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 unto Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in a house of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under curtains.
2 Nathan replied to David, “Whatever you are thinking about doing, do it, because God is with/guiding you.”
And Nathan said unto David, All that is in thy heart do; for God is with thee.
3 But that night God spoke [MTY] to Nathan. He said,
And it came to pass during that night, that the word of God came unto 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 say unto David my servant, Thus hath said the Lord, Not thou shalt build for me the 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 even until this day; but have been [moving] 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 the places where I moved about among all Israel, did I speak a word to any one of the judges of Israel, whom I had ordained to feed 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 shalt thou say unto my servant, to David, Thus hath said the Lord of hosts, I took thee away from the sheepcote, from behind the flocks, to be a ruler 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 withersoever thou didst go, and I have cut off all thy enemies from thy presence, and I have made thee a name; like the name of the great men 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 have procured a place for my people Israel, and I have planted them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and be no more troubled; and that the children of wickedness shall not waste them any more, as aforetimes,
And [as it was] since the time that I ordained judges to be over my people Israel; and I have humbled all thy enemies; and now I tell thee that the Lord 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, that, when thy days will be completed that thou must go [to sleep] with thy fathers, 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 it is that shall build for me a house, and I will establish his throne for ever.
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 too will be to him as a father, and he shall indeed be unto me as a son: and my kindness will I not cause to depart from him, as I caused it to depart from him that was before thee;
14 I will cause him to rule over my people [MTY], and his kingdom will endure forever [DOU].’”
But I will place him firmly in my house and in my kingdom for evermore; and his throne shall be established for ever.
15 So Nathan reported to David everything that Yahweh had revealed to him.
In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto 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 went king David in and sat down before the Lord, and he said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me as far as hitherward?
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 [yet] too small a thing in thy eyes, O God, and thou hast spoken concerning thy servant's house for a distant time, and hast regarded me as though I belonged to the rank of a man of high degree, O Lord 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 add yet more [to speak] unto thee of the honor of thy servant? since thou knowest well 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 Lord, for the sake of thy servant, and in accordance with thy own heart, hast thou done all this great thing, 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 Lord, there is none like thee, and there is no god beside thee, in accordance with 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 who is like thy people Israel, the only nation on the earth which God went to redeem for himself as a people, to acquire for thyself a name for great and terrible deeds, by driving out nations from before thy people, which thou hadst redeemed out of Egypt?
22 You have caused us your Israeli people to belong to you forever, and you, Yahweh, have become our God!
And thou hast instituted thy people Israel unto thyself as a people for ever; and thou, Lord, art indeed become 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 Lord, let the thing that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his house be verified for ever, and do as thou hast 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.
Yea, let it be verified, and let thy name be magnified unto everlasting, that men may say, The Lord of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God for Israel; and may the house of David thy servant be 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, hast revealed to the ear of thy servant, that thou wilt build for him a house; therefore hath thy servant found himself able to pray before thee.
26 Yahweh, you are God! You have promised to do these good things for me.
And now, O Lord, thou art the [true] God, and thou hast spoken concerning thy servant this goodness:
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 hast thou been pleased to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee; for thou, O Lord, hast blessed, and [it will remain] blessed for ever.
