^17:3That night God told Nathan the prophet,⁶^17:4“Go, tell my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord says: “You must not build me a house in which to live. ^17:5For I have not lived in a house from the time I brought Israel up from Egypt⁷ to the present day. I have lived in a tent that has been in various places.⁸^17:6Wherever I moved throughout Israel, I did not say⁹ to any of the leaders whom I appointed to care for my people Israel,¹⁰ ‘Why have you not built me a house made from cedar?’ ” ’

^17:7“So now, say this to my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord who commands armies¹¹ says: “I took you from the pasture and from your work as a shepherd¹² to make you a leader of my people Israel. ^17:8I was with you wherever you went and I defeated¹³ all your enemies before you. Now I will make you as famous as the great men of the earth.¹⁴^17:9I will establish a place for my people Israel and settle¹⁵ them there; they will live there and not be disturbed¹⁶ anymore. Violent men will not oppress them again, as they did in the beginning¹⁷^17:10and during the time when I appointed judges to lead my people Israel. I will subdue all your enemies.

“ ‘ “I declare to you that the Lord will build a dynastic house¹⁸ for you!

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Footnotes

6 Heb “the word of God was [i.e., came] to Nathan the prophet.”
7 The words “from Egypt” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
8 Heb “and I was from tent to tent and from tabernacle.” The words אֶל־מִשְּׁכָּן (’el-mishékan, “to tabernacle”) should probably be added at the end of the sentence to complete this prepositional phrase and produce symmetry with the preceding prepositional phrase. The words probably fell from the text by homoioteleuton. I have lived in a tent that has been in various places. The point here is that the Lord moved with the tabernacle as it moved from place to place; he did not confine himself to a particular location.
9 In the Hebrew text the statement is phrased as a rhetorical question (“Did I say?”) meaning “I did not say.”
10 Heb “to one of the judges of Israel whom I commanded to shepherd my people.”
11 Traditionally, “Lord of hosts.”
12 Heb “and from after sheep.”
13 Heb “cut off.”
14 Heb “and I will make for you a name like the name of the great men who are in the earth.”
15 Heb “plant.”
16 Heb “shaken.”
17 Heb “and sons of violence will no longer consume them as in the beginning.”
18 Here the word “house” is used in a metaphorical sense, referring to a royal dynasty. The Lord’s use of the word here plays off the literal sense that David had in mind as he contemplated building a temple (“house”) for the Lord. In the translation the adjective “dynastic” is supplied to indicate that the term is used metaphorically.