2 Samuel 7-8

New American Standard Bible

David Plans to Build a Temple

7 ^(A)Now it came about, when the king lived in his house, and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies, ² that the king said to ^(B)Nathan the prophet, “See now, I live in ^(C)a house of cedar, but the ark of God ^(D)remains within the tent.” ³ Nathan said to the king, “^(E)Go, do all that is in your mind, for the Lord is with you.”

⁴ But in the same night, the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, ⁵ “Go and say to My servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: “^(F)Should you build Me a house for My dwelling? ⁶ For ^(G)I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the sons of Israel from Egypt, even to this day; rather, I have been moving about ^(H)in a tent, that is, in a dwelling place. ^7 (I)Wherever I have gone with all the sons of Israel, did I speak a word with one of the tribes of Israel, ^(J)whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’”’

God’s Covenant with David

⁸ Now then, this is what you shall say to My servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “^(K)I Myself took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, ^(L)to be leader over My people Israel. ⁹ And ^(M)I have been with you wherever you have gone, and ^(N)have eliminated all your enemies from you; I will also make a great name for you, like the names of the great men who ^[a]are on the earth. ¹⁰ And I will establish a place for My people Israel, and ^(O)will plant them, so that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, ^(P)nor will ^[b]malicious people oppress them anymore as previously, ¹¹ even ^(Q)from the day that I appointed judges over My people Israel; and ^(R)I will give you rest from all your enemies. The Lord also declares to you that ^(S)the Lord will make a house for you. ^12 (T)When your days are finished and you ^[c](U)lie down with your fathers, ^(V)I will raise up your ^[d]descendant after you, who will come from ^[e]you, and I will establish his kingdom. ^13 (W)He shall build a house for My name, and ^(X)I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. ^14 (Y)I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; ^(Z)when he does wrong, I will discipline him with a rod of men and with strokes of sons of mankind, ¹⁵ but My favor shall not depart from him, ^(AA)as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from you. ^16 (AB)Your house and your kingdom shall endure before ^[f]Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”’” ¹⁷ In accordance with all these words and all of this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

David’s Prayer

¹⁸ Then David the king came in and sat before the Lord, and he said, “^(AC)Who am I, Lord ^[g]God, and who are the members of my household, that You have brought me this far? ¹⁹ And yet this was insignificant in Your eyes, Lord God, ^(AD)for You have spoken also of the house of Your servant regarding the distant future. And ^(AE)this is the ^[h]custom of mankind, Lord God. ²⁰ Again what more can David say to You? For ^(AF)You know Your servant, Lord God! ^21 (AG)For the sake of Your word, and according to Your heart, You have done all this greatness, to let Your servant know. ²² For this reason ^(AH)You are great, Lord God; for ^(AI)there is no one like You, and there is no God except You, ^(AJ)according to all that we have heard with our ears. ²³ And ^(AK)what one nation on the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, and to make a name for Himself, and ^(AL)to do a great thing for You and awesome things for Your land, ^[i]because of ^(AM)Your people whom ^(AN)You have redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, from other nations and their gods? ²⁴ For ^(AO)You have established for Yourself Your people Israel as Your own people forever, and ^(AP)You, Lord, have become their God. ²⁵ Now then, Lord God, the word that You have spoken about Your servant and his house, confirm it forever, and do just as You have spoken, ^26 (AQ)so that Your name may be great forever, by saying, ‘The Lord of armies is God over Israel’; and may the house of Your servant David be established before You. ²⁷ For You, Lord of armies, God of Israel, have ^[j]given a revelation to Your servant, saying, ‘^(AR)I will build you a house’; therefore Your servant has found ^[k]courage to pray this prayer to You. ²⁸ Now then, Lord God, You are God, and ^(AS)Your words are truth; and You have ^[l]promised this good thing to Your servant. ²⁹ And now, may ^[m]it please You to bless the house of Your servant, so that it may continue forever before You. For You, Lord God, have spoken; and ^[n](AT)with Your blessing may the house of Your servant be blessed forever.”

David’s Triumphs

8 ^(AU)Now it happened afterward that David ^[o]defeated the Philistines and subdued them; and David took ^[p]control of the chief city from the hand of the Philistines.

^2 (AV)And He ^[q]defeated ^(AW)Moab, and measured them with the line, making them lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death, and a full line to keep alive. And ^(AX)the Moabites became servants to David, ^(AY)bringing tribute.

³ Then David ^[r]defeated ^(AZ)Hadadezer, the son of Rehob king of Zobah, as ^(BA)he went to restore his ^[s]power at the Euphrates River. ⁴ And David captured from him ^[t]1,700 horsemen and twenty thousand foot soldiers; and David ^(BB)hamstrung almost all the chariot horses, but left enough of them for a hundred chariots. ⁵ When ^(BC)the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah, David ^[u]killed twenty-two thousand men among the Arameans. ⁶ Then David put garrisons among the Arameans of Damascus, and ^(BD)the Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And ^(BE)the Lord helped David wherever he went. ⁷ David took the shields of gold which were ^[v]carried by the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ And from ^[w]Betah and ^(BF)Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took a very large amount of bronze.

⁹ Now when Toi king of ^(BG)Hamath heard that David had ^[x]defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, ¹⁰ Toi sent his son ^[y]Joram to King David to ^[z]greet him and bless him, because he had fought Hadadezer and ^[aa]defeated him; for Hadadezer ^[ab]had been at war with Toi. And ^[ac]Joram brought with him articles of silver, gold, and bronze. ¹¹ King David also ^(BH)consecrated these gifts to the Lord, with the silver and gold that he had consecrated from all the nations which he had subdued: ¹² from ^[ad]Aram, ^(BI)Moab, ^(BJ)the sons of Ammon, ^(BK)the Philistines, ^(BL)Amalek, and from the spoils of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

¹³ So ^(BM)David made a name for himself when he returned from ^[ae]killing eighteen thousand ^[af]Arameans in ^(BN)the Valley of Salt. ¹⁴ He also put garrisons in Edom. In all Edom he put garrisons, and ^(BO)all the Edomites became servants to David. And ^(BP)the Lord helped David wherever he went.

¹⁵ So David reigned over all Israel; and David ^[ag]administered justice and righteousness for all his people. ^16 (BQ)Joab the son of Zeruiah was commander over the army, and ^(BR)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was ^(BS)secretary. ^17 (BT)Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were ^(BU)priests, and Seraiah was ^(BV)scribe. ^18 (BW)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada ^[ah]was over the ^(BX)Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were ^[ai](BY)chief ministers.