with your own heart, you have brought about all this magnificence, and you have willed all these great things to be known.
O LORD, for thy servant’s sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all this greatness, in making known all [these] great things.
20 O Lord, there is no one like you. And there is no other God apart from you, out of all whom we have heard about with our ears.
O LORD, [there is] none like thee, neither [is there any] God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
21 For what other single nation upon earth is like your people Israel, to whom God reached out, so that he might free them, and might make a people for himself, and by his greatness and terribleness cast out the nations before the face of those whom he had freed from Egypt?
And what one nation in the earth [is] like thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem [to be] his own people, to make thee a name of greatness and terribleness, by driving out nations from before thy people, whom thou hast redeemed out of Egypt?
22 And you have set your people Israel to be your people, even unto eternity. And you, O Lord, have become their God.
For thy people Israel didst thou make thine own people for ever; and thou, LORD, becamest their God.
23 Now therefore, O Lord, let the word that you have spoken to your servant, and over his house, be confirmed in perpetuity, and do just as you have spoken.
Therefore now, LORD, let the thing that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his house be established for ever, and do as thou hast said.
24 And may your name remain and be magnified even for all time. And let it be said: ‘The Lord of hosts is the God of Israel. And the house of his servant David remains forever before him.’
Let it even be established, that thy name may be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of hosts [is] the God of Israel, [even] a God to Israel: and [let] the house of David thy servant [be] established before thee.
25 For you, O Lord my God, have revealed to the ear of your servant that you will build a house for him. And therefore your servant has found faith so that he might pray before you.
For thou, O my God, hast told thy servant that thou wilt build him an house: therefore thy servant hath found [in his heart] to pray before thee.
26 Now then, O Lord, you are God. And you have spoken to your servant such great benefits.
And now, LORD, thou art God, and hast promised this goodness unto thy servant:
27 And you have begun to bless the house of your servant, so that it may be always before you. For since it is you who is blessing, O Lord, it shall be blessed forever.”
Now therefore let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may be before thee for ever: for thou blessest, O LORD, and [it shall be] blessed for ever.
