2 Samuel 7:25-29

7:25 So now, O Lord God, make this promise you have made about your servant and his family a permanent reality. ¹  Do as you promised, ²  7:26 so you may gain lasting fame, ³  as people say, ⁴  ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel!’ The dynasty ⁵  of your servant David will be established before you, 7:27 for you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have told ⁶  your servant, ‘I will build you a dynastic house.’ ⁷  That is why your servant has had the courage ⁸  to pray this prayer to you. 7:28 Now, O sovereign Lord, you are the true God! ⁹  May your words prove to be true! ¹⁰  You have made this good promise to your servant! ¹¹  7:29 Now be willing to bless your servant’s dynasty ¹²  so that it may stand permanently before you, for you, O sovereign Lord, have spoken. By your blessing may your servant’s dynasty be blessed on into the future!” ¹³ 

Psalms 116:16

116:16 Yes, Lord! I am indeed your servant;

I am your lowest slave. ¹⁴ 

You saved me from death. ¹⁵ 

Romans 4:20-21

4:20 He ¹⁶  did not waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. 4:21 He was ¹⁷  fully convinced that what God ¹⁸  promised he was also able to do.

¹ tn Heb “and now, O Lord God, the word which you spoke concerning your servant and concerning his house, establish permanently.”

² tn Heb “as you have spoken.”

³ tn Heb “and your name might be great permanently.” Following the imperative in v. 23b, the prefixed verbal form with vav conjunctive indicates purpose/result.

⁴ tn Heb “saying.” The words “as people” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.

⁵ tn Heb “the house.” See the note on “dynastic house” in the following verse.

⁶ tn Heb “have uncovered the ear of.”

⁷ tn Heb “a house.” This maintains the wordplay from v. 11 (see the note on the word “house” there) and is continued in v. 29.

⁸ tn Heb “has found his heart.”

⁹ tn Heb “the God.” The article indicates uniqueness here.

¹⁰ tn The translation understands the prefixed verb form as a jussive, indicating David’s wish/prayer. Another option is to take the form as an imperfect and translate “your words are true.”

¹¹ tn Heb “and you have spoken to your servant this good thing.”

¹² tn Heb “house” (again later in this verse). See the note on “dynastic house” in v. 27.

¹³ tn Or “permanently”; cf. NLT “it is an eternal blessing.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “I am your servant, the son of your female servant.” The phrase “son of a female servant” (see also Ps 86:16) is used of a son born to a secondary wife or concubine (Exod 23:12). In some cases the child’s father is the master of the house (see Gen 21:10, 13; Judg 9:18). The use of the expression here certainly does not imply that the Lord has such a secondary wife or concubine! It is used metaphorically and idiomatically to emphasize the psalmist’s humility before the Lord and his status as the Lord’s servant.

¹⁵ tn Heb “you have loosed my bonds.” In this context the imagery refers to deliverance from death (see v. 3).

¹⁶ tn Grk “And he.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, δέ (de) has not been translated here.

¹⁷ tn Grk “and being.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

¹⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.