2 Samuel 5:1–10

David King over All Israel

^1aThen all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and ¹said, “Behold, we are ^byour bone and your flesh.

²“Previously, when Saul was king over us, ^ayou were the one who led Israel out and in. And the Lord said to you, ‘^bYou will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be ^ca ruler over Israel.’ ”

³So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David ^amade a covenant with them before the Lord at Hebron; then ^bthey anointed David king over Israel.

⁴David was ^athirty years old when he became king, and ^bhe reigned forty years.

⁵At Hebron ^ahe reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

^6aNow the king and his men went to ^bJerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, and they said to ¹David, “You shall not come in here, but the blind and lame will turn you away”; ²thinking, “David cannot enter here.”

⁷Nevertheless, David captured the stronghold of Zion, that is ^athe city of David.

⁸David said on that day, “Whoever would strike the Jebusites, let him reach the lame and the blind, who are hated by David’s soul, through the water tunnel.” Therefore they say, “The blind or the lame shall not come into the house.”

⁹So David lived in the stronghold and called it ^athe city of David. And David built all around from the ^1bMillo and inward.

^10aDavid became greater and greater, for the Lord God of hosts was with him.