| 1 | Now it came to pass, as David sat in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in a house of cedars, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD remaineth under curtains. |
| 2 | Then Nathan said to 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 the LORD, 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 to this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another. |
| 6 | Wherever I have walked with all Israel, have I spoken a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have ye not built me a house of cedars? |
| 7 | Now therefore thus shalt thou say to my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheep-cote, even from following the sheep, that thou shouldst be ruler over my people Israel: |
| 8 | And I have been with thee whithersoever thou hast walked, and have cut off all thy enemies from before thee, and have made thee a name like the name of the great men that are in the earth. |
| 9 | Also I will ordain a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, and they shall dwell in their place, and shall be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the beginning. |
| 10 | And since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. Moreover, I will subdue all thy enemies. Furthermore, I tell thee that the LORD will build thee a house. |
| 11 | And it shall come to pass, when thy days shall be ended that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise 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 mercy 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 evermore. |
| 15 | According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak to David. |
| 16 | And David the king came and sat before the LORD, and said, Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? |
| 17 | And yet this was a small thing in thy eyes, O God; for thou hast also 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 LORD God. |
| 18 | What can David speak more to thee for the honor of thy servant? for thou knowest thy servant. |
| 19 | O LORD, for thy servant's sake, and according to thy own heart, hast thou done all this greatness, in making known all these great things. |
| 20 | O LORD, 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 to be his own people, to make thee a name of greatness and terribleness, by driving out nations from before thy people, whom thou hast redeemed out of Egypt? |
| 22 | For thy people Israel didst thou make thy own people for ever; and thou, LORD, becamest their God. |
| 23 | Therefore now, LORD, Let the thing that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his house be established for ever, and do as thou hast said. |
| 24 | Let it even be established, that thy name may be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel: and let the house of David thy servant be established before thee. |
| 25 | For thou, O my God, hast told thy servant that thou wilt build him a house: therefore thy servant hath found in his heart to pray before thee. |
| 26 | And now, LORD, thou art God, and hast promised this goodness to thy servant: |
| 27 | Now therefore let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may be before thee for ever: for thou blessest, O LORD, and it shall be blessed for ever. |
