1: Now it came to pass, as David sat in his house, that
David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in an house of cedars, but
the ark of the covenant of the LORD remaineth under curtains. |
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2: Then Nathan said unto David, Do all that is in thine heart;
for God is with thee. |
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3:
And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came
to Nathan, saying, |
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4: Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt
not build me an house to dwell in: |
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5: For I have not dwelt in an house since the day that I brought
up Israel unto this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from one
tabernacle to another. |
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6: Wheresoever I have walked with all Israel, spake I a word to
any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying,
Why have ye not built me an house of cedars? |
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7: Now therefore thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus
saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, even from
following the sheep, that thou shouldest be ruler over my people Israel:
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8: And I have been with thee whithersoever thou hast walked, and
have cut off all thine enemies from before thee, and have made thee a
name like the name of the great men that are in the earth. |
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9: Also I will ordain a place for my people Israel, and will
plant them, and they shall dwell in their place, and shall be moved no
more; neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as
at the beginning, |
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10: And since the time that I commanded judges to be over my
people Israel. Moreover I will subdue all thine enemies. Furthermore I
tell thee that the LORD will build thee an house. |
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11: And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou
must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after
thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom.
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12: He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne
for ever. |
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13: I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not
take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee:
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14: But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for
ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore. |
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15: According to all these words, and according to all this
vision, so did Nathan speak unto David. |
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16: And David the king came and sat before the LORD, and said,
Who am I, O LORD God, and what is mine house, that thou hast brought me
hitherto? |
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17: And yet this was a small thing in thine eyes, O God; for thou
hast also spoken of thy servant's house for a great while to come, and
hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O LORD
God. |
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18: What can David speak more to thee for the honour of thy
servant? for thou knowest thy servant. |
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19: O LORD, for thy servant's sake, and according to thine own
heart, hast thou done all this greatness, in making known all these
great things. |
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20: O LORD, there is none like thee, neither is there any God
beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. |
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21: And what one nation in the earth is like thy people Israel,
whom God went to redeem to be his own people, to make thee a name of
greatness and terribleness, by driving out nations from before thy
people, whom thou hast redeemed out of Egypt? |
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22: For thy people Israel didst thou make thine own people for
ever; and thou, LORD, becamest their God. |
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23: Therefore now, LORD, let the thing that thou hast spoken
concerning thy servant and concerning his house be established for ever,
and do as thou hast said. |
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24: Let it even be established, that thy name may be magnified
for ever, saying, The LORD of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to
Israel: and let the house of David thy servant be established before
thee. |
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25: For thou, O my God, hast told thy servant that thou wilt
build him an house: therefore thy servant hath found in his heart to
pray before thee. |
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26: And now, LORD, thou art God, and hast promised this goodness
unto thy servant: |
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27: Now therefore let it please thee to bless the house of thy
servant, that it may be before thee for ever: for thou blessest, O LORD,
and it shall be blessed for ever. |