2 Samuel 7

7 ¹ Now when the king was settled in his house, and our Father had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, ² the king said to Nathan the prophet, "Look now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of our Father remains in a tent."

³ Nathan said to the king, "Go, do all that is in your heart, for our Father is with you."

⁴ But that same night the word of our Father came to Nathan:

⁵ "Go and tell my servant David: This is what your Father says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? ⁶ For I have not lived in a house from the day I brought the people of Israel up out of Egypt to this day, but I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my home. ⁷ Wherever I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word to any of the leaders of Israel whom I commanded to shepherd my people, asking, 'Why have you not built me a house of cedar?'

⁸ So now, say this to my servant David: This is what the Father of heaven's armies says: I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to be ruler over my people Israel. ⁹ I have been with you wherever you went, and I have cut off all your enemies before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the greatest people on earth. ¹⁰ And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place and no longer be disturbed. Violent men will no longer oppress them as they did before, ¹¹ from the time I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, your Father declares to you that he himself will make you a house.

¹² When your days are over and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³ He will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. ¹⁴ I will be his Father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the blows that human hands inflict,

¹⁵ But my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from your sight. ¹⁶ Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever."

¹⁷ Nathan reported to David all these words and this entire vision.

David Gives Thanks Before His Father

¹⁸ Then King David went in and sat before our Father, and he said: "Who am I, O Sovereign Father, and what is my house, that you have brought me this far? ¹⁹ And as if this were a small thing in your eyes, O Sovereign Father, you have also spoken of your servant's house far into the future. Is this your way with all humanity, O Sovereign Father? ²⁰ What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Sovereign Father. ²¹ For the sake of your word, and according to your own heart, you have done all these great things, making them known to your servant.

²² Therefore you are great, O Sovereign Father. There is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our own ears. ²³ And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom our Father went out to redeem as a people for himself, making a name for himself and doing for you great and awesome things, driving out nations and their gods before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt? ²⁴ You established your people Israel to be your own people forever, and you, our Father, became their Father.

²⁵ And now, our Father, confirm forever the word you have spoken concerning your servant and his house, and do as you have promised. ²⁶ Then your name will be great forever, and people will say, 'The Father of heaven's armies is God over Israel.' And the house of your servant David will be established before you. ²⁷ For you, O Father of heaven's armies, the God of Israel, have revealed this to your servant, saying, 'I will build you a house.' That is why your servant has found the courage to pray this prayer to you.

²⁸ And now, O Sovereign Father, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. ²⁹ Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Sovereign Father, have spoken, and by your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed forever."