1. When King David was settled in his palace and the lord had given him rest from all the surrounding enemies,
2. the king summoned Nathan the prophet. “Look,” David said, “I am living in a beautiful cedar palace, but the Ark of God is out there in a tent!”
3. Nathan replied to the king, “Go ahead and do whatever you have in mind, for the lord is with you.”
4. But that same night the lord said to Nathan,
5. “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the lord has declared: Are you the one to build a house for me to live in?
6. I have never lived in a house, from the day I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until this very day. I have always moved from one place to another with a tent and a Tabernacle as my dwelling.