David becomes king over all Israel

5 All Israel's tribes came to David at Hebron. They said, ‘We all belong to the same family as you do. ² In the past, when Saul ruled over us as king, you were the leader of Israel's army in the wars. The Lord said to you, “You will take care of my people as a shepherd takes care of his sheep. You will rule over Israel.” ’

³ So King David made an agreement with the leaders of Israel when they came to him at Hebron. They made promises in the Lord's name. Then they anointed David to be king over Israel.

⁴ David was 30 years old when he became king. He ruled Israel as king for 40 years. ⁵ He ruled over Judah in Hebron for seven years and six months. And in Jerusalem he ruled over all Israel and Judah for 33 years.

David wins Jerusalem from the Jebusites

⁶ King David and his soldiers marched to Jerusalem. They went to attack the Jebusites who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, ‘You will never get into our city. Even blind men and those who are lame could keep you out.’

They thought, ‘David will never get in here.’

⁷ But David did get in and he took Zion, the city's strong place. It is now called ‘The City of David’.

⁸ On that day, David said to his men, ‘We must attack my enemies, the Jebusites. To do that, we must go into the city through the water tunnel.^[a] Then we will see if their blind and lame people can stop us! I hate them all.’

That is why people still say, ‘Anybody who is blind or lame must not go into the palace.’^[b]

David comes to live in Jerusalem

⁹ Then David went to live in the strong place of the city. He called it ‘The City of David’. He built more houses all around it, from the edge of the hill into the city. ¹⁰ David became more and more powerful because the Lord God Almighty was with him.

¹¹ Then Hiram, king of Tyre, sent some of his men to David. They brought wood from Lebanon's cedar trees. Men who could work with wood and stone also came. They built a palace for David. ¹² David knew that the Lord had made him strong as king over Israel. He knew that God had given honour to his kingdom, to help his people, the Israelites.^[c]

¹³ After David moved to Jerusalem from Hebron, he married more wives. He also took more slave wives to live with him. They gave birth to more sons and daughters for David. ¹⁴ These are the names of David's children who were born in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ¹⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶ Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet.

David fights against the Philistines

¹⁷ The Philistines heard the news that David had now become king over Israel. So their whole army went to look for him to catch him. When David heard about this, he went out of the city to a strong, safe place.

¹⁸ The Philistine soldiers arrived at Rephaim valley. They covered all the ground there. ¹⁹ So David asked the Lord, ‘Should I go and attack the Philistines? Will you put them under my power?’

The Lord answered him, ‘Yes, go and attack the Philistines. I will certainly help you to win against them.’

²⁰ So David went to Baal Perazim. He won the fight against the Philistines in that place. He said, ‘The Lord has swept away my enemy like a flood of water.’ So they called that place ‘Baal Perazim’.^[d]

²¹ When the Philistines ran away from there, they did not take their idols with them. So David and his men took them away.

²² Once again, the Philistine soldiers came and they covered the ground in Rephaim valley. ²³ So David again asked the Lord what he should do. This time the Lord said, ‘Do not march straight towards them. Instead, go round behind them. Then attack them from the other side, where the poplar trees are. ²⁴ When you hear a noise in the tops of the trees like marching men, go quickly to attack them. Then you will know that the Lord has gone in front of you. He will knock down the Philistine army for you.’

²⁵ So David did as the Lord had commanded him to do. His men chased the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.