1 ChroniclesChapter 17

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¹David had settled into his palace. Then he said to Nathan the prophet, "Look, I am living in a house made of cedar. But the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under a tent." ²Nathan answered David, "Do whatever you have in mind, for God is with you." ³But that night the word of God came to Nathan. God said, ⁴"Go and tell my servant David, 'This is what the LORD says: You are not the one who will build me a house to live in. ⁵For I have not lived in a house from the day I brought Israel up out of Egypt until today. I have moved from tent to tent and from one home to another. ⁶I have traveled with all the Israelites. I chose leaders to be shepherds of my people. Did I ever ask any of them, "Why haven't you built me a house of cedar?"' ⁷"Now tell my servant David, 'This is what the LORD of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture, where you followed the flock. I made you ruler over my people Israel. ⁸I have been with you everywhere you have gone. I have cut off all your enemies in front of you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth. ⁹I will give my people Israel a place. I will plant them there so they can live in their own place. They will not be troubled anymore. Wicked people will not crush them anymore, as they did at the beginning. ¹⁰They have done it ever since I chose judges to lead my people Israel. I will defeat all your enemies. And I tell you that the LORD will build a house for you. ¹¹Your life will come to an end, and you will go to be with your fathers. Then I will raise up your descendant after you. He will be one of your own sons. And I will make his kingdom strong. ¹²He will build a house for me. And I will make his throne last forever. ¹³I will be his Father, and he will be my son. I will never take my faithful love away from him, as I took it away from the king before you. ¹⁴I will put him over my house and my kingdom forever. His throne will last forever.'" ¹⁵So Nathan told David everything God had said and shown him. ¹⁶Then King David went in and sat before the LORD. He said, "Lord GOD, who am I? And what is my family, that you have brought me this far? ¹⁷And as if this were a small thing to you, God, you have spoken about the future of your servant's family. Lord GOD, you have treated me like a very important man. ¹⁸What more can I, David, say to you for honoring your servant? For you know your servant, ¹⁹LORD. You have done this great thing for your servant's sake and because it was in your heart. You have made all these great promises known. ²⁰LORD, there is no one like you. There is no God but you. Everything we have heard with our own ears shows this. ²¹Who is like your people Israel? They are the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as his own people. You made your name known by great and amazing wonders. You drove out nations in front of your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt. ²²For you have made your people Israel your very own forever. And you, LORD, have become their God. ²³So now, LORD, let the promise you made about your servant and his family stand forever. Do what you have promised. ²⁴Then your name will stand firm and be great forever. People will say, 'The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, is God over Israel.' And may the family of your servant David stand firm before you. ²⁵My God, you have told your servant that you will build a house for him. That is why your servant has found the courage to pray to you. ²⁶And now, LORD, you are God! You have promised this good thing to your servant. ²⁷Now you have been pleased to bless your servant's family, so that it may go on forever before you. For you, LORD, have blessed it. And it will be blessed forever."