1 King David was settled in his palace, and the Lord kept him safe from all his enemies.
2 Then the king said to the prophet Nathan, “Here I am living in a house built of cedar, but God's Covenant Box is kept in a tent!”
3 Nathan answered, “Do whatever you have in mind, because the Lord is with you.”
4 But that night the Lord said to Nathan,
5 “Go and tell my servant David that I say to him, ‘You are not the one to build a temple for me to live in.
6 From the time I rescued the people of Israel from Egypt until now, I have never lived in a temple; I have traveled around living in a tent.
7 In all my traveling with the people of Israel I never asked any of the leaders that I appointed why they had not built me a temple made of cedar.’