2 Samuel 7:18-29

David prays

18 Then King David went into the Lord's tent. He sat down and he prayed to the Lord.

7:18David went into the special tent where the Covenant Box was.

He said, ‘Almighty Lord, I am not a special person and my family is not special. You have helped me very much and I do not deserve it. 19 You have also made a promise about the descendants in my family, Almighty Lord. You have promised to help them in the future, as well as me. I am only a man but you have shown this to me, Almighty Lord.

20 I am your servant, Almighty Lord, and you know me completely. There is nothing more that I can say. 21 Because of your covenant you have chosen to do all these great things. You have told me, your servant, what you promise to do. 22 Almighty Lord, you are very great. There is nobody like you. You alone are God. What we have heard about you is true! 23 There is no other nation on earth like your people, Israel. We are the only nation that you have rescued so that we would belong to you. You did that to show that your name is great. You did great miracles to rescue your people from Egypt where they were slaves. Then you chased out other nations and their gods from the land that you were giving to your people. 24 You chose Israel to be your own people for all time. You, Lord, became our God.

25 Lord God, please do the things that you have promised to do for me, your servant, and for my family. Continue to do for ever what you have promised to do. 26 Then people will always give honour to your great name. They will say, “The Lord Almighty is the God who rules over Israel!” And David's descendants will continue to serve you as kings.

27 Lord Almighty, Israel's God, you have made this promise to me, your servant. You have said to me, “You will always have descendants who will rule. That is the house that I will build for you.” That is why I am not afraid to pray to you like this.

28 Almighty Lord, you are the true God. We trust your promises. You have promised these good things to me, your servant. 29 I pray that you will be pleased to bless my family and my descendants. Then we will serve you faithfully for ever. Almighty Lord, you have promised to do this. So I know that you will continue to bless my descendants for ever.’