Chapter 17

  And it came to pass as David dwelt in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Behold, I dwell in a house of cedars, and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah under curtains.  

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

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

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  Go and say to David my servant, Thus saith Jehovah: Thou shalt not build me a house to dwell in;  

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  for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel to this day; but I have been from tent to tent, and from [one] tabernacle [to another].  

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  In all my going about with all Israel, did I speak a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why build ye me not a house of cedars?  

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  And now, thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: I took thee from the pasture-grounds, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people Israel;  

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  and I have been with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee, and have made thee a name, like unto the name of the great men that are on the earth.  

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  And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and be disturbed no more; neither shall the sons of wickedness waste them any more, as formerly,  

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  and since the days that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. And I will subdue all thine enemies; and I tell thee that Jehovah will build thee a house.  

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

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  It is he who shall build me a house, and I will establish his throne for ever.  

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  I will be his father, and he shall be my son; and I will not take away my mercy from him, as I took it from him that was before thee;  

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  and I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom for ever; and his throne shall be established for ever.  

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

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  And king David went in and sat before Jehovah, and said, Who am I, Jehovah Elohim, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?  

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  And this hath been a small thing in thy sight, O God; and thou hast spoken of thy servant's house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me according to the rank of a man of high degree, Jehovah Elohim.  

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  What can David [say] more to thee for the glory of thy servant? thou indeed knowest thy servant.  

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  Jehovah, for thy servant's sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all this greatness, to make known all these great things.  

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  Jehovah, 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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  And who is like thy people Israel, the one nation in the earth that God went to redeem to be a people to himself, to make thee a name of greatness and terribleness, by driving out nations from before thy people, which thou hast redeemed out of Egypt?  

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  And thy people Israel hast thou made thine own people for ever; and thou, Jehovah, art become their God.  

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  And now, Jehovah, let the word 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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  Let it even be established, and let thy name be magnified for ever, saying, Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, is God to Israel; and let the house of David thy servant be established before thee.  

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  For thou, my God, hast revealed to thy servant that thou wilt build him a house; therefore hath thy servant found [in his heart] to pray before thee.  

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  And now, Jehovah, thou art that God, and hast promised this goodness unto thy servant;  

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  and now, let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may be before thee for ever; for thou, Jehovah, hast blessed [it], and it shall be blessed for ever.  

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