II Samuel 7

¹Forsothe it was doon, whanne the kyng Dauid hadde sete in his hows, and the Lord hadde youe reste to hym on ech side fro alle hise enemyes,

²he seyde to Nathan the prophete, Seest thou not, that Y dwelle in an hows of cedre, and the arke of God is put in the myddis of skynnys?

³And Nathan seide to the kyng, Go thou, and do al thing which is in thin herte, for the Lord is with thee.

⁴Forsothe it was don in that niyt, and lo! the word of the Lord, seiynge to Nathan, Go thou,

⁵and speke to my servaunt Dauid, The Lord seith these thingis, Whether thou schalt bilde to me an hows to dwelle ynne?

⁶For Y `dwellide not in an hows fro the dai in which Y ledde the sones of Israel out of the lond of Egipt til in to this dai; but Y yede in tabernacle and in tent,

⁷bi alle places, to whiche Y passyde with alle the sones of Israel? Whether Y spekynge spak to oon of the lynagis of Israel, to whom Y comaundyde, that he schulde feede my puple Israel, and seide, Whi `bildidist thou not an hows of cedre to me?

⁸And now thou schalt seie these thingis to my seruaunt Dauid, The Lord of oostis seith these thingis, Y took thee fro lesewis suynge flockis, that thou schuldist be duyk on my puple Israel, and Y was with thee in alle thingis,

⁹where euere thou yedist, and Y killide alle thin enemyes fro thi face, and Y made to thee a greet name bi the name of grete men that ben in erthe;

¹⁰and Y schall sette a place to my puple Israel, and Y schal plaunte hym, and Y schal dwelle with hym, and he schal no more be troblid, and the sones of wickidnesse schulen not adde, that thei turmente hym as bifor,

¹¹fro the dai in which Y ordenede iugis on my puple Israel; and Y schal yyue reste to thee fro alle thin enemyes. And the Lord biforseith to thee, that `the Lord schal mak an hows to thee;

¹²and whanne thi daies be fillid, and thou hast slept with thi fadris, Y schal reyse thi seed aftir thee, which schal go out of thi wombe, and Y schal make `stidfast his rewme.

¹³He schal bilde an hows to my name, and Y schal make stable the troone of his rewme til in to with outen ende;

¹⁴Y schal be to hym in to fadir, and he schal be to me in to a sone; and if he schal do ony thing wickidli, Y schal chastise hym in the yerde of men, and in the woundis of the sones of men.

¹⁵Forsothe Y schal not do awey my mercy fro hym, as Y dide awei fro Saul, whom Y remouede fro my face.

¹⁶And thin hows schal be feithful, and thi rewme schal be til in to with outen ende bifor my face, and thi trone schal be stidfast contynueli.

¹⁷By alle these wordys, and bi al this reuelacioun, so Nathan spak to Dauid.

¹⁸Forsothe Dauid the kyng entride, and satt bifor the Lord, and seide, Who am Y, my Lord God, and what is myn hows, that thou brouytist me hidur to?

¹⁹But also this is seyn litil in thi siyt, my Lord God; no but thou schuldist speke also of the hows of thi seruaunt in to long tyme. Forsothe this is the lawe of Adam, Lord God;

²⁰what therfor may Dauid adde yit, that he speke to thee? For thou, Lord God, knowist thi seruaunt; thou hast do alle these grete thingis,

²¹for thi word, and bi thin herte, so that thou madist knowun to thi seruaunt.

²²Herfor, Lord God, thou art magnyfied, for noon is lijk thee, ne there is no God outakun thee, in alle thingis whiche we herden with oure eeris.

²³Sotheli what folk in erthe is as the puple of Israel, for which the Lord God yede, that he schulde ayenbie it to him in to a puple, and schulde sette to hym silf a name, and schulde do to it grete thingis, and orible on erthe, in castinge out therof the folk and `goddis therof fro the face of thi puple, which thou `ayen bouytist to thee fro Egipt?

²⁴And thou confermidist to thee thi puple Israel in to a puple euerlastynge, and thou, Lord, art maad in to God to hem.

²⁵Now therfor, Lord God, reise thou withouten ende the word that thou hast spoke on thi seruaunt and on his hows, and do as thou hast spoke;

²⁶and thy name be magnyfied til in to withouten ende, and be it seid, The Lord of oostis is God on Israel; and the hows of thi seruaunt Dauid schal be stablischid byfor the Lord;

²⁷for thou, Lord of oostis, God of Israel, hast maad reuelacioun to the eere of thi seruaunt, and seidist, Y schal bilde an hows to thee; therfor thi seruaunt foond his herte, that he schulde preie thee bi this preier.

²⁸Now therfor, Lord God, thou art veri God, and thi wordis schulen be trewe; for thou hast spoke these goodis to thi seruaunt;

²⁹therfor bigynne thou, and blesse the hows of thi seruaunt, that it be withouten ende bifor thee; for thou, Lord God, hast spoke these thingis, and bi thi blessyng the hows of thi seruaunt schal be blessid withouten ende.

II Samuel 7

¹And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies;

²That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.

³And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the Lord is with thee.

⁴And it came to pass that night, that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan, saying,

⁵Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?

⁶Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle.

⁷In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar?

⁸Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel:

⁹And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth.

¹⁰Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime,

¹¹And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the Lord telleth thee that he will make thee an house.

¹²And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

¹³He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

¹⁴I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:

¹⁵But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.

¹⁶And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.

¹⁷According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.

¹⁸Then went king David in, and sat before the Lord, and he said, Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?

¹⁹And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord God; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant’s house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, O Lord God?

²⁰And what can David say more unto thee? for thou, Lord God, knowest thy servant.

²¹For thy word’s sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all these great things, to make thy servant know them.

²²Wherefore thou art great, O Lord God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

²³And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for thy land, before thy people, which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods?

²⁴For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel to be a people unto thee for ever: and thou, Lord, art become their God.

²⁵And now, O Lord God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou hast said.

²⁶And let thy name be magnified for ever, saying, The Lord of hosts is the God over Israel: and let the house of thy servant David be established before thee.

²⁷For thou, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee.

²⁸And now, O Lord God, thou art that God, and thy words be true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant:

²⁹Therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee: for thou, O Lord God, hast spoken it: and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever.