1. Now when the king settled into his house and the Lord had given him rest from all of his enemies on all sides,
2. the king said to Nathan the prophet, “I am dwelling in a cedar house, but the ark of God is sitting in a tent.”
3. Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart because the Lord is with you.”
4. That night the word of the Lord came to Nathan:
5. Go and say to My servant David: Thus says the Lord: Do you intend to build a house for Me in which I will dwell?
6. I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought the sons of Israel from Egypt until this day. I have been moving about with a tent as My dwelling.
7. Wherever I have moved with all the sons of Israel, have I ever spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?”
8. Now therefore, you will say to My servant David: Thus says the Lord of Hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following after the sheep, to be ruler over My people Israel.