1 Chronicles 17
1 And it came to pass, when David had taken up his abode in his house, that David said unto Nathan the prophet, Lo! I, am dwelling in a house of cedars, but, the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, is 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 said Nathan unto David, All that is in thy heart, do, —for, God, is with thee.
Nathan replied to David, “Whatever you are thinking about doing, do it, because God is with/guiding you.”
3 But so it was that, in that night, the word of God came unto Nathan, saying:
But that night God spoke [MTY] to Nathan. He said,
4 Go and say unto David my servant, Thus, saith Yahweh, —Thou, shalt not build me a 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 seeing that I have not dwelt in a house, since the day that I brought up Israel, until this day, —but have been from tent to tent, and without a habitation.
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 Wheresoever I have wandered with all Israel, spake I ever, a word, with one of the judges of Israel, whom I charged to shepherd my people, saying, —Wherefore have ye not built me a 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, shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, I myself, took thee from the pasture, from after the flock, —to become leader 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 was with thee whithersoever thou didst go, and have cut off all thine enemies, from before thee, —and will make thee a name, like the name of the great ones, who 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 and will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, and they shall inhabit their place, and be unsettled no more, —neither shall the sons of perversity again wear them out, as at the first;
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 even from the days when I put judges in charge over my people Israel, and have subdued all thine enemies, —that I might make thee great, yea, a house, will Yahweh build for thee.
11 And it shall be that, when thy days are fulfilled, to sleep with thy fathers, then will I raise up thy seed after thee, who shall be of thy 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 a house, —and I will establish his throne unto times age-abiding.
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 become his father, and, he, shall become my son, —and, my lovingkindness, will I not cause to depart from him, —as I caused it to depart from him who was before thee;
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 cause him to remain over my house and over my kingdom, unto times age-abiding, —and, his throne, shall be established, unto times age-abiding.
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, spake Nathan unto David.
So Nathan reported to David everything that Yahweh had revealed to him.
16 Then entered King David, and tarried before Yahweh, —and said, Who am, I, O Yahweh God, 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 certainly not [RHQ] worthy for you to have done all these things for me, and my family is not worthy, either.
17 and hast made this seem little in thine eyes, O God, in that thou hast spoken concerning the house of thy servant, for a great while to come? Thus wilt thou provide for me, according to the rank of manhood, and hast exalted me, O Yahweh 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, yet further, can David say unto thee, [thus] to honour thy servant, —seeing that, thou thyself, knowest, thine own servant?
“What more can I, David, say to you [for honoring me]? Although you know very well what I am like,
19 O Yahweh, for the sake of thy servant, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all this great thing, —making known all the 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 Yahweh, there is none like unto thee, yea there is no God besides thee, 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 Who then is like thy people Israel, a nation alone in the earth, —whom God went to redeem, to be his own people, to make for thyself a name for great and fearful things, to drive out, nations, from before thy people, whom thou didst redeem 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 and didst appoint thy people Israel for thyself as a people, unto times age-abiding, —thou thyself, also, O Yahweh, becoming their God?
You have caused us your Israeli people to belong to you forever, and you, Yahweh, have become our God!
23 Now, therefore, O Yahweh, the word which thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, be it steadfast unto times age-abiding, —and do as thou hast spoken:
“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 yea let it be steadfast, and so let thy Name be magnified unto times age-abiding, saying, Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, is a God to Israel! seeing that, the house of David thy servant, is established before thee.
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, thou, O my God, hast unveiled the ear of thy servant, that thou wilt build for him a house, —for this cause, hath thy servant found [it in his heart] to pray before thee.
“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 Now, therefore, O Yahweh, thou, art God, —therefore hast thou spoken concerning thy servant this goodness.
Yahweh, you are God! You have promised to do these good things for me.
27 Now, therefore, let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may be unto times age-abiding before thee, —for, thou O Yahweh, hast blessed, and it is to be blessed unto times age-abiding.
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.”
