2 Samuel 7

⁷When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even the man’s enemies live at peace with him.

⁷⁴deliverance from hostile hands, that we may serve Him without fear,

⁷⁵in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our lives.

⁴But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or crisis.

⁶Because the land was at peace, Asa built fortified cities in Judah. In those days no one made war with him, because the Lord had given him rest.

²⁹Twelve months later, as he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon,

³⁰the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?”

¹After David had settled into his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent.”

²And Nathan replied to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”

¹¹Now Hiram king of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David.

¹So they brought the ark of God and placed it inside the tent that David had pitched for it. And they presented burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.

¹Then the Lord sent Nathan to David, and when he arrived, he said, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor.

⁴⁶who found favor in the sight of God and asked to provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.

⁴“Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?”

¹⁷His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for Your house will consume Me.”

⁷“My son,” said David to Solomon, “it was in my heart to build a house for the Name of the Lord my God,

¹⁷Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

¹⁸But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Since it was in your heart to build a house for My Name, you have done well to have this in your heart.

²Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. It was in my heart to build a house as a resting place for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and as a footstool for our God. I had made preparations to build it,

²⁷When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she clung to his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for her soul is in deep distress, and the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me.”

⁴Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

⁷But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the Lord does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the Lord sees the heart.”

³But that night the word of God came to Nathan, saying,

⁶He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, will reveal Myself to him in a vision; I will speak to him in a dream.

⁷Surely the Lord God does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets.

³“As you are well aware, due to the wars waged on all sides against my father David, he could not build a house for the Name of the Lord his God until the Lord had put his enemies under his feet.

⁴But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or crisis.

⁷“My son,” said David to Solomon, “it was in my heart to build a house for the Name of the Lord my God,

⁸but this word of the Lord came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and waged great wars. You are not to build a house for My Name because you have shed so much blood on the ground before Me.

³The Levites thirty years of age or older were counted, and the total number of men was 38,000.

⁴“Of these,” said David, “24,000 are to oversee the work of the house of the Lord, 6,000 are to be officers and judges,

¹⁶‘Since the day I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name would be there. But I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’

¹⁷Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

⁴“Go and tell My servant David that this is what the Lord says: You are not the one to build Me a house in which to dwell.

¹⁶‘Since the day I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name would be there. But I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’

¹Then the whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. And though the land was subdued before them,

¹⁸When Moses set up the tabernacle, he laid its bases, positioned its frames, inserted its crossbars, and set up its posts.

¹⁹Then he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering over the tent, just as the Lord had commanded him.

³⁴Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

³⁵Moses was unable to enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

¹⁴For the Lord your God walks throughout your camp to protect you and deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, lest He see anything unclean among you and turn away from you.

¹“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of Him who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands.

⁶In all My journeys with all the Israelites, have I ever asked any of the leaders I appointed to shepherd My people, ‘Why haven’t you built Me a house of cedar?’

²Even in times past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them back. And to you the Lord said, ‘You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be ruler over them.’”

¹¹And I will make My dwelling place among you, and My soul will not despise you.

¹²I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people.

¹⁵When they had finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus replied, “Feed My lambs.”

¹⁶Jesus asked a second time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus told him, “Shepherd My sheep.”

⁷¹from tending the ewes He brought him to be shepherd of His people Jacob, of Israel His inheritance.

⁷²So David shepherded them with integrity of heart and guided them with skillful hands.

¹⁴For the Lord your God walks throughout your camp to protect you and deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, lest He see anything unclean among you and turn away from you.

⁷⁰He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds;

⁷¹from tending the ewes He brought him to be shepherd of His people Jacob, of Israel His inheritance.

¹¹And Samuel asked him, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse replied, “but he is tending the sheep.” “Send for him,” Samuel replied. “For we will not sit down to eat until he arrives.”

¹²So Jesse sent for his youngest son and brought him in. He was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him, for he is the one.”

²¹But David said to Michal, “I was dancing before the Lord, who chose me over your father and all his house when He appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel. I will celebrate before the Lord,

⁷Now then, you are to tell My servant David that this is what the Lord of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to be the ruler over My people Israel.

⁷Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.

¹Then Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you ruler over His inheritance?

¹⁰And David became greater and greater, for the Lord God of Hosts was with him.

⁸I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make for you a name like that of the greatest in the land.

⁶Then he placed garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to David and brought him tribute. So the Lord made David victorious wherever he went.

¹⁴and he continued to prosper in all his ways, because the Lord was with him.

³⁷I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back until they were consumed.

³⁸I crushed them so they could not rise; they have fallen under my feet.

⁷He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the dump

⁸to seat them with nobles, with the princes of His people.

¹⁵I will firmly plant them in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land that I have given them,” says the Lord your God.

⁹And I will provide a place for My people Israel and will plant them so that they may dwell in a place of their own and be disturbed no more. No longer will the sons of wickedness oppress them as they did at the beginning

⁶I will keep My eyes on them for good and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them.

¹⁸No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders. But you will name your walls Salvation and your gates Praise.

²⁵They will live in the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They will live there forever with their children and grandchildren, and My servant David will be their prince forever.

²⁶And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary among them forever.

²²No enemy will exact tribute; no wicked man will oppress him.

²³I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him.

²⁷For You, O Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, have revealed this to Your servant when You said, ‘I will build a house for you.’ Therefore Your servant has found the courage to offer this prayer to You.

⁹But they forgot the Lord their God, and He sold them into the hand of Sisera the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them.

¹⁰Then they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have forsaken the Lord and served the Baals and Ashtoreths. Now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, that we may serve You.’

¹⁴Then the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of those who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.

¹⁵Wherever Israel marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them to bring calamity, just as He had sworn to them. So they were greatly distressed.

¹After the king had settled into his palace and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him,

³You said, “I have made a covenant with My chosen one, I have sworn to David My servant:

⁴‘I will establish your offspring forever and build up your throne for all generations.’” Selah

¹⁰and have done since the day I appointed judges over My people Israel. And I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover, I declare to you that the Lord will build a house for you.

³⁰But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that He would place one of his descendants on his throne.

¹As the time drew near for David to die, he charged his son Solomon,

²⁰Now the Lord has fulfilled the word that He spoke. I have succeeded my father David, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised. I have built the house for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

¹¹The Lord swore an oath to David, a promise He will not revoke: “One of your descendants I will place on your throne.

¹²If your sons keep My covenant and the testimony I will teach them, then their sons will also sit on your throne forever and ever.”

³⁶For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep. His body was buried with his fathers and saw decay.

¹⁶And the Lord said to Moses, “You will soon rest with your fathers, and these people will rise up and prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake Me and break the covenant I have made with them.

³¹Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus.

³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David,

¹⁹Nevertheless, you are not the one to build it; but your son, your own offspring, will build the house for My Name.’

⁵So behold, I plan to build a house for the Name of the Lord my God, according to what the Lord said to my father David: ‘I will put your son on your throne in your place, and he will build the house for My Name.’

¹⁶Your house and kingdom will endure forever before Me, and your throne will be established forever.”

⁴‘I will establish your offspring forever and build up your throne for all generations.’” Selah

⁹But a son will be born to you who will be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; for his name will be Solomon, and I will grant to Israel peace and quiet during his reign.

¹⁰He is the one who will build a house for My Name. He will be My son, and I will be his Father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’

⁵For to which of the angels did God ever say: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father”? Or again: “I will be His Father, and He will be My Son”?

¹⁹Those I love I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.

⁶And He said to me, ‘Solomon your son is the one who will build My house and My courts, for I have chosen him as My son, and I will be his Father.

¹³I will be his Father, and he will be My son. And I will never remove My loving devotion from him as I removed it from your predecessor.

⁵So know in your heart that just as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.

³²But when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.

²³For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has rejected you as king.”

²⁸So Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you.

²⁸I will forever preserve My loving devotion for him, and My covenant with him will stand fast.

⁷Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.

¹³Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom away from him. I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”

¹⁴Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a spirit of distress from the Lord began to torment him.

³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David,

³³and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!”

³⁶his offspring shall endure forever, and his throne before Me like the sun,

³⁷like the moon, established forever, a faithful witness in the sky.” Selah

¹³He will build a house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

⁷Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.

⁴⁴In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself stand forever.

¹⁵Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.”

¹⁵So Nathan relayed to David all the words of this entire revelation.

³For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

²⁰I did not shrink back from declaring anything that was helpful to you as I taught you publicly and from house to house,

²⁷For I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole will of God.

⁴what is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You care for him?

¹⁶Then King David went in, sat before the Lord, and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far?

¹⁸And David said to Saul, “Who am I, and what is my family or my father’s clan in Israel, that I should become the son-in-law of the king?”

¹⁰I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. Indeed, with only my staff I came across the Jordan, but now I have become two camps.

¹¹But Moses asked God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

¹⁷And Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, have you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel

⁸“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.

⁹“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁷And as if this was a small thing in Your eyes, O God, You have spoken about the future of the house of Your servant and have regarded me as a man of great distinction, O Lord God.

⁷How precious is Your loving devotion, O God, that the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings!

¹¹and have done since the day I appointed judges over My people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. The Lord declares to you that He Himself will establish a house for you.

¹²And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.

⁸I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more.

⁹Is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel and brought you near to Himself to perform the work at the Lord’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them?

⁷But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the Lord does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the Lord sees the heart.”

¹⁷Jesus asked a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was deeply hurt that Jesus had asked him a third time, “Do you love Me?” “Lord, You know all things,” he replied. “You know I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.

¹For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O Lord, You have searched me and known me.

²³Then I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.

¹³Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

²⁵He did not need any testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man.

²I bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name for Your loving devotion and Your faithfulness; You have exalted Your name and Your word above all else.

¹Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name be the glory, because of Your loving devotion, because of Your faithfulness.

¹¹according to the eternal purpose that He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

³²Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.

⁹And He has made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ

¹Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

¹⁰For You are great and perform wonders; You alone are God.

¹¹Who among the gods is like You, O Lord? Who is like You—majestic in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders?

⁸O Lord, there is none like You among the gods, nor any works like Yours.

²⁵For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods.

¹⁸Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?

⁵I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God but Me. I will equip you for battle, though you have not known Me,

²⁶And I prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, do not destroy Your people, Your inheritance, whom You redeemed through Your greatness and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

²¹He is your praise and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome wonders that your eyes have seen.

²⁰He has done this for no other nation; they do not know His judgments. Hallelujah!

¹⁰They are Your servants and Your people. You redeemed them by Your great power and mighty hand.

¹⁵Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this command today.

²⁹Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord? He is the shield that protects you, the sword in which you boast. Your enemies will cower before you, and you shall trample their high places.”

¹⁸And today the Lord has proclaimed that you are His people and treasured possession as He promised, that you are to keep all His commandments,

¹⁰Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

¹⁴For this God is our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even till death.

³³“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.

²Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. For the Lord God is my strength and my song, and He also has become my salvation.”

¹²But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—

⁴⁹Remember Your word to Your servant, upon which You have given me hope.

³⁷This is what the Lord God says: Once again I will hear the plea of the house of Israel and do for them this: I will multiply their people like a flock.

¹²But You have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, too numerous to count.’”

⁴which I commanded your forefathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey Me, and do everything I command you, and you will be My people, and I will be your God.’

⁵This was in order to establish the oath I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is to this day.” “Amen, Lord,” I answered.

²³And now, O Lord, let the word You have spoken concerning Your servant and his house be established forever. Do as You have promised,

²⁴so that Your name will be established and magnified forever when it is said, ‘The Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, is God over Israel.’ And may the house of Your servant David be established before You.

¹⁸Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds.

¹⁹And blessed be His glorious name forever; may all the earth be filled with His glory. Amen and amen.

⁹So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.

²⁸Father, glorify Your name!” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

¹⁰Then David blessed the Lord in the sight of all the assembly and said: “May You be blessed, O Lord, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.

¹¹Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in heaven and on earth belongs to You. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all.

¹Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name be the glory, because of Your loving devotion, because of Your faithfulness.

²⁵For You, my God, have revealed to Your servant that You will build a house for him. Therefore Your servant has found the courage to pray before You.

²⁶And now, O Lord, You are God! And You have promised this goodness to Your servant.

¹⁷You have heard, O Lord, the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their hearts. You will incline Your ear,

⁴I thought I should inform you that you may buy it back in the presence of those seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you want to redeem it, do so. But if you will not redeem it, tell me so I may know, because there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.” “I will redeem it,” he replied.

¹⁵Now on the day before Saul’s arrival, the Lord had revealed to Samuel,

⁶Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but my ears You have opened. Burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not require.

¹⁷Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.

¹⁹God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?

⁶Then the Lord passed in front of Moses and called out: “The Lord, the Lord God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,

²in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.

²⁴‘May the Lord bless you and keep you;

²⁵may the Lord cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

²⁷So now You have been pleased to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You. For You, O Lord, have blessed it, and it will be blessed forever.”

¹²The Lord is mindful of us; He will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron;

¹³He will bless those who fear the Lord—small and great alike.

⁵¹Great salvation He brings to His king. He shows loving devotion to His anointed, to David and his descendants forever.”