1 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 And Nathan said unto David, All that is in thy heart do; for God is with thee.
3 And it came to pass during that night, that the word of God came unto Nathan, saying,
4 Go and say unto David my servant, Thus hath said the Lord, Not thou shalt build for me the house to dwell in;
5 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 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 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 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 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,
10 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 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 it is that shall build for me a house, and I will establish his throne for ever.
13 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 But I will place him firmly in my house and in my kingdom for evermore; and his throne shall be established for ever.
15 In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.
16 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 this was yet too small a thing in thy eyes, O God, and thou hast spoken concerning thy servants 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 can David add yet more to speak unto thee of the honor of thy servant? since thou knowest well thy servant.
19 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 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 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 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, 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 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 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 And now, O Lord, thou art the true God, and thou hast spoken concerning thy servant this goodness:
27 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.