¹Now it came to pass when the king was dwelling in his house, and the Lᴏʀᴅ had given him rest from all his enemies all around, ²that the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells inside tent curtains.” ³Then Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lᴏʀᴅ is with you.” ⁴But it happened that night that the word of the Lᴏʀᴅ came to Nathan, saying, ⁵“Go and tell My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ: “Would you build a house for Me to dwell in? ⁶For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt, even to this day, but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle. ⁷Wherever I have moved about with all the children of Israel, have I ever spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’ “ ‘ ⁸Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts: “I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel. ⁹And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on 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; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, ¹¹since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the Lᴏʀᴅ tells you that He will make you a house. ¹²“When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. ¹⁴I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. ¹⁵But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. ¹⁶And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” ‘ ” ¹⁷According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David. ¹⁸Then King David went in and sat before the Lᴏʀᴅ; and he said: “Who am I, O Lᴏʀᴅ God? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far? ¹⁹And yet this was a small thing in Your sight, O Lᴏʀᴅ God; and You have also spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come. Is this the manner of man, O Lᴏʀᴅ God? ²⁰Now what more can David say to You? For You, Lᴏʀᴅ God, know Your servant. ²¹For Your word’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all these great things, to make Your servant know them. ²²Therefore You are great, O Lᴏʀᴅ God. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears. ²³And who is like Your people, like Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make for Himself a name—and to do for Yourself great and awesome deeds for Your land—before Your people whom You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, the nations, and their gods? ²⁴For You have made Your people Israel Your very own people forever; and You, Lord, have become their God. ²⁵Now, O Lᴏʀᴅ God, the word which You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house, establish it forever and do as You have said. ²⁶So let Your name be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts is the God over Israel.’ And let the house of Your servant David be established before You. ²⁷For You, O Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts, God of Israel, have revealed this 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. ²⁸And now, O Lᴏʀᴅ God, You are God, and Your words are true, and You have promised this goodness to Your servant. ²⁹Now therefore, let it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You; for You, O Lᴏʀᴅ God, have spoken it, and with Your blessing let the house of Your servant be blessed forever.”

¹Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia: ²Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ⁵For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. ⁶Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. ⁷And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation. ⁸For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. ⁹Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, ¹⁰who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, ¹¹you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many. ¹²For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you. ¹³For we are not writing any other things to you than what you read or understand. Now I trust you will understand, even to the end ¹⁴(as also you have understood us in part), that we are your boast as you also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁵And in this confidence I intended to come to you before, that you might have a second benefit— ¹⁶to pass by way of you to Macedonia, to come again from Macedonia to you, and be helped by you on my way to Judea. ¹⁷Therefore, when I was planning this, did I do it lightly? Or the things I plan, do I plan according to the flesh, that with me there should be Yes, Yes, and No, No? ¹⁸But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No. ¹⁹For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. ²⁰For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. ²¹Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, ²²who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. ²³Moreover I call God as witness against my soul, that to spare you I came no more to Corinth. ²⁴Not that we have dominion over your faith, but are fellow workers for your joy; for by faith you stand.

¹Then the word of the Lᴏʀᴅ came to me, saying: ²“Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any other wood, the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest? ³Is wood taken from it to make any object? Or can men make a peg from it to hang any vessel on? ⁴Instead, it is thrown into the fire for fuel; the fire devours both ends of it, and its middle is burned. Is it useful for any work? ⁵Indeed, when it was whole, no object could be made from it. How much less will it be useful for any work when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned? ⁶“Therefore thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ God: ‘Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem; ⁷and I will set My face against them. They will go out from one fire, but another fire shall devour them. Then you shall know that I am the Lᴏʀᴅ, when I set My face against them. ⁸Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have persisted in unfaithfulness,’ says the Lᴏʀᴅ God.”

¹To the Chief Musician. Set to ‘The Silent Dove in Distant Lands.’ A Michtam of David when the Philistines captured him in Gath. Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up; Fighting all day he oppresses me. ²My enemies would hound me all day, For there are many who fight against me, O Most High. ³Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. ⁴In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me? ⁵All day they twist my words; All their thoughts are against me for evil. ⁶They gather together, They hide, they mark my steps, When they lie in wait for my life. ⁷Shall they escape by iniquity? In anger cast down the peoples, O God! ⁸You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book? ⁹When I cry out to You, Then my enemies will turn back; This I know, because God is for me. ¹⁰In God (I will praise His word), In the Lᴏʀᴅ (I will praise His word), ¹¹In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? ¹²Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God; I will render praises to You, ¹³For You have delivered my soul from death. Have You not kept my feet from falling, That I may walk before God In the light of the living?

¹To the Chief Musician. Set to ‘Do Not Destroy.’ A Michtam of David when he fled from Saul into the cave. Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by. ²I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things for me. ³He shall send from heaven and save me; He reproaches the one who would swallow me up. Selah God shall send forth His mercy and His truth. ⁴My soul is among lions; I lie among the sons of men Who are set on fire, Whose teeth are spears and arrows, And their tongue a sharp sword. ⁵Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; Let Your glory be above all the earth. ⁶They have prepared a net for my steps; My soul is bowed down; They have dug a pit before me; Into the midst of it they themselves have fallen. Selah ⁷My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise. ⁸Awake, my glory! Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn. ⁹I will praise You, O Lᴏʀᴅ, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations. ¹⁰For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens, And Your truth unto the clouds. ¹¹Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; Let Your glory be above all the earth.