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the king said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent!”(A) Nathan answered the king, “Whatever is in your heart, go and do, for the Lord is with you.”(B) But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: Go and tell David my servant, Thus says the Lord: Is it you who would build me a house to dwell in?(C) I have never dwelt in a house from the day I brought Israel up from Egypt to this day, but I have been going about in a tent or a tabernacle. As long as I have wandered about among the Israelites, did I ever say a word to any of the judges whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel: Why have you not built me a house of cedar?

Now then, speak thus to my servant David, Thus says the Lord of hosts:[a] I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to become ruler over my people Israel.(D) I was with you wherever you went, and I cut down all your enemies before you. And I will make your name like that of the greatest on earth.(E) 10 I will assign a place for my people Israel and I will plant them in it to dwell there; they will never again be disturbed, nor shall the wicked ever again oppress them, as they did at the beginning, 11 and from the day when I appointed judges over my people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord also declares to you that the Lord will make a house for you:(F) 12 (G)when your days have been completed and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, sprung from your loins, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He it is[b] who shall build a house for my name, and I will establish his royal throne forever. 14 I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. If he does wrong, I will reprove him with a human rod and with human punishments;(H) 15 but I will not withdraw my favor from him as I withdrew it from Saul who was before you.(I) 16 Your house and your kingdom are firm forever before me; your throne shall be firmly established forever.[c](J) 17 In accordance with all these words and this whole vision Nathan spoke to David.

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Footnotes

  1. 7:8–16 The message Nathan delivers to David, called the Dynastic Oracle, is prompted by David’s intention to build a house (i.e., a temple) for the Lord, like David’s own house (i.e., palace) of cedar. David is told, in effect, not to bother building a house for the Lord; rather, the Lord will make a house for him—a dynasty, the House of David. Not only will he have descendants (v. 12) who will sit upon the throne of Israel (v. 13), their rule will last forever (vv. 13, 16); and even if they transgress the Lord’s commands, the line of David will never be removed from kingship as Saul was (cf. 1 Sm 13; 15). The oracle establishes the Davidic king as standing in relationship to the Lord as a son to a father (v. 14; cf. Ps 2:7; 89:27). The Dynastic Oracle, with cognate texts in the Scriptures, is the basis for Jewish expectations of an anointed king (1 Sm 12:3, 5), son of David (Mt 21:9); cf. Acts 2:30; Hb 1:5.
  2. 7:13 He it is: Solomon, in the event.
  3. 7:16 The unconditional promise made here, and reflected in Ps 89:34–35, stands in contrast to the tradition in Ps 132:12, where the continuation of the line of David depends on their fidelity to the Lord; cf. also 1 Kgs 2:4; 6:12; 8:25.