1 Chronicles 17

1 And it cometh to pass as David sat in his house, that David saith unto Nathan the prophet, 'Lo, I am dwelling in a house of cedars, and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah [is] under curtains;'

Once David had settled into his palace, he spoke to the prophet Nahum. “Look,” he said, “I'm living in a cedar palace while the Ark of the Lord's Agreement is kept in a tent!”

2 and Nathan saith unto David, 'All that [is] in thy heart do, for God [is] with thee.'

“Do what you think you should, for the God is with you,” Nathan replied.

3 And it cometh to pass on that night that a word of God is unto Nathan, saying,

But that night God told Nathan,

4 'Go, and thou hast said unto David My servant, Thus said Jehovah, Thou dost not build for Me the house to dwell in:

“Go and talk to my servant David. Tell him, this is what the Lord says, You are not to build a house for me to live in.

5 for I have not dwelt in a house from the day that I brought up Israel till this day, and I am from tent unto tent: and from the tabernacle,

I have not lived in a house from the time I led Israel out of Egypt until now. I have lived in tents, moving from place to place.

6 whithersoever I have walked up and down among all Israel, a word spake I, with one of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed My people, saying, Why have ye not built for Me a house of cedars?

But in all those travels with all of Israel did I ever ask any Israelite leader I'd ordered to take care of my people, ‘Why haven't you built a cedar house for me?’

7 'And now, thus dost thou say to My servant, to David, Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, I have taken thee from the habitation, from after the sheep, to be leader over My people Israel,

So then, go and tell my servant David this is what the Lord Almighty says. It was me who took you from the fields, from looking after sheep, to become a leader of my people Israel.

8 and I am with thee whithersoever thou hast walked, and I cut off all thine enemies from thy presence, and have made for thee a name like the name of the great ones who [are] in the earth.

I have been with you wherever you've gone. I have struck down all your enemies right in front of you, and I will make your reputation as great as the most famous people on earth.

9 'And I have prepared a place for My people Israel, and planted it, and it hath dwelt in its place, and is not troubled any more, and the sons of perverseness add not to wear it out as at first,

I will choose a place for my people Israel. I will settle them there and they won't be disturbed anymore. Evil people won't persecute them as they used to,

10 yea, even from the days that I appointed judges over My people Israel. 'And I have humbled all thine enemies, and I declare to thee that a house doth Jehovah build for thee,

from the time I placed judges in charge of my people. I will defeat all of your enemies. Also I want to make it clear that I the Lord will build a house for you.

11 and it hath come to pass, when thy days have been fulfilled to go with thy fathers, that I have raised up thy seed after thee, who is of thy sons, and I have established his kingdom,

For when you come to the end of your life and join your ancestors in death, I will bring to power one of your descendants, one of your sons, and make sure his kingdom is successful.

12 he doth build for Me a house, and I have established his throne unto the age;

He will be the one to build me a house, and I will make sure his kingdom lasts forever.

13 I am to him for a father, and he is to Me for a son, and My kindness I turn not aside from him as I turned it aside from him who was before thee,

I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to me. I will never take away my kindness and love from him, as I did in the case of the one who ruled before you.

14 and I have established him in My house, and in My kingdom unto the age, and his throne is established unto the age.'

I will put him in charge of my house and my kingdom forever, and his dynasty will last forever.”

15 According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so spake Nathan unto David.

This is what Nathan explained to David—everything he was told in this divine revelation.

16 And David the king cometh in and sitteth before Jehovah, and saith, 'Who [am] I, O Jehovah God, and what my house, that Thou hast brought me hitherto?

Then King David went and sat down in the presence of the Lord. He prayed, “Who am I, Lord God, and what is significant about my family, that you have brought me to this place?

17 And this is small in Thine eyes, O God, and Thou speakest concerning the house of thy servant afar off, and hast seen me as a type of the man who is on high, O Jehovah God!

God, you talk as if this was a small thing in your eyes, and you also have spoken about the future of my house, my family dynasty. You also see me as someone very important, Lord God.

18 'What doth David add more unto Thee for the honour of Thy servant; and Thou Thy servant hast known.

What more can I, David, say to you for honoring me in this way? You know your servant all too well!

19 O Jehovah, for Thy servant's sake, and according to Thine own heart Thou hast done all this greatness, to make known all these great things.

Lord, you're doing all this for me, your servant, and because it's what you want—doing all these amazing things and letting people know about them.

20 O Jehovah, there is none like Thee, and there is no god save Thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

Lord, there really is no-one like you; there is no other God, only you. We have never heard about anyone else.

21 'And who [is] as Thy people Israel, one nation in the earth whom God hath gone to ransom to Him for a people, to make for Thee a name great and fearful, to cast out from the presence of Thy people whom Thou hast ransomed out of Egypt — nations?

Who else is as fortunate as your people Israel? Who else on earth did God go and redeem to make his own people? You gained a wonderful reputation for yourself by all the tremendous, amazing things you did in driving out other nations before your people as you redeemed them from Egypt.

22 Yea, Thou dost appoint Thy people Israel to Thee for a people unto the age, and Thou, O Jehovah, hast been to them for God.

You made your people Israel your own forever, and you, Lord, have become their God.

23 'And now, O Jehovah, the word that Thou hast spoken concerning Thy servant, and concerning his house, let be stedfast unto the age, and do as Thou hast spoken;

So now, Lord, please ensure that what you have said about me and my house happens, and lasts forever. Please do as you have promised,

24 and let it be stedfast, and Thy name is great unto the age, saying, Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, is God to Israel, and the house of Thy servant David is established before Thee;

and may your true nature be recognized and honored forever, with people declaring, ‘The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, is Israel's God!’ May the house of your servant David continue to be there in your presence.

25 for Thou, O my God, Thou hast uncovered the ear of Thy servant — to build to him a house, therefore hath Thy servant found to pray before Thee.

You, my God, have explained to me, your servant, that you will build me a house. That's why your servant has had the courage to pray to you.

26 'And now, Jehovah, Thou [art] God Himself, and Thou speakest concerning Thy servant this goodness;

For you, Lord, are God! You are the one who has promised all these good things to your servant.

27 and now, Thou hast been pleased to bless the house of Thy servant, to be to the age before Thee; for Thou, O Jehovah, hast blessed, and it is blessed to the age.'

So now, please bless your servant's house that it may continue in your presence forever. For when you bless, Lord, it is blessed forever.”