God’s Covenant with David (2 Samuel 7:1–17)
1 UDB After David began to live in his palace, he said to the prophet Nathan, "It does not seem right that I am here living in a palace made of cedar wood, but Yahweh's sacred chest is kept inside a tent!" BSB BSB: After David had settled into his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under a tent.”
2 UDB Nathan replied to David, "Whatever you are thinking about doing, do it, because God is with you." BSB BSB: And Nathan replied to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”
3 UDB But that night God spoke to Nathan. He said, BSB BSB: But that night the word of God came to Nathan, saying,
4 UDB "Go and tell my servant David that this is what I, Yahweh, am saying to him: 'You are not the one who should build a temple for me to live in. BSB BSB: “Go and tell My servant David that this is what the LORD says: You are not the one to build Me a house in which to dwell.
5 UDB I have not lived in any building, from the day that I brought the people of Israel up out of Egypt until now. Instead, I have lived in my sacred tent, moving from one place to another when the Israelites moved to other places. BSB BSB: For I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought Israel up out of Egypt until this day, but I have moved from tent to tent and dwelling to dwelling.
6 UDB Wherever I went with all the Israelites as they traveled, I never said to any of their leaders whom I appointed to lead them, "Why have you not built me a temple made of cedar wood?"' BSB BSB: In all My journeys with all the Israelites, have I ever asked any of the leaders I appointed to shepherd My people, ‘Why haven’t you built Me a house of cedar?’
7 UDB Therefore, this is what you should say to my servant David: 'I, Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, took you from a pasture where you were taking care of sheep, and I appointed you to be the ruler of my Israelite people. BSB BSB: Now then, you are to tell My servant David that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to be the ruler over My people Israel.
8 UDB I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have gotten rid of all of your enemies who were in front of you. And now I will cause you to become very famous—as well known as the names of the greatest men who have ever lived on the earth. BSB BSB: I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make for you a name like that of the greatest in the land.
9 UDB Formerly, during the time that I appointed leaders for my Israelite people, many violent groups oppressed them. But this will not happen anymore. I have chosen a place where my Israelite people can live peacefully and no one will disturb them anymore. I will give them rest from being attacked by their enemies. And I will defeat all of your enemies. I declare to you that I, Yahweh, will enable your descendants to rule after you die. BSB BSB: And I will provide a place for My people Israel and will plant them so that they may dwell in a place of their own and be disturbed no more. No longer will the sons of wickedness oppress them as they did at the beginning
11 UDB When your life ends and you die and go to be with your ancestors who have died, I will appoint one of your sons to become king, and I will enable his kingdom to be strong. BSB BSB: And when your days are fulfilled and you go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom.
12 UDB He is the one who will arrange for a temple to be built for me. And I will make the rule of one of his descendants so strong that it will last forever. BSB BSB: He will build a house for Me, and I will establish his throne forever.
13 UDB I will be like a father to him, and it will be as though he is a son to me. I stopped loving Saul, the one who was the king before you became king, but I will never stop loving your son. BSB BSB: I will be his Father, and he will be My son. And I will never remove My loving devotion from him as I removed it from your predecessor.
14 UDB I will cause him to rule over my people, and his kingdom will endure forever.'" BSB BSB: But I will set him over My house and My kingdom forever, and his throne will be established forever.”
15 UDB So Nathan reported to David everything that Yahweh had revealed to him. BSB BSB: So Nathan relayed to David all the words of this entire revelation.
David’s Prayer of Thanksgiving (2 Samuel 7:18–29)
16 UDB Then David went into the sacred tent and sat in the presence of Yahweh and prayed this: "Yahweh my God, I am certainly not worthy for you to have done all these things for me, and my family is not worthy either. BSB BSB: Then King David went in, sat before the LORD, and said, “Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far?
17 UDB And O God, now, in addition to everything else, you have spoken about what will happen to my descendants in the future for many generations. Yahweh my God, you have acted toward me as though I were the most important man on the earth! BSB BSB: And as if this was a small thing in Your eyes, O God, You have spoken about the future of the house of Your servant and have regarded me as a man of great distinction, O LORD God.
18 UDB What more can I, David, say to you for honoring me? Yahweh, you know what kind of person I am. BSB BSB: What more can David say to You for honoring Your servant? For You know Your servant,
19 UDB You have done all this, Yahweh, because it is what you wanted to do. You have done these great things for me, and you have revealed to me these things that you have promised to do for me because you love me. BSB BSB: O LORD. For the sake of Your servant and according to Your own heart, You have accomplished this great thing and made known all these great promises.
20 UDB Yahweh, you are great. There is no one like you. Only you are God, which is what we have always heard. BSB BSB: O LORD, there is none like You, and there is no God but You, according to everything we have heard with our own ears.
21 UDB And there is no nation in the world like Israel. Israel is the only nation on the earth whose people you went out to rescue. You performed great and awesome miracles, rescuing our ancestors from being slaves in Egypt, expelling the people of other peoples who were in Canaan. BSB BSB: And who is like Your people Israel—the one nation on earth whom God went out to redeem as a people for Himself? You made a name for Yourself through great and awesome wonders by driving out nations from before Your people, whom You redeemed from Egypt.
22 UDB You have caused us, your Israelite people, to belong to you forever, and you, Yahweh, have become our God! BSB BSB: For You have made Your people Israel Your very own forever, and You, O LORD, have become their God.
23 UDB And now, Yahweh, I pray that you will cause the things that you have promised about me and my descendants to be fulfilled forever and do the things that you have said that you would do. BSB BSB: And now, O LORD, let the word You have spoken concerning Your servant and his house be established forever. Do as You have promised,
24 UDB When that happens, you will be famous forever. And people will exclaim, 'Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, is the God who rules Israel!' And you will cause that there will forever be descendants of mine who will rule. BSB BSB: so that Your name will be established and magnified forever when it is said, ‘The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, is God over Israel.’ And may the house of Your servant David be established before You.
25 UDB You, my God, have revealed to me that you will cause some of my descendants to become kings. So I am brave enough to pray like this to you. BSB BSB: For You, my God, have revealed to Your servant that You will build a house for him. Therefore Your servant has found the courage to pray before You.
26 UDB Yahweh, you are God! You have promised to do these good things for me. BSB BSB: And now, O LORD, You are God! And You have promised this goodness to Your servant.
27 UDB And now you, Yahweh, have promised to bless my descendants so that they will continue to rule forever. That will happen because you, Yahweh, are the one who has blessed them, and you will keep blessing them forever." BSB BSB: So now You have been pleased to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You. For You, O LORD, have blessed it, and it will be blessed forever.”
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