1 Chronicles 17
1 Now it came to pass, as David sat in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, See, I dwell in an house of cedars, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD remains under curtains.
After David began to live in his palace, he said to the prophet Nathan, “[It does not seem right that] I am here living in a palace made of cedar [wood], but Yahweh’s Sacred Chest is kept inside a tent!”
2 Then Nathan said to David, Do all that is in your heart; for God is with you.
Nathan replied to David, “Whatever you are thinking about doing, do it, because God is with/guiding you.”
3 And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying,
But that night God spoke [MTY] to Nathan. He said,
4 Go and tell David my servant, Thus says the LORD, You shall not build me an house to dwell in:
“Go and tell my servant David that this is what I, Yahweh, am saying to him: ‘You are not the one who should build a temple for me to live in.
5 For I have not dwelled in an house since the day that I brought up Israel to this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another.
I have not lived in any building, from the day that I brought the people of Israel up [out of Egypt] until now. Instead, I have [lived in a tent], moving from one place to another with [the Israelis] when they moved to other places [DOU].
6 Wherever I have walked with all Israel, spoke I a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have you not built me an house of cedars?
Wherever I went with all the Israelis [as they traveled], I never [RHQ] said to any of their leaders whom I appointed to lead [MET] them, “Why have you not built me a temple made of cedar [wood]?”’
7 Now therefore thus shall you say to my servant David, Thus says the LORD of hosts, I took you from the sheepcote, even from following the sheep, that you should be ruler over my people Israel:
Therefore, this is what you should say to my servant David: ‘I, the Almighty Commander of the armies of angels, took you from a pasture where you were taking care of sheep, [and I appointed you] to be the ruler of my Israeli people.
8 And I have been with you wherever you have walked, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a name like the name of the great men that are in the earth.
I have (been with/helped) you wherever you have gone, and I have gotten rid of all your enemies as you advanced. And now I will cause you to become very famous, as well-known as the names of the greatest men [who have ever lived] on the earth.
9 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,
Formerly, during the time that I appointed leaders for my Israeli people, many violent groups oppressed them. 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 not allow them to [be 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].
10 And since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. Moreover I will subdue all your enemies. Furthermore I tell you that the LORD will build you an house.
11 And it shall come to pass, when your days be expired that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will raise up your seed after you, which shall be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom.
When your life ends [EUP], and you [die and] go to be with your ancestors [who have died], I will appoint one of your sons to become king, and I will enable his kingdom to (be strong/resist all their enemies).
12 He shall build me an house, and I will establish his throne for ever.
He is the one who will [arrange for] a temple to be built for me. And I will enable his descendants to be kings [MTY] of Israel forever.
13 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 you:
I will be [like] a father to him, and [it will be as though] he [is] a son to me. I stopped loving [Saul, ] the one who was the king before you became king, but I will never stop loving your son.
14 But I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for ever more.
I will cause him to rule over my people [MTY], and his kingdom will endure forever [DOU].’”
15 According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak to David.
So Nathan reported to David everything that Yahweh had revealed to him.
16 And David the king came and sat before the LORD, and said, Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my house, that you have brought me till now?
Then David went [into the Sacred Tent] and sat in the presence of Yahweh, and prayed this: “Yahweh my God, I am certainly not [RHQ] worthy for you to have done all these things for me, and my family is not worthy, either.
17 And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O God; for you have also spoken of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O LORD God.
“And O God, now, in addition to everything else, you have spoken about what will happen to my descendants in the future for many generations. Yahweh my God, you have acted toward me as though I was the most important man [on the earth]!
18 What can David speak more to you for the honor of your servant? for you know your servant.
“What more can I, David, say to you [for honoring me]? Although you know very well what I am like,
19 O LORD, for your servant’s sake, and according to your own heart, have you done all this greatness, in making known all these great things.
Yahweh, for my sake and because it is what you wanted to do, you have done these great things [for me], and you have revealed to me these things [that you are promising to do].
20 O LORD, there is none like you, neither is there any God beside you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
“Yahweh, you are great. There is no one like you. Only you are God, which is what we have always heard.
21 And what one nation in the earth is like your people Israel, whom God went to redeem to be his own people, to make you a name of greatness and terribleness, by driving out nations from before your people whom you have redeemed out of Egypt?
And there is no nation in the world like Israel [RHQ]. Israel is the only nation on the earth whose people you rescued. You performed great and awesome miracles, rescuing our ancestors from [being slaves in] Egypt, and expelling the people of other people-groups [who were in Canaan].
22 For your people Israel did you make your own people for ever; and you, LORD, became their God.
You have caused us your Israeli people to belong to you forever, and you, Yahweh, have become our God!
23 Therefore now, LORD, let the thing that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house be established for ever, and do as you have said.
“And now Yahweh, I pray that you will cause the things that you have promised to do for me and my descendants [MTY] to be fulfilled forever.
24 Let it even be established, that your 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 your servant be established before you.
When that happens, you [MTY] will be 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 [MTY] of mine who will rule.
25 For you, O my God, have told your servant that you will build him an house: therefore your servant has found in his heart to pray before you.
“You, my God, have revealed to me that you will cause [some of] my descendants to become kings. So I am brave enough to pray like this to you.
26 And now, LORD, you are God, and have promised this goodness to your servant:
Yahweh, you are God! You have promised to do these good things for me.
27 Now therefore let it please you to bless the house of your servant, that it may be before you for ever: for you bless, O LORD, and it shall be blessed for ever.
And now you, Yahweh, have [promised to] bless my descendants [MTY], in order that they will continue to rule forever. That will happen because you, Yahweh, are the one who has blessed them, and you will keep blessing them forever.”
