2 Samuel 5:1-10

Contemporary English Version

David Becomes King of Israel

(1 Chronicles 11.1-3)

5 Israel's leaders met with David at Hebron and said, “We are your relatives. ² Even when Saul was king, you led our nation in battle. And the Lord promised that someday you would rule Israel and take care of us like a shepherd.”

³ During the meeting, David made an agreement with the leaders and asked the Lord to be their witness. Then the leaders poured olive oil on David's head to show that he was now the king of Israel.

^4 (A) David was 30 years old when he became king, and he ruled for 40 years. ⁵ He lived in Hebron for the first seven and a half years and ruled only Judah. Then he moved to Jerusalem, where he ruled both Israel and Judah for 33 years.

How David Captured Jerusalem

(1 Chronicles 11.4-9; 14.1,2)

^6 (B) The Jebusites lived in Jerusalem, and David led his army there to attack them. The Jebusites did not think he could get in, so they told him, “You can't get in here! We could keep you out, even if we couldn't see or walk!”

^7-9 David told his troops, “You will have to go up through the water tunnel to get those Jebusites. I hate people like them^[a] who can't walk or see.”

That's why there is still a rule that says, “Only people who can walk and see are allowed in the temple.”^[b]

David captured the fortress on Mount Zion, then he moved there and named it David's City. He had the city rebuilt, starting with the landfill to the east. ¹⁰ David became a great and strong ruler, because the Lord All-Powerful was on his side.