2 Samuel 5:1-10

1All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron saying, “Look, we are your very flesh and blood!

2In the past, when Saul was our king, you were the real leader in Israel. The Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel; you will rule over Israel.’”

3When all the leaders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, King David made an agreement with them in Hebron before the Lord. They designated David as king over Israel.

4David was thirty years old when he began to reign and he reigned for forty years.

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

6Then the king and his men advanced to Jerusalem against the Jebusites who lived in the land. The Jebusites said to David, “You cannot invade this place! Even the blind and the lame will turn you back, saying, ‘David cannot invade this place!’”

7But David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the city of David).

8David said on that day, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must approach the ‘lame’ and the ‘blind’ who are David’s enemies by going through the water tunnel.” For this reason it is said, “The blind and the lame cannot enter the palace.”

9So David lived in the fortress and called it the City of David. David built all around it, from the terrace inwards.

10David’s power grew steadily, for the Lord God who commands armies was with him.