What God promised David

1After King David began to live in his palace, Yahweh protected him from all his enemies.

2One day he said to the prophet Nathan, “It is not right that I am here, living in a beautiful house made of cedar wood, but the chest that contains God’s Ten Commandments is kept in a tent!”

3Then Nathan said to the king, “Yahweh is helping/directing you, so do regarding that chest whatever you are thinking.”

4But that night, Yahweh said to Nathan,

5“Go and tell my servant, David, that this is what I, Yahweh, am saying to him: ‘You are not the one [RHQ] who should build a temple for me to live in.

6I have not lived in any building from the day that I brought the Israeli people up from Egypt until now. Instead, I have been living in a tent, moving from one place to another when the Israelis moved to other places.

7Wherever I went with all the Israelis as they traveled, I never said [RHQ] to any of their leaders whom I appointed to lead them, “Why have you not built me a temple made of cedar wood?”’

8So this is what you should say to my servant David: ‘The Almighty Commander of the armies of angels says that he took you from a pasture where you were taking care of sheep, and appointed you to become the ruler of my Israeli people.

9I have ◄been with/helped► you wherever you have gone. I have gotten rid of all your enemies as you advanced. I will enable you to become very famous, as well-known as the names of all the greatest men who have ever lived on the earth.

10Formerly, during the time that I appointed leaders for my Israeli people, many violent groups oppressed the Israelis. 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 them rest from being 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.

12When your life ends [EUP] and you go to be with your ancestors, I will appoint one of your sons to be king, and I will enable his kingdom to ◄be strong/resist all their enemies►.

13He is the one who will arrange for a temple to be built for me [MTY], and I will cause his descendants to be kings [MTY] of Israel forever.

14I will be like a father to him, and it will be as though he is a son to me [MET]. When he does something that is wrong, I will punish him as fathers punish their sons.

15But I will not stop faithfully loving him as I stopped loving Saul, whom I removed from being king before you became king.

16Your descendants will rule the kingdom of Israel forever. Their rule will never end. [DOU]’ ”

17So Nathan told David everything that Yahweh had told him.

David gave thanks to God

18Then David went into the Sacred Tent and sat in the presence of Yahweh, and prayed this: “Yahweh, my God, I am not worthy [RHQ] for you to have done all these things for me, and my family is not worthy, either.

19“And now, O Yahweh my God, in addition to everything else, you have spoken about what will happen to my descendants in the future for many generations.

20“ Yahweh God, what more can I, David, say to you for honoring me? Although you know very well what I am like, Yahweh my God, you have done things for me as though I was the most important man on the earth!

21For my sake and because it is what you wanted to do, you have done all these great things for me.

22“ Yahweh my God, you are great. There is no one like you. Only you are God, just as we have always heard.

23And there is no other nation in the world like Israel. Israel is the only nation on the earth whose people you went out to rescue [RHQ]. By the great and awesome things that you did, you have become famous/well-known throughout the world. As your people advanced through this land, you expelled other people-groups who were here in Canaan, who worshiped other gods.

24And you caused us Israeli people to be your people forever, and you, Yahweh, have become our God!

25“And now, Yahweh my God, I pray that you will cause the things that you promised to me about my descendants to be fulfilled forever, and that you will do the things that you said that you would do.

26When that happens, you will become 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 of mine who will rule.

27“Yahweh Almighty, the God whom we Israeli people worship, you have revealed to me that you will make some of my descendants kings. For that reason, I have been brave enough to pray like this to you.

28So now, O Yahweh Almighty, because you are God, we can trust that you will do what you promise. You have promised these good things to me.

29So now I ask you that if it pleases you, you will bless my descendants, in order that they may continue to rule forever. Yahweh God, you have promised these things, and so I know that you will keep blessing my descendants forever.”