| 1 | 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 [dwelleth] under curtains. |
| 2 | And Nathan said unto David, Do all that is in thy heart; for God is with thee. |
| 3 | And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, |
| 4 | Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith Jehovah, Thou shalt not build me a house to dwell in: |
| 5 | for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel, unto this day, but have gone from tent to tent, and from [one] tabernacle [to another]. |
| 6 | In all places wherein I have walked with all Israel, spake I a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to be shepherd of my people, saying, Why have ye not built me a house of cedar? |
| 7 | Now therefore thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, that thou shouldest be prince over my people Israel: |
| 8 | and I have been with thee whithersoever thou hast gone, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee; and I will make thee a name, like unto the name of the great ones that are in the earth. |
| 9 | 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 children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the first, |
| 10 | 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 thee a house. |
| 11 | 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 shall build me a house, and I will establish his throne for ever. |
| 13 | I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my lovingkindness away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee; |
| 14 | but I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom for ever; and his throne shall be established for ever. |
| 15 | According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David. |
| 16 | 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 hast brought me thus far? |
| 17 | And this was a small thing in thine eyes, O God; but thou hast spoken of thy servant's house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O Jehovah God. |
| 18 | What can David [say] yet more unto thee concerning the honor which is done to thy servant? for thou knowest thy servant. |
| 19 | O Jehovah, for thy servant's sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou wrought all this greatness, to make known all [these] great things. |
| 20 | 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 what one nation in the earth is like thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem unto himself for a people, to make thee a name by great and terrible things, in driving out nations from before thy people, whom thou redeemest out of Egypt? |
| 22 | For thy people Israel didst thou make thine own people for ever; and thou, Jehovah, becamest their God. |
| 23 | And now, O Jehovah, let the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, be established for ever, and do as thou hast spoken. |
| 24 | And let thy name be established and magnified for ever, 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 | For thou, O my God, hast revealed to thy servant that thou wilt build him a house: therefore hath thy servant found [in his heart] to pray before thee. |
| 26 | And now, O Jehovah, thou art God, and hast promised this good thing unto thy servant: |
| 27 | and now it hath pleased thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee: for thou, O Jehovah, hast blessed, and it is blessed for ever. |