2 Samuel 7  Legacy Standard Bible

The Ark of God Inhabits a Tent

7 ^(A)Now it happened when the king inhabited his house, and Yahweh had given him rest on every side from all his enemies, ² that the king said to ^(B)Nathan the prophet, “See now, I inhabit ^(C)a house of cedar, but the ark of God ^(D)inhabits tent curtains.” ³ So Nathan said to the king, “^(E)Go, do all that is in your heart, for Yahweh is with you.”

⁴ Now it happened in the same night, that the word of Yahweh came to Nathan, saying, ⁵ “Go and say to My servant David, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “^(F)Are you the one who would build Me a house to inhabit? ⁶ For ^(G)I have not inhabited a house since the day I brought up the sons of Israel from Egypt, even to this day; but I have been going about ^(H)in a tent, even in a ^[a]tabernacle. ^7 (I)Wherever I have gone about with all the sons of Israel, did I speak a word with one of the tribes of Israel, ^(J)which I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’”’

David’s House Will Be Established Forever

⁸ So now, thus you shall say to My servant David, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “^(K)I Myself took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, ^(L)to be ruler over My people Israel. ^9 (M)And I have been with you wherever you have gone and ^(N)have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth. ¹⁰ And I will appoint a place for My people Israel and ^(O)will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place and not be disturbed again; ^(P)and the ^[b]unrighteous will not afflict them any more as formerly, ¹¹ even ^(Q)from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel; and ^(R)I will give you rest from all your enemies. Yahweh also declares to you that ^(S)Yahweh will make a house for you. ^12 (T)When your days are fulfilled and you ^(U)lie down with your fathers, ^(V)I will raise up one of your seed after you, who will come forth from ^[c]your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. ^13 (W)He shall build a house for My name, and ^(X)I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. ^14 (Y)I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; ^(Z)when he commits iniquity, I will reprove him with the rod of men and the strikes from the sons of men, ¹⁵ but My lovingkindness shall not be removed from him, ^(AA)as I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. ^16 (AB)And your house and your kingdom shall ^[d]endure before ^[e]Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”’” ¹⁷ According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

David Magnifies Yahweh’s Name

¹⁸ Then David the king went in and sat before Yahweh, and he said, “^(AC)Who am I, O Lord Yahweh, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far? ¹⁹ And yet this was a small thing in Your eyes, O Lord Yahweh, ^(AD)for You have spoken also of the house of Your slave concerning the distant future. And ^(AE)this is the law of man, O Lord Yahweh. ²⁰ And again what more can David say to You? And ^(AF)You know Your slave, O Lord Yahweh! ^21 (AG)For the sake of Your word, and according to Your own heart, You have done all this greatness to let Your slave know. ²² For this reason ^(AH)You are great, O Lord Yahweh; for ^(AI)there is none like You, and there is no God besides You, ^(AJ)according to all that we have heard with our ears. ²³ And ^(AK)what one nation on the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people and to make a name for Himself, and ^(AL)to do a great thing for You and awesome things for Your land, before ^(AM)Your people whom ^(AN)You have redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, from nations and their gods? ²⁴ Yet ^(AO)You have established for Yourself Your people Israel as Your own people forever, and ^(AP)You, O Yahweh, have become their God. ²⁵ So now, O Yahweh God, the word that You have spoken concerning Your slave and concerning his house, establish it forever, and do as You have spoken, ^26 (AQ)that Your name may be magnified forever, by saying, ‘Yahweh of hosts is God over Israel’; and the house of Your ^[f]servant David shall be established before You. ²⁷ For You, O Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, have revealed in the hearing of Your slave, saying, ‘^(AR)I will build you a house’; therefore Your slave has found courage in his heart to pray this prayer to You. ²⁸ So now, O Lord Yahweh, You are God, and ^(AS)Your words are truth, and You have ^[g]promised this good thing to Your slave. ²⁹ So now, be pleased and bless the house of Your slave, that it may be forever before You. For You, O Lord Yahweh, have spoken; and ^(AT)with Your blessing may the house of Your slave be blessed forever.”