2 Samuel 7:12–29

¹²“ ‘When you die and join your ancestors, I will make one of your sons the next king, and I will set up his kingdom. ¹³He will build a house for me, and I will let his kingdom rule always. ¹⁴I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he sins, I will use other people to punish him. They will be my whips. ¹⁵I took away my love from Saul, whom I removed before you, but I will never stop loving your son. ¹⁶But your family and your kingdom will continue always before me. Your throne will last forever.’ ”

¹⁷Nathan told David everything God had said in this vision.

David Prays to God

¹⁸Then King David went in and sat in front of the Lord. David said, “Lord God, who am I? What is my family? Why did you bring me to this point? ¹⁹But even this is not enough for you, Lord God. You have also made promises about my future family. This is extraordinary, Lord God.

²⁰“What more can I say to you, Lord God, since you know me, your servant, so well! ²¹You have done this great thing because you said you would and because you wanted to, and you have let me know about it. ²²This is why you are great, Lord God! There is no one like you. There is no God except you. We have heard all this ourselves! ²³There is no nation like your people Israel. They are the only people on earth that God chose to be his own. You made your name well known. You did great and wonderful miracles for them. You went ahead of them and forced other nations and their gods out of the land. You freed your people from slavery in Egypt. ²⁴You made the people of Israel your very own people forever, and, Lord, you are their God.

²⁵“Now, Lord God, keep the promise forever that you made about my family and me, your servant. Do what you have said. ²⁶Then you will be honored always, and people will say, ‘The Lord All-Powerful is God over Israel!’ And the family of your servant David will continue before you.

²⁷“Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, you have said to me, ‘I will make your family great.’ So I, your servant, am brave enough to pray to you. ²⁸Lord God, you are God, and your words are true. And you have promised these good things to me, your servant. ²⁹Please, bless my family. Let it continue before you always. Lord God, you have said so. With your blessing let my family always be blessed.”