2 Samuel 5:1–10

David Anointed as King over All of Israel

5So all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron, and they said, “Here we are, we are your flesh and blood.^{a 2}For some time,^b when Saul was king over us, you were leading Israel in and out.^c Yahweh had said to you, ‘You shall be the shepherd of my people Israel, and you will be the leader over Israel.’ ” ³All the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant^d with them at Hebron in the presence of Yahweh; then they anointed David as king over Israel. ⁴David was thirty years old^e when he began to reign; he reigned forty years. ⁵He reigned over Judah at Hebron for seven years and six months; and he reigned over all Israel and Judah at Jerusalem for thirty-three years.

The Capture and Growth of Jerusalem

⁶The king and his men went to Jerusalem, to the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land. They said to David, “You will not come here, for even the blind and the lame can turn you back, saying, ‘David cannot come here.’ ” ⁷David captured the fortress of Zion, the city of David. ⁸David had said, “On that day when we attack the Jebusites,^f one must attack the lame and the blind, those who hate the soul of David, by means of the water supply.” For thus the blind and the lame would say, “He cannot come into the house.” ⁹David occupied the fortress and called it the city of David. And David built all around it from the Millo and inward.^g

¹⁰David continued growing stronger and stronger,^h and Yahweh the God of hosts was with him.