2 Samuel 7

1 And it came to pass when the king dwelt in his house, and Jehovah had given him rest round about from all his enemies,

After [King] David began to live in his palace, Yahweh protected him from all his enemies.

2 that the king said to Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in a house of cedars, and the ark of God dwells under curtains.

One day he said to the prophet Nathan, “[It is not right that] I am here, living in a [beautiful] house made of cedar [wood], but the chest that contains God’s Ten Commandments is kept in a tent!”

3 And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thy heart; for Jehovah is with thee.

Then Nathan said to the king, “Yahweh is helping/directing you, so do [regarding that chest] whatever you are thinking.”

4 And it came to pass that night that the word of Jehovah came to Nathan, saying,

But that night, Yahweh said to Nathan,

5 Go and say to my servant, to David, Thus saith Jehovah: Wilt thou build me a house for me to dwell in?

“Go and tell my servant, David, that this is what [I], Yahweh, am saying to him: ‘You are not the one [RHQ] who should build a temple for me to live in.

6 For I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but I went about in a tent and in a tabernacle.

I have not lived in any building from the day that I brought the Israeli people up from Egypt until now. Instead, I have been living in a tent, moving from one place to another [when the Israelis] moved to other places.

7 In all my going about with all the children of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye me not a house of cedars?

Wherever I went with all the Israelis [as they traveled], I never said [RHQ] to any of their leaders whom I appointed to lead them, “Why have you not built me a temple made of cedar [wood]?”’

8 And now, thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: I took thee from the pasture-grounds, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people, over Israel;

So this is what you should say to my servant David: ‘The Almighty Commander of the armies of angels says that he took you from a pasture where you were taking care of sheep, [and appointed you] to become the ruler of my Israeli people.

9 and I have been with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are on the earth.

I have (been with/helped) you wherever you have gone. I have gotten rid of all your enemies as you advanced. I will enable you to become very famous, as well-known as the names of all the greatest men [who have ever lived] on the earth.

10 And I will appoint a place for my people, for Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and be disturbed no more; neither shall the sons of wickedness afflict them any more, as formerly,

Formerly, during the time that I appointed leaders for my Israeli people, many violent groups oppressed the Israelis. But this will not happen any more. I have chosen a place where my Israeli people can live [peacefully] and no one will disturb them any more. I will give them rest from [being attacked by] their enemies. And I will defeat all your enemies. I declare to you that I, Yahweh, will enable your descendants to rule after you [die].

11 and since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. And I have given thee rest from all thine enemies; and Jehovah telleth thee that Jehovah will make thee a house.

12 When thy days are fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

When your life ends [EUP] and you go to be with your ancestors, I will appoint one of your sons to be king, and I will enable his kingdom to (be strong/resist all their enemies).

13 It is he who shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

He is the one who will arrange for a temple to be built for me [MTY], and I will cause his [descendants] to be kings [MTY] [of Israel] forever.

14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the sons of men;

I will be [like] a father to him, and [it will be as though] he [is] a son to me [MET]. When he does something that is wrong, I will punish him as fathers punish their sons.

15 but my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before thee.

But I will not stop faithfully loving him as I stopped loving Saul, whom I removed from being king before you became king.

16 And thy house and thy kingdom shall be made firm for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.

Your descendants will rule the kingdom [of Israel] forever. Their rule will never end. [DOU]’”

17 According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak to David.

So Nathan told David everything that Yahweh had told him.

18 And king David went in and sat before Jehovah, and said, Who am I, Lord Jehovah, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?

Then David went into [the Sacred Tent] and sat in the presence of Yahweh, and prayed this: “Yahweh, my God, I am not worthy [RHQ] [for you to have done all these things] for me, and my family is not worthy, either.

19 And yet this hath been a small thing in thy sight, Lord Jehovah; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, Lord Jehovah?

“And now, O Yahweh my God, in addition to everything else, you have spoken about what will happen to my descendants in the future for many generations.

20 And what can David say more to thee? for thou, Lord Jehovah, knowest thy servant.

“Yahweh God, what more can I, David, say to you [for honoring me]? Although you know very well [what I am like], Yahweh my God, you have done things for me as though I was the most important man [on the earth]!

21 For thy word's sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all this greatness, to make thy servant know [it].

For my sake and because it is what you wanted to do, you have done all these great things for me.

22 Wherefore thou art great, Jehovah Elohim; for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

“Yahweh my God, you are great. There is no one like you. Only you are God, just as we have always heard.

23 And who is like thy people, like Israel, the one nation in the earth that God went to redeem to be a people to himself, and to make himself a name, and to do for them great things and terrible, for thy land, before thy people, which thou redeemedst to thyself from Egypt, from the nations and their gods?

And there is no other nation in the world like Israel. Israel is the only nation on the earth whose people you went out to rescue [RHQ]. By the great and awesome things that you did, you have become famous/well-known throughout the world. As your people advanced [through this land], you expelled other people-groups [who were here in Canaan], who worshiped other gods.

24 And thou hast established to thyself thy people Israel to be a people unto thee for ever; and thou, Jehovah, art become their God.

And you caused us Israeli people to be your people forever, and you, Yahweh, have become our God!

25 And now, Jehovah Elohim, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his house, fulfil it for ever, and do as thou hast said.

“And now, Yahweh my God, [I pray that you will] cause the things that you promised to me about my descendants to be fulfilled forever, and [that you will] do the things that you said [that you would do].

26 And let thy name be magnified for ever, saying, Jehovah of hosts is God over Israel; and let the house of thy servant David be established before thee.

When that happens, you will become famous forever, and people will exclaim, ‘The Almighty Commander of the armies of angels is the God who rules Israel.’ And you will cause that forever there will be descendants of mine who will rule.

27 For thou, Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee a house; therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee.

“Yahweh Almighty, the God whom we Israeli people [worship], you have revealed to me that you will make some of my descendants kings. For that reason, I have been brave enough to pray like this to you.

28 And now, Lord Jehovah, thou art that God, and thy words are true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant;

So now, O Yahweh Almighty, because you are God, we can trust that you will do what you promise. You have promised these good things to me.

29 and now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may be before thee for ever; for thou, Lord Jehovah, hast spoken it; and with thy blessing shall the house of thy servant be blessed for ever.

So now I ask you that if it pleases you, you will bless my descendants, in order that they may continue [to rule] forever. Yahweh God, you have promised these things, and [so I know that] you will keep blessing my descendants forever.”