1. Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron, and spoke, saying, “Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.
2. In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led Israel out and in. The Lord said to you, ‘You will be shepherd of my people Israel, and you will be prince over Israel.’”
3. So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron, and king David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the Lord; and they anointed David king over Israel.
4. David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
5. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months; and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.
6. The king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, “The blind and the lame will keep you out of here;” thinking, “David can’t come in here.”
7. Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion. This is David’s city.
8. David said on that day, “Whoever strikes the Jebusites, let him go up to the watercourse and strike those lame and blind, who are hated by David’s soul.” Therefore they say, “The blind and the lame can’t come into the house.”
9. David lived in the stronghold, and called it David’s city. David built around from Millo and inward.
10. David grew greater and greater; for the Lord, the God of Hosts, was with him.