And as the king dwelt in his house and Jehovah gave him rest all around from all his enemies,

The king said to Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the Ark of God dwells within curtains.

And Nathan said to the king, All that is in your heart go and do, for Jehovah is with you.

And in that night the word of Jehovah came to Nathan, saying,

Go and say to My servant David, Thus says Jehovah, Is it you who will build Me a house for Me to dwell in?

For I have not dwelt in a house, since the day I brought the children of Israel up out of Egypt to this day; but I went about in a tent and in a tabernacle.

In all My going about among all the children of Israel, did I ever speak a word to any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?

And now thus shall you say to My servant David, Thus says Jehovah of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you might be ruler over My people, over Israel;

And I have been with you in every place that you have gone and have cut off all your enemies before you; and I will make a great name for you, like the name of the great ones who are on the earth.

And I will appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them there, that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more; and the sons of wickedness will ill-treat them no more as before,

Even since the time when I commanded that there be judges over My people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover Jehovah declares to you that Jehovah will make you a  ¹house.

When your days are fulfilled and you sleep with your fathers, I will raise up your  ¹seed after you, which will come forth from your body, and I will establish his  ²kingdom.

It is  ¹he who will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

I will be his Father, and he will be My  ¹son.  ²If he commits iniquity, I will strike him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the sons of men;

But My lovingkindness will not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I put away before you.

And your  ¹house and your kingdom will be made sure forever before you; your  ¹throne will be established forever.

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

Then King David went and sat before Jehovah; and he said, Who am I, O Lord Jehovah, and what is my house that You have brought me this far?

And this was yet a small thing in Your sight, O Lord Jehovah; but You have spoken also of the house of Your servant for a great while to come; and is this the custom for man, O Lord Jehovah?

And what more can David say to You? For You know Your servant, O Lord Jehovah.

For Your word's sake and according to Your own heart, You have done all this greatness to make Your servant know it.

Therefore You are great, O Lord Jehovah; for there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

And who is like Your people Israel, a nation unique on the earth, whom God went to redeem to Himself as a people in order to make a name for Himself and to do for You what is great and awesome for Your land and before Your people, which You have redeemed to Yourself out of Egypt, from the nations and their gods?

And You have established Your people Israel to be a people to You forever, and You, O Jehovah, became their God.

And now, O Jehovah God, confirm forever the word which You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house, and do as You have spoken.

And may Your name be magnified forever when men say, Jehovah of hosts is God over Israel; and the house of Your servant David will be established before You.

For You, O Jehovah of hosts, God of Israel, have revealed to Your servant, saying, I will build you a house; therefore Your servant has found it in his heart to pray this prayer to You.

And now, O Lord Jehovah, You are God, and Your words are true, and You have spoken this good matter to Your servant;

Now therefore may it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may be before You forever; for You, O Lord Jehovah, have spoken it. And with Your blessing may the house of Your servant be blessed forever.

And after this David struck the Philistines and subdued them. And David took  ¹control of the chief city out of the hand of the Philistines.

And he struck Moab. And making them lie down on the ground, he measured them with a measuring line; and he measured out two lengths of them to be put to death and one full length to be kept alive. And the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute.

Then David struck Hadadezer the son of Rehob, the king of Zobah, when he went to recover his power at the  ¹River.

And David took from him a thousand seven hundred horsemen and twenty thousand foot soldiers. And David hamstrung all the chariot horses but left enough of them for a hundred chariots.

And when the  ¹Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer the king of Zobah, David struck twenty-two thousand men among the Syrians.

And David put garrisons among the Syrians of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. And Jehovah preserved David wherever he went.

And David took the shields of gold that were with the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem.

And from Betah and Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took very much bronze.

Then when Toi the king of Hamath heard that David had struck down all the army of Hadadezer,

Toi sent Joram his son to King David to greet him and congratulate him for fighting against Hadadezer and striking him down, for Hadadezer had been at war with Toi. And in  ¹Joram's hand were articles of silver and of gold and of bronze.

King David consecrated these also to Jehovah along with the silver and gold that he consecrated from all the nations that he had subdued:

From the  ¹Syrians and from the Moabites and from the children of Ammon and from the Philistines and from the Amalekites and from the spoil of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, the king of Zobah.

And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down the Syrians in the Valley of Salt, that is, eighteen thousand men.

And he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons; and all the Edomites became servants to David. And Jehovah preserved David wherever he went.

So David reigned over all Israel, and David executed justice and righteousness for all his people.

And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder.

And Zadok the son of Ahitub and himelech the son of aAbiathar were priests, and Seraiah was scribe.

And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada  ¹was over the  ²Cherethites and the Pelethites, and David's sons were his  ³chief ministers.

And David said, Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show kindness to him for Jonathan's sake?

Now there was a servant of the house of Saul, whose name was Ziba; and they called him to David. And the king said to him, Are you Ziba? And he said, I am your servant.

And the king said, Is there yet anyone at all of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him? And Ziba said to the king, There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.

Then the king said to him, Where is he? And Ziba said to the king, He is just now in the house of Machir the son of Amiel in Lo-debar.

And King David sent men and took him from the house of Machir the son of Amiel, from Lo-debar.

And Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he said, Your servant is here.

And David said to him, Do not be afraid, for I will surely show  ¹kindness to you for the sake of Jonathan your father; and I will restore to you all the land of your father Saul, and you will eat food at my table continually.

And he paid him homage and said, What is your servant that you should look upon a dead dog like me?

And the king called Ziba, Saul's attendant, and said to him, All that belongs to Saul and to all his house I give to your master's son.

And you shall work the land for him, you and your sons and your servants; and you shall bring in the produce that your master's son may have food to eat; and Mephibosheth, your master's son, will eat food continually at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

Then Ziba said to the king, According to all that my lord the king has commanded his servant, so will your servant do. And Mephibosheth, said David, shall eat at my table like one of the king's sons.

And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Mica. And all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth.

And Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem because he ate at the king's table continually. And he was crippled in both his feet.