Divrei HaYamim I 17 דברי הימים א י״ז

Now it came to pass, as David sat in his house, that David said to Natan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in a house of cedar wood, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord remains under curtains.

Then Natan said to David, Do all that is in thy heart; for God is with thee.

And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to Natan, saying,

Go and tell David my servant, Thus says the Lord, Thou shalt not build me a house to dwell in:

for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Yisra᾽el to this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another.

Everywhere where I have walked among all Yisra᾽el, did I speak a word to any of the judges of Yisra᾽el whom I commanded to be shepherds to my people, saying, Why have you not built me a house of cedar wood?

Now therefore thus shalt thou say to my servant David, Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the pasture, from following the sheep, that thou shouldst be ruler over my people Yisra᾽el:

and I have been with thee wherever thou hast walked, and have cut off all thy enemies from before thee, and have made thee a name like the name of the great men who are on the earth.

And I will ordain a place for my people Yisra᾽el, and I will plant them, and they shall dwell in their place, and shall be moved no more; nor shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the beginning,

and ever since the time when I commanded judges to be over my people Yisra᾽el. And I will subdue all thy enemies. Moreover I declare to thee that the Lord will build thee a house.

And it shall come to pass, when thy days are fulfilled when thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, who shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom.

He shall build me a house, and I will establish his throne for ever.

I will be his father, and he will be my son: and I will not take my steadfast love away from him, as I took it from the one who was before thee:

but I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom forever: and his throne shall be established for evermore.

According to all these words, and according to all this vision, did Natan speak to David.

And David the king came and sat before the Lord, and said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that Thou hast brought me so far?

And as though this was too little in Thy eyes, O God, Thou hast also spoken of Thy servant’s house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me as a man of high degree, O Lord God.

What more can David say to Thee concerning the honour done to Thy servant? for Thou knowst Thy servant.

O Lord, for Thy servant’s sake, and according to Thy own heart, hast Thou done all this greatness, in making known all these great things.

O Lord, there is none like Thee, nor is there any God besides Thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

And who is like Thy people Yisra᾽el, a singular nation on the earth, whom God went to redeem to be his own people, to make Thee a name of greatness and awesomeness, by driving out nations from before Thy people, whom Thou didst redeem out of Miżrayim?

For Thy people Yisra᾽el didst Thou make Thy own people forever; and Thou, Lord, didst become their God.

Therefore now, Lord, let the thing that Thou hast spoken concerning Thy servant and concerning his house be established forever, and do as Thou hast said,

So let it be established, that Thy name may be magnified forever, saying, The Lord of hosts, the God of Yisra᾽el, is a God to Yisra᾽el: and let the house of David Thy servant be established before Thee.

For Thou, O my God, hast told Thy servant that Thou wilt build him a house: therefore Thy servant has found in his heart to pray before Thee.

And now, Lord, Thou art God, and hast promised this goodness to Thy servant:

and now it has pleased Thee to bless the house of Thy servant, that it may be before Thee forever: for Thou, O Lord, hast blessed it, and it shall be blessed forever.