David Anointed King of Israel
1 Then all the tribes of Israel
1came to David at Hebron and said, “Behold,
2we are your bone and flesh.
2
In times past, when Saul was king over us,
3it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the Lord said to you,
4‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel. ’”
3
So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron,
5and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron
6before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel.
4
David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and
7he reigned forty years.
5
8At Hebron he reigned over Judah
9seven years and six months, and at Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.
6
10And the king and his men went to Jerusalem
11against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, “You will not come in here, but the blind and the lame will ward you off”—thinking, “David cannot come in here. ”
7
Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion,
12that is, the city of David.
8
And David said on that day, “Whoever would strike the Jebusites, let him get up the water shaft to attack ‘the lame and the blind, ’ who are hated by David’s soul. ” Therefore it is said, “The blind and the lame shall not come into the house. ”
9
And David lived in the stronghold and called it
13the city of David. And David built the city all around from the
14Millo inward.
10
And David became greater and greater, for the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him.