1. Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and spoke saying, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood.
2. Even before, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led Israel out and back. Also Adonai said to you, ‘You will shepherd My people Israel and be ruler over Israel.’”
3. So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David cut a covenant with them at Hebron before Adonai. Then they anointed David king over Israel.
4. David was 30 years old when he began to reign and he reigned 40 years.
5. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned 33 years over all Israel and Judah.
6. Now the king and his soldiers marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the region. But they said to David, “You’ll never get in here! Even the blind and the lame could ward you off,” thinking, “David can’t get in here.”
7. Nevertheless, David did capture the stronghold of Zion (that is, the City of David).
8. On that day David said, “Whoever would conquer the Jebusites must strike through the water shaft to those ‘lame and blind’ whom David’s soul despises.” That is why they used to say, “The blind or lame couldn’t get into the house.”
9. So David occupied the stronghold and renamed it the City of David. Then David fortified it all round from the Millo inward.