2 Samuel 7:12–29

^12*When you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will make one of your sons king and will keep his kingdom strong. ¹³He will be the one to build a temple for me, and I will make sure that his dynasty continues for ever. ^14*I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him as a father punishes his son. ¹⁵But I will not withdraw my support from him as I did from Saul, whom I removed so that you could be king. ^16*You will always have descendants, and I will make your kingdom last for ever. Your dynasty will never end.’ ”

¹⁷Nathan told David everything that God had revealed to him.

David’s Prayer of Thanksgiving

¹⁸Then 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, Sovereign Lord, nor is my family. ¹⁹Yet now you are doing even more, Sovereign Lord; you have made promises about my descendants in the years to come. And you let a man see this,^p Sovereign Lord! ²⁰What more can I say to you! You know me, your servant. ²¹It was your will and purpose to do this; you have done all these great things in order to teach me. ²²How great you are, Sovereign Lord! There is none like you; we have always known that you alone are God. ^23*There is no other nation on earth like Israel, whom you rescued from slavery to make them your own people. The great and wonderful things you did for them^q have spread your fame throughout the world. You drove out^r other nations and their gods as your people advanced, the people whom you set free from Egypt to be your own. ²⁴You have made Israel your own people for ever, and you, Lord, have become their God.

²⁵“And now, Lord God, fulfil for all time the promise you made about me and my descendants, and do what you said you would. ²⁶Your fame will be great, and people will for ever say, ‘The Lord Almighty is God over Israel.’ And you will preserve my dynasty for all time. ²⁷Almighty Lord, God of Israel! I have the courage to pray this prayer to you, because you have revealed all this to me, your servant, and have told me that you will make my descendants kings.

²⁸“And now, Sovereign Lord, you are God; you always keep your promises, and you have made this wonderful promise to me. ²⁹I ask you to bless my descendants so that they will continue to enjoy your favour. You, Sovereign Lord, have promised this, and your blessing will rest on my descendants for ever.”