[1] Then all the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron and said, Truly,
we are your bone and your flesh. [2] In the past when Saul was king over
us, it was you who went at the head of Israel when they went out or came
in: and the Lord said to you, You are to be the keeper of my people Israel
and their ruler. [3] So all the responsible men of Israel came to the king
at Hebron; and King David made an agreement with them in Hebron before the
Lord: and they put the holy oil on David and made him king over Israel. [4]
David was thirty years old when he became king, and he was king for forty
years, [5] Ruling over Judah in Hebron for seven years and six months, and
in Jerusalem, over all Israel and Judah, for thirty-three years. [6] And
the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the people of
the land: and they said to David, You will not come in here, but the blind
and the feeble-footed will keep you out; for they said, David will not be
able to come in here. [7] But David took the strong place of Zion, which is
the town of David. [8] And that day David said, Whoever makes an attack on
the Jebusites, let him go up by the water-pipe, and put to death all the
blind and feeble-footed who are hated by David. And this is why they say,
The blind and feeble-footed may not come into the house. [9] So David took
the strong tower for his living-place, naming it the town of David. And
David took in hand the building of the town all round, starting from the
Millo. [10] And David became greater and greater; for the Lord, the God of
armies, was with him. [11] And Hiram, king of Tyre, sent men to David, with
cedar-trees and woodworkers and stoneworkers: and they made David a house.
[12] And David saw that the Lord had made his position safe as king over
Israel, and that he had made his kingdom great because of his people
Israel. [13] And David took more women and wives in Jerusalem, after he had
come from Hebron: and he had more sons and daughters. [14] These are the
names of those whose birth took place in Jerusalem: Shammua and Shobab and
Nathan and Solomon [15] And Ibhar and Elishua and Nepheg and Japhia [16]
And Elishama and Eliada and Eliphelet. [17] And when the Philistines had
news that David had been made king over Israel, they all went up in search
of David; and David, hearing of it, went down to the strong place. [18] And
when the Philistines came, they went in every direction in the valley of
Rephaim. [19] And David, desiring directions from the Lord, said, Am I to
go up against the Philistines? will you give them up into my hands? And the
Lord said, Go up, for I will certainly give up the Philistines into your
hands. [20] And David went to Baal-perazim, and overcame them there; and he
said, The Lord has let the forces fighting against me be broken before me
as a wall is broken by rushing waters. So that place was named
Baal-perazim. [21] And the Philistines, when they went in flight, did not
take their images with them, and David and his men took them away. [22] And
the Philistines came up again, and went in every direction in the valley of
Rephaim. [23] And when David went for directions to the Lord, he said, You
are not to go up against them in front; but make a circle round them from
the back and come on them opposite the spice-trees. [24] Then at the sound
of footsteps in the tops of the trees, go forward quickly, for the Lord has
gone out before you to overcome the army of the Philistines. [25] And David
did as the Lord had said; and he overcame the Philistines, attacking them
from Gibeon to near Gezer.
