2 Samuel 7
7
The Lord's Message to David
(1 Chronicles 17.1-15)
1King David moved into his new palace, and the Lord let his kingdom be at peace. 2Then one day, as David was talking with Nathan the prophet, David said, “Look around! I live in a palace made of cedar, but the sacred chest has to stay in a tent.”
3Nathan replied, “The Lord is with you, so do what you want!”
4That night, the Lord told Nathan 5to go to David and give him this message:
David, you are my servant, so listen to what I say. Why should you build a temple for me? 6I didn't live in a temple when I brought my people out of Egypt, and I don't live in one now. A tent has always been my home wherever I have gone with them. 7I chose leaders and told them to be like shepherds for my people Israel. But did I ever say anything to even one of them about building a cedar temple for me?
8 # Ps 151.4. David, this is what I, the Lord All-Powerful, say to you. I brought you in from the fields where you took care of sheep, and I made you the leader of my people. 9Wherever you went, I helped you and destroyed your enemies right in front of your eyes. I have made you one of the most famous people in the world.
10I have given my people Israel a land of their own where they can live in peace, and they won't have to tremble with fear any more. Evil nations won't bother them, as they did 11when I let judges rule my people. And I have kept your enemies from attacking you.
Now I promise that you and your descendants will be kings. 12#Ps 89.3,4; 132.11; Jn 7.42; Ac 2.30. I'll choose one of your sons to be king when you reach the end of your life and are buried in the tomb of your ancestors. I'll make him a strong ruler, 13and no one will be able to take his kingdom away from him. He will be the one to build a temple for me. 14#Ps 89.26,27; 2 Co 6.18; He 1.5. I will be his father, and he will be my son.
When he does wrong, I'll see that he is corrected, just as children are corrected by their parents. 15But I will never put an end to my agreement with him, as I put an end to my agreement with Saul, who was king before you. 16#Ps 89.36,37. I will make sure that one of your descendants will always be king.
17Nathan told David exactly what he had heard in the vision.
David Gives Thanks to the Lord
(1 Chronicles 17.16-27)
18David went into the tent he had set up for the sacred chest. Then he sat there and prayed:
Lord All-Powerful, my family and I don't deserve what you have already done for us, 19and yet you have promised to do even more. Is this the way you usually treat people?#7.19 Is this … people: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. 20I am your servant, and you know my thoughts, so there is nothing more that I need to say. 21You have done this wonderful thing, and you have let me know about it, because you wanted to keep your promise.
22 Lord All-Powerful, you are greater than all others. No one is like you, and you alone are God. Everything we have heard about you is true. 23#Dt 4.32-34. And there is no other nation on earth like Israel, the nation you rescued from slavery in Egypt to be your own. You became famous by using great and wonderful miracles to force other nations and their gods out of your land, so your people could live here.#7.23 You … here: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. 24You have chosen Israel to be your people forever, and you have become their God.
25And now, Lord God, please do what you have promised me and my descendants. 26Then you will be famous forever, and everyone will say, “The Lord God All-Powerful rules Israel, and David's descendants are his chosen kings.” 27After all, you really are Israel's God, the Lord All-Powerful. You've told me that you will let my descendants be kings. That's why I have the courage to pray to you like this, even though I am only your servant.
28 Lord All-Powerful, you are God. You have promised me some very good things, and you can be trusted to do what you promise. 29Please bless my descendants and let them always be your chosen kings. You have already promised, and I'm sure that you will bless my family forever.
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2 Samuel 7: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
2 Samuel 7
7
God’s promise to David
1When the king was settled in his palace, #7.1 Or house; the same Heb word (beth) appears with different nuances (house, temple, palace, dynasty, family) in 7:2, 5, 6, 7, 11, 13, 16, 18, 19, 25-26, 27, 29. and the LORD had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, 2the king said to the prophet Nathan, “Look! I’m living in a cedar palace, but God’s chest is housed in a tent!”#7.2 Or among curtains
3Nathan said to the king, “Go ahead and do whatever you are thinking, because the LORD is with you.”
4But that very night the LORD’s word came to Nathan: 5Go to my servant David and tell him: This is what the LORD says: You are not the one to build the temple for me to live in. 6In fact, I haven’t lived in a temple from the day I brought Israel out of Egypt until now. Instead, I have been traveling around in a tent and in a dwelling. 7Throughout my traveling around with the Israelites, did I ever ask any of Israel’s tribal leaders I appointed to shepherd my people: Why haven’t you built me a cedar temple?
8So then, say this to my servant David: This is what the LORD of heavenly forces says: I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to be leader over my people Israel. 9I’ve been with you wherever you’ve gone, and I’ve eliminated all your enemies before you. Now I will make your name great—like the name of the greatest people on earth. 10I’m going to provide a place for my people Israel, and plant them so that they may live there and no longer be disturbed. Cruel people will no longer trouble them, as they had been earlier, 11when I appointed leaders over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies.
And the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make a dynasty for you. 12When the time comes for you to die and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your descendant—one of your very own children—to succeed you, and I will establish his kingdom. 13He will build a temple for my name, and I will establish his royal throne forever. 14I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to me. Whenever he does wrong, I will discipline him with a human rod, with blows from human beings. 15But I will never take my faithful love away from him like I took it away from Saul, whom I set aside in favor of you. 16Your dynasty and your kingdom will be secured forever before me.#7.16 LXX (cf 7:26, 29); MT you Your throne will be established forever.
17Nathan reported all of these words and this entire vision to David.
David’s prayer
18Then King David went and sat in the LORD’s presence. He asked:
Who am I, LORD God, and of what significance is my family that you have brought me this far? 19But even this was too small in your eyes, LORD God! Now you have also spoken about your servant’s dynasty in the future and the generation to come,#7.19 Correction; Heb uncertain this is the law of humankind LORD God!
20What more can David say to you? You know your servant, LORD God. 21For the sake of your word and according to your own will, you have done this great thing so that your servant would know it.
22That is why you are so great, LORD God! No one can compare to you, no god except you, just as we have always heard with our own ears.
23And who can compare to your people Israel? They are the one nation on earth that God redeemed as his own people, establishing his name by doing great and awesome things for them,#7.23 Or you (plural) by driving out nations and their gods before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt.#7.23 LXX, 1 Chron 17:21; MT for your land before your people whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, the nations and their gods 24You established your people Israel as your own people forever, and you, LORD, became their God.
25Now, LORD God, confirm forever the promise you have made about your servant and his dynasty. Do just as you have promised 26so that your name will be great forever when people say, “The LORD of heavenly forces is Israel’s God!” May your servant David’s household be established before you, 27because you, LORD of heavenly forces, Israel’s God, have revealed to your servant that you will build a dynasty for him. That is why your servant has found the courage to pray this prayer to you.
28 LORD God, you are truly God! Your words are trustworthy, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. 29So now willingly bless your servant’s dynasty so that it might continue forever before you, because you, LORD God, have promised. Let your servant’s dynasty be blessed forever by your blessing.
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