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When David was settled in his palace, he summoned Nathan the prophet. “Look,” David said, “I am living in a beautiful cedar palace, 1 but the Ark of the Lord ’s Covenant is out there under a tent!”
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Nathan replied to David, “Do whatever you have in mind, for God is with you.”
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But that same night God said to Nathan,
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“Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord has declared: You are not the one to build a house for me to live in.
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I have never lived in a house, from the day I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until this very day. My home has always been a tent, moving from one place to another in a Tabernacle.
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Yet no matter where I have gone with the Israelites, I have never once complained to Israel’s leaders, 2 the shepherds of my people. I have never asked them, “Why haven’t you built me a beautiful cedar house?”’
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“Now go and say to my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has declared: I took you from tending sheep in the pasture and selected you to be the leader of my people Israel.
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I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before your eyes. Now I will make your name as famous as anyone who has ever lived on the earth!
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And I will provide a homeland for my people Israel, planting them in a secure place where they will never be disturbed. Evil nations won’t oppress them as they’ve done in the past,
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starting from the time I appointed judges to rule my people Israel. And I will defeat all your enemies. “‘Furthermore, I declare that the Lord will build a house for you - a dynasty of kings!
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For when you die and join your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, one of your sons, and I will make his kingdom strong.
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He is the one who will build a house - a temple - for me. And I will secure his throne forever.
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I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my favor from him as I took it from the one who ruled before you.
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I will confirm him as king over my house and my kingdom for all time, and his throne will be secure forever.’”
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So Nathan went back to David and told him everything the Lord had said in this vision.