Kings II 7

1 And it came to pass when the king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him an inheritance on every side [free] from all his enemies round about him;

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, Behold now, I live in a house of cedar, and the ark of the Lord dwells in the midst of a tent.

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 and do all that [is] in your heart, for the Lord [is] with you.

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 in that night, that the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying,

But that night, Yahweh said to Nathan,

5 Go, and say to my servant David, Thus says the Lord, You shall not 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 lived in a house from the day that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt to this day, but I have been walking in a lodge and in a tent,

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 wherever I went with all Israel. Have I ever spoken to any of the tribes of Israel, which I commanded to tend my people Israel, saying, Why have you not built me a house of Cedar?

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 shall you say to my servant David, Thus says the Lord Almighty, I took you from the sheep-cote, that you should be a 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 was with you wherever you went, and I destroyed all your enemies before you, and I made you renowned according to the renown of the great ones 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 Israel, and will plant them, and they shall dwell by themselves, and shall be no more distressed; and the son of iniquity shall no more afflict them, as he [has done] from the beginning,

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 from the days when I appointed judges over my people Israel: and I will give you rest from all your enemies, and the Lord will tell you that you shall build a house to him.

12 And it shall come to pass when your days shall have been fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, that I will raise up your seed after you, even your own issue, 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 He shall build for me a house to my name, and I will set up his throne even 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 to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. And when he happens to transgress, then will I 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 I will not take from him, as I took it from those whom I removed from my presence.

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 his house shall be made sure, and his kingdom for ever before me, and his throne shall be set up 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 Nathan spoke to David.

So Nathan told David everything that Yahweh had told him.

18 And king David came in, and sat before the Lord, and said, Who am I, O Lord, my Lord, and what [is] my house, that you have loved 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 Whereas I was very little before you, O Lord, my Lord, yet you spoke concerning the house of your servant for a long time to [to come]. And [is] this the law of man, O Lord, my Lord?

“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 shall David yet say to you? and now you know your servant, O Lord, my Lord.

“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 And you have wrought for your servant's sake, and according to your heart you have wrought all this greatness, to make it known to your servant,

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

22 that he may magnify you, O my Lord; for there is no one like you, and there is no God, but you among all of whom 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 what other nation in the earth [is] as your people Israel? whereas God was his guide, to redeem for himself a people to make you a name, to do mightily and nobly, so that you should cast out nations an [their] tabernacles from the presence of your people, whom you did redeem for yourself out of Egypt?

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 you has prepared for yourself your people Israel to be a people for ever, and you, Lord, are become their God.

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

25 And now, O my Lord, the Almighty Lord God of Israel, confirm the word for ever which you have spoken concerning your servant and his house: and now as you have 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 Let your name be magnified for ever.

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 Almighty Lord God of Israel, you have uncovered the ear of your servant, saying, I will build you a house: therefore your servant has found [in] his heart to pray this prayer to you.

“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, O Lord my Lord, you are God; and your words will be true, and you have spoken these good things concerning your 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 begin and bless the house of your servant, that it may continue for ever before you; for you, O Lord, my Lord, have spoken, and the house of your servant shall be blessed with your blessing so as to continue 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.”