2 Samuel 5:1–10

DAVID, KING OF ISRAEL

5All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron^a and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood.^{Bb 2}Even while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led us out to battle and brought us back.^c The Lord also said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will be ruler over Israel.’ ”

³So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron. King David made a covenant with them^d at Hebron in the Lord’s presence, and they anointed David king over Israel.

⁴David was thirty years old when he began his reign;^e he reigned forty years. ⁵In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

⁶The king and his men marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites^f who inhabited the land. The Jebusites had said to David, “You will never get in here. Even the blind and lame can repel you” thinking, “David can’t get in here.”

⁷Yet David did capture the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David.^{g 8}He said that day, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must go through the water shaft to reach the lame and the blind who are despised by David.”^A For this reason it is said, “The blind and the lame will never enter the house.”^B

⁹David took up residence in the stronghold, which he named the city of David. He built it up all the way around from the supporting terraces inward. ¹⁰David became more and more powerful,^h and the Lord God of Armies was with him.ⁱ