God’s Covenant with David

17 ^(A)And it came about, when David lived in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under tent curtains.” ² Then Nathan said to David, “Do whatever is in your heart, for God is with you.”

³ But it happened that same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, ⁴ “Go and tell David My servant, ‘This is what the Lord says: “^(B)You shall not build a house for Me to dwell in; ⁵ for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel to this day, ^(C)but I have ^[a]gone from tent to tent and from one dwelling place to another. ⁶ In all places where I have walked with all Israel, have I spoken a word ^(D)with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’”’ ⁷ Now, therefore, this is what you shall say to My servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader over My people Israel. ⁸ I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have eliminated all your enemies from you; and I will make for you a name like the name of the great ones who are on the earth. ⁹ And I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them there, so that they may live in their own place and not tremble with anxiety again; and the ^[b]wicked will not make them waste away anymore as they did previously, ¹⁰ even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel. And I will subdue all your enemies.

Moreover, I tell you that the Lord will build a house for you. ¹¹ When your days are fulfilled that you must ^[c]go to be with your fathers, then I will set up one of your ^[d]descendants after you, who will be from your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. ¹² He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. ^13 (E)I will be his father and he shall be My son; and I will not take My favor away from him, ^(F)as I took it from him who was before you. ¹⁴ But I will settle him in My house and in My kingdom forever, and his throne will be established forever.”’” ¹⁵ According to all these words and according to all of this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

David’s Prayer in Response

¹⁶ Then King David came in and sat before the Lord, and said, “^(G)Who am I, Lord God, and what is my house that You have brought me this far? ¹⁷ This was a small thing in Your eyes, God; but You have spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have viewed me according to the standard of a person of high degree, Lord God. ¹⁸ What more can David still say to You concerning the honor bestowed on Your servant? For You know Your servant. ¹⁹ Lord, ^(H)for Your servant’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have accomplished all this greatness, to make known all these great things. ²⁰ Lord, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to everything that we have heard with our ears. ²¹ And what one nation on the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make for You a name by great and awesome things, by driving out nations from before Your people, whom You redeemed from Egypt? ^22 (I)For You have made Your people Israel Your own people forever, and You, Lord, became their God.

²³ “Now, Lord, let the word that You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house be established forever, and do just as You have spoken. ²⁴ Let Your name be established and be great forever, saying, ‘The Lord of armies is the God of Israel, a God to Israel; and the house of Your servant David is established before You.’ ²⁵ For You, my God, have revealed to Your servant that You will build him a house; therefore Your servant has found courage to pray before You. ²⁶ Now, Lord, You are God, and have ^[e]promised this good thing to Your servant. ²⁷ And now You have decided to bless the house of Your servant, that it may ^[f]continue forever before You; for You, Lord, have blessed, and it is blessed forever.”

David’s Kingdom Strengthened

18 Now after this ^(J)it came about that David ^[g]defeated the Philistines and subdued them and took Gath and its towns from the hand of the Philistines. ² And he defeated Moab, and the Moabites became servants to David, bringing tribute.

³ David also defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah as far as Hamath, as he went to establish his ^[h]rule to the river Euphrates. ⁴ David took from him a thousand chariots and seven thousand horsemen and twenty thousand foot soldiers, and David hamstrung almost all the chariot horses, but left enough of them for a hundred chariots.

⁵ When the Arameans of ^[i]Damascus came to help Hadadezer king ^(K)of Zobah, David ^[j]killed twenty-two thousand men of the Arameans. ⁶ Then David put garrisons among the Arameans of ^[k]Damascus; and the Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And the Lord helped David wherever he went. ⁷ And David took the shields of gold which were ^[l]carried by the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ Also from ^[m]Tibhath and Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a very large amount of bronze, with which ^(L)Solomon made the bronze ^[n]Sea and the pillars and the bronze utensils.

⁹ Now when ^[o]Tou king of Hamath heard that David had ^[p]defeated all the army of Hadadezer king of Zobah, ¹⁰ he sent ^[q]Hadoram his son to King David to ^[r]greet him and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and had ^[s]defeated him; for Hadadezer had been at war with Tou. And Hadoram brought all kinds of articles of gold and silver and bronze. ¹¹ King David also dedicated these to the Lord, with the silver and the gold which he had carried away from all the nations: from Edom, Moab, the sons of Ammon, the Philistines, and from Amalek.

¹² Moreover, Abishai the son of Zeruiah ^[t]defeated eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. ¹³ Then he put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became servants to David. And the Lord helped David wherever he went.

¹⁴ So David reigned over all Israel; and he ^[u]administered justice and righteousness for all his people. ^15 (M)Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was secretary; ¹⁶ and Zadok the son of Ahitub and Abimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and Shavsha was secretary; ¹⁷ and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and the sons of David were chiefs at the king’s side.