1Then all the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron and said, "Look, we are your own flesh and blood.
2In the past, even when Saul was our king, you were the one who led Israel in and out of battle. And Yahweh told you, 'You will be the shepherd of my people Israel, and you will be their ruler.'
3So all the elders of Israel came to King David in Hebron. There, David made an agreement with them in Hebron before Yahweh, and they appointed David as king over Israel.
4David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned for forty years.
5He reigned in Hebron over Judah for seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned for thirty-three years over all of Israel and Judah.
6The king and his men went to Jerusalem to fight against the Jebusites, who lived in the land. The Jebusites told David, "You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can keep you out!" They thought, "David can't enter here."
7However, David captured the fortress of Zion, which is now called the City of David.
8That day, David said, "Whoever wants to attack the Jebusites must go up through the water shaft and strike down those 'lame and blind' people whom David hates." That is why people say, "The blind and the lame are not allowed in the temple."
9David lived in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built up the area around it, starting from the Millo and working inward.
10David became more and more powerful because Yahweh, the God of Armies, was with him.
11Hiram, king of Tyre, sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons, and they built David a palace.
12David realized that Yahweh had established him as king over Israel and had made his kingdom great for the sake of his people Israel.
13After coming from Hebron, David took more concubines and wives in Jerusalem, and he had more sons and daughters.
14These are the names of the children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,
15Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia,
16Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.
17When the Philistines heard that David had been appointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for him. But David heard about it and went down to the fortress.
18Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.
19David asked Yahweh, "Should I go and fight the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?" Yahweh told David, "Go, because I will certainly hand the Philistines over to you."
20David went to Baal Perazim and defeated them there. Then he said, "Yahweh has broken through my enemies before me, like a bursting flood." So he named that place Baal Perazim.
21The Philistines left their idols there, and David and his men carried them away.
22The Philistines attacked again, spreading out in the Valley of Rephaim.
23When David asked Yahweh for guidance, he said, “Do not attack them head-on. Circle around behind them and attack them in front of the balsam trees.
24When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then you should move quickly, because Yahweh will have gone out ahead of you to defeat the Philistine army.”
25David followed Yahweh’s command and struck down the Philistines all the way from Geba to Gezer.