2 Samuel 5:1-10

David Reigns over All Israel

¹Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and spoke, saying, “Indeed we are your bone and your flesh. ²Also, in time past, when Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them in; and the Lord said to you, ‘You shall shepherd My people Israel, and be ruler over Israel.’ ” ³Therefore all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord. And they anointed David king over Israel. ⁴David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and 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.

The Conquest of Jerusalem

⁶And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, “You shall not come in here; but the blind and the lame will repel you,” thinking, “David cannot come in here.” ⁷Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion (that is, the City of David).

⁸Now David said on that day, “Whoever climbs up by way of the water shaft and defeats the Jebusites (the lame and the blind, who are hated by David’s soul), he shall be chief and captain.” Therefore they say, “The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.”

⁹Then David dwelt in the stronghold, and called it the City of David. And David built all around from the Millo and inward. ¹⁰So David went on and became great, and the Lord God of hosts was with him.