1 Chronicles 17:1–17

Nathan’s Message to David

17King David was now living in his palace. One day he sent for the prophet Nathan and said to him, “Here I am living in a house built of cedar, but the Lord’s Covenant Box is kept in a tent!”

²Nathan answered, “Do whatever you have in mind, because God is with you.”

³But that night God said to Nathan, ⁴“Go and tell my servant David that I say to him, ‘You are not the one to build a temple for me to live in. ⁵From the time I rescued the people of Israel from Egypt until now, I have never lived in a temple; I have always lived in tents and moved from place to place. ⁶In all my travelling with the people of Israel I never asked any of the leaders that I appointed why they had not built me a temple made of cedar.’

⁷“So tell my servant David that I, the Lord Almighty, say to him, ‘I took you from looking after sheep in the fields and made you the ruler of my people Israel. ⁸I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have defeated all your enemies as you advanced. I will make you as famous as the greatest leaders in the world. ^9–10I have chosen a place for my people Israel and have settled them there, where they will live without being oppressed any more. Ever since they entered this land they have been attacked by violent people, but this will not happen again. I promise to defeat all your enemies and to give you descendants. ¹¹When you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will make one of your sons king and will keep his kingdom strong. ¹²He will be the one to build a temple for me, and I will make sure that his dynasty continues for ever. ^13*I will be his father and he will be my son. I will not withdraw my support from him as I did from Saul, whom I removed so that you could be king. ¹⁴I will put him in charge of my people and my kingdom for ever. His dynasty will never end.’ ”

¹⁵Nathan told David everything that God had revealed to him.

David’s Prayer of Thanksgiving

¹⁶Then King David went into the Tent of the Lord’s presence, sat down, and prayed, “I am not worthy of what you have already done for me, Lord God, nor is my family. ¹⁷Yet now you are doing even more; you have made promises about my descendants in the years to come, and you, Lord God, are already treating me like a great man.^t