2 Samuel 5:1–10

David Becomes King Over Israel

5:1–3pp—1Ch 11:1–3

5All the tribes of Israel^o came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood.^{p 2}In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns.^q And the Lord said^r to you, ‘You will shepherd^s my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.^t’ ”

³When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a covenant^u with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed^v David king over Israel.

⁴David was thirty years old^w when he became king, and he reigned^x forty^y years. ⁵In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months,^z and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.

David Conquers Jerusalem

5:6–10pp—1Ch 11:4–9 5:11–16pp—1Ch 3:5–9; 14:1–7

⁶The king and his men marched to Jerusalem^a to attack the Jebusites,^b who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.” They thought, “David cannot get in here.” ⁷Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion^c—which is the City of David.^d

⁸On that day David had said, “Anyone who conquers the Jebusites will have to use the water shaft^e to reach those ‘lame and blind’^f who are David’s enemies.^a” That is why they say, “The ‘blind and lame’ will not enter the palace.”

⁹David then took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built up the area around it, from the terraces^bg inward. ¹⁰And he became more and more powerful,^h because the Lord God Almightyⁱ was with him.^j