2 Samuel 5:1-16 ▼

1 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.

2 Previously, when Saul was king over us, you were the one who led out and brought in Israel; and Yahweh said to you, ‘You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be a ruler over Israel.’”

3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David cut a covenant with them in Hebron before Yahweh; then they anointed David king over Israel.

4 Now David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.

5 At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

6 Then the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, and they said to David, “You shall not come in here, but the blind and lame will turn you away”; thinking, “David cannot enter here.”

7 Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion, that is the city of David.

8 And David said on that day, “Whoever would strike down the Jebusites, let him reach the lame and the blind, who are hated by David’s soul, through the water tunnel.” Therefore they say, “The blind or the lame shall not come into the house.”

9 Then David lived in the fortress and called it the city of David. And David built all around from the Millo and inward.

10 And David became greater and greater, and Yahweh, the God of hosts, was with him.

11 Then Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David with cedar trees and craftsmen of wood and craftsmen of stone walls; and they built a house for David.

12 Thus David knew that Yahweh had established him as king over Israel, and that He had lifted up his kingdom for the sake of His people Israel.

13 And David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron; and more sons and daughters were born to David.

14 Now these are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,

15 Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia,

16 Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet.