1. While King David was living in his house, the Lord gave him peace with all his enemies around him.
2. So the king said to the prophet Nathan, “Look, I’m living in a house made of cedar, while the ark of God remains in the tent.”
3. Nathan told the king, “Do everything you have in mind, because the Lord is with you.”
4. But that same night the Lord spoke his word to Nathan:
5. “Say to my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: Are you the one who will build me a house to live in?
6. I haven’t lived in a house from the day I took Israel out of Egypt to this day. Instead, I moved around in a tent, the tent ⌊of meeting⌋.
7. In all the places I’ve moved with all the Israelites, did I ever ask any of the judges of Israel whom I ordered to be shepherds of my people Israel why they didn’t build me a house of cedar?’