< 1 Chronicles 17 >

1 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!”
And it came to pass, when David dwelt in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of Jehovah dwells under curtains.
2 Nathan replied to David, “Whatever you are thinking about doing, do it, because God is with/guiding you.”
And Nathan said to David, Do all that is in thy heart, for God is with thee.
3 But that night God spoke [MTY] to Nathan. He said,
And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying,
4 “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.
Go and tell David my servant, Thus says Jehovah, Thou shall not build for me a house to dwell in.
5 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].
For I have not dwelt in a 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.
6 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]?”’
In all places wherein I have walked with all Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to be shepherd of my people, saying, Why have ye not built for me a house of cedar?
7 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.
Now therefore thus thou shall say to my servant David, Thus says Jehovah of hosts, I took thee from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, that thou should be prince over my people Israel.
8 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.
And I have been with thee wherever thou have gone, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee. And I will make thee a name like the name of the great ones who are on the earth.
9 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].
And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be moved no more. Neither shall the sons of wickedness waste them any more, as at the first,
and as from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. And I will subdue all thine enemies. Moreover I tell thee that Jehovah will build for thee a house.
11 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).
And it shall come to pass, when thy days are fulfilled that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will set up thy seed after thee, who shall be of thy sons. And I will establish his kingdom.
12 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.
He shall build for me a house, and I will establish his throne forever.
13 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.
I will be his father, and he shall be my son. And I will not take my loving kindness away from him as I took it from him who was before thee.
14 I will cause him to rule over my people [MTY], and his kingdom will endure forever [DOU].’”
But I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.
15 So Nathan reported to David everything that Yahweh had revealed to him.
According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.
16 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.
Then David the king went in, and sat before Jehovah. And he said, Who am I, O Jehovah God, and what is my house, that thou have brought me thus far?
17 “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]!
And this was a small thing in thine eyes, O God. But thou have spoken of thy servant's house for a great while to come, and have regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O Jehovah God.
18 “What more can I, David, say to you [for honoring me]? Although you know very well what I am like,
What can David say yet more to thee concerning the honor which is done to thy servant? For thou know thy servant.
19 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].
O Jehovah, for thy servant's sake, and according to thine own heart, thou have wrought all this greatness, to make known all these great things.
20 “Yahweh, you are great. There is no one like you. Only you are God, which is what we have always heard.
O Jehovah, there is none like thee, neither is there any God besides thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
21 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].
And what one nation on the earth is like thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem to himself for a people, to make thee a name by great and awesome things, in driving out nations from before thy people whom thou redeemed out of Egypt?
22 You have caused us your Israeli people to belong to you forever, and you, Yahweh, have become our God!
For thy people Israel thou made thine own people forever. And thou, Jehovah, became their God.
23 “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.
And now, O Jehovah, let the word that thou have spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, be established forever, and do as thou have spoken.
24 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.
And let thy name be established and magnified forever, saying, Jehovah of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel, and the house of David thy servant is established before thee.
25 “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.
For thou, O my God, have revealed to thy servant that thou will build him a house. Therefore thy servant has found in his heart to pray before thee.
26 Yahweh, you are God! You have promised to do these good things for me.
And now, O Jehovah, thou are God, and have promised this good thing to thy servant,
27 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.”
and now it has pleased thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee; for thou, O Jehovah, have blessed, and it is blessed forever.

< 1 Chronicles 17 >