1. When the king had settled into his palace and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies,
2. the king said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I am living in a cedar house while the ark of God sits inside tent curtains.”
3. So Nathan told the king, “Go and do all that is on your heart, for the Lord is with you.”
4. But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan:
5. “Go to My servant David and say, ‘This is what the Lord says: Are you to build a house for Me to live in?
6. From the time I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until today I have not lived in a house; instead, I have been moving around with a tent as My dwelling.
7. In all My journeys with all the Israelites, have I ever asked anyone among the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel: Why haven’t you built Me a house of cedar? ’
8. “Now this is what you are to say to My servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture and from following the sheep to be ruler over My people Israel.
9. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you. I will make a name for you like that of the greatest in the land.
10. I will establish a place for My people Israel and plant them, so that they may live there and not be disturbed again. Evildoers will not afflict them as they have done