17:1 After David had taken up residence in his house, he said to Nathan the prophet, "See, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD dwells under tentcloth."
17:2 Nathan replied to David, "Do, therefore, whatever you desire, for God is with you."
17:3 But that same night the word of God came to Nathan:
17:4 "Go and tell my servant David, Thus says the LORD: It is not you who are to build a house for me to dwell in.
17:5 For I have never dwelt in a house, from the time when I led Israel onward, even to this day, but I have been lodging in tent or pavilion
17:6 as long as I have wandered about with all of Israel. Did I ever say a word to any of the judges of Israel whom I commanded to guide my people, such as, 'Why have you not built me a house of cedar?'
17:7 Therefore, tell my servant David, Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you might become ruler over my people Israel.
17:8 I was with you wherever you went, and I cut down all your enemies before you. I will make your name great like that of the greatest on the earth.
17:9 I will assign a place for my people Israel and I will plant them in it to dwell there henceforth undisturbed; nor shall wicked men ever again oppress them, as they did at first,
17:10 and during all the time when I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover, I declare to you that I, the LORD, will build you a house;
17:11 so that when your days have been completed and you must join your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you who will be one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom.
17:12 He it is who shall build me a house, and I will establish his throne forever.
17:13 I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me, and I will not withdraw my favor from him as I withdrew it from him who preceded you;
17:14 but I will maintain him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be firmly established forever."
17:15 All these words and this whole vision Nathan related exactly to David.
17:16 Then David came in and sat in the LORD’s presence, saying: "Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my family, that you should have brought me as far as I have come?
17:17 And yet, even this you now consider too little, O God! For you have made a promise regarding your servant’s family reaching into the distant future, and you have looked on me as henceforth the most notable of men, O LORD God.
17:18 What more can David say to you? You know your servant.
17:19 O LORD, for your servant’s sake and in keeping with your purpose, you have done this great thing.
17:20 O LORD, there is no one like you and there is no God but you, just as we have always understood.
17:21 "Is there, like your people Israel, whom you redeemed from Egypt, another nation on earth whom a god went to redeem as his people? You won for yourself a name for great and awesome deeds by driving out the nations before your people.
17:22 You made your people Israel your own forever, and you, O LORD, became their God.
17:23 Therefore, O LORD, may the promise that you have uttered concerning your servant and his house remain firm forever. Bring about what you have promised,
17:24 that your renown as LORD of hosts, God of Israel, may be great and abide forever, while the house of David, your servant, is established in your presence.
17:25 "Because you, O my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build him a house, your servant has made bold to pray before you.
17:26 Since you, O LORD, are truly God and have promised this good thing to your servant,
17:27 and since you have deigned to bless the house of your servant, so that it will remain forever ?since it is you, O LORD, who blessed it, it is blessed forever."