1. All the people of Israel went to David at Hebron and said to him, “We are your own flesh and blood.
2. In the past, even when Saul was still our king, you led the people of Israel in battle, and the Lord your God promised you that you would lead his people and be their ruler.”
3. So all the leaders of Israel came to King David at Hebron. He made a sacred alliance with them, they anointed him, and he became king of Israel, just as the Lord had promised through Samuel.
4. King David and all the Israelites went and attacked the city of Jerusalem. It was then known as Jebus, and the Jebusites, the original inhabitants of the land, were still living there.
5. The Jebusites told David he would never get inside the city, but David captured their fortress of Zion, and it became known as “David's City”.
6. David said, “The first man to kill a Jebusite will be commander of the army!” Joab, whose mother was Zeruiah, led the attack and became commander.
7. Because David went to live in the fortress, it came to be called “David's City”.
8. He rebuilt the city, starting at the place where land was filled in on the east side of the hill, and Joab restored the rest of the city.
9. David grew stronger and stronger, because the Lord Almighty was with him.
10. This is the list of David's famous soldiers. Together with the rest of the people of Israel, they helped him to become king, as the Lord had promised, and they kept his kingdom strong.
11. First was Jashobeam of the clan of Hachmon, the leader of “The Three”. He fought with his spear against 300 men and killed them all in one battle.
12. Next among the famous “Three” was Eleazar son of Dodo, of the clan of Ahoh.
13. He fought on David's side against the Philistines at the battle of Pas Dammim. He was in a barley field when the Israelites started to run away,
14. so he and his men made a stand in the middle of the field and fought the Philistines. The Lord gave him a great victory.
15. One day three of the thirty leading soldiers went to a rock where David was staying near the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was camping in the Valley of Rephaim.