But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, "Go
and tell my servant David, 'Thus says the LORD [Covenant]...
When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers,
I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth
from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall
build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne
of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and
he shall be my son. When he commits iniquity, I will chasten
him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men;
but I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took
it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house
and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before
me; your throne shall be established for ever.'"
In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with
all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.
(2
Samuel 7:4-5,12-17)
Thou
hast said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to David my servant:
'I
will establish your descendants for
ever,
and build your throne for all generations.'" [Selah]
(Psalms 89:3,4)
The
word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, take a stick
and write on it, 'For Judah, and the children of Israel associated
with him'; then take another stick and write upon it, 'For
Joseph (the stick of E'phraim) and all the house of Israel
associated with him'; and join them together into one stick,
that they may become one in your hand. And when your people
say to you, 'Will you not show us what you mean by these?'
say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am about to
take the stick of Joseph (which is in the hand of E'phraim)
and the tribes of Israel associated with him; and I will join
with it the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, that
they may be one in my hand. When the sticks on which you write
are in your hand before their eyes, then say to them, Thus
says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will take the people of Israel
from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather
them from all sides, and bring them to their own land; and
I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains
of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; and they
shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into
two kingdoms. They shall not defile themselves any more with
their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their
transgressions; but I will save them from all the backslidings
in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they
shall be my people, and I will be their God. "My servant
David shall be king over them; and they shall all have one
shepherd. They shall follow my ordinances and be careful to
observe my statutes. They shall dwell in the land where your
fathers dwelt that I gave to my servant Jacob; they and their
children and their children's children shall dwell there for
ever; and David my servant shall be their prince for ever.
I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will bless them
and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst
of them for evermore. My dwelling place shall be with them;
and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then
the nations will know that I the LORD sanctify Israel, when
my sanctuary is in the midst of them for evermore."
(Ezekiel 37:15-28)