David

But David said to Yo'av and all those with him, "Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn over Avner." King David himself walked behind the body as it was carried.

All the people came to David and tried to make him eat some bread while it was still daytime; but David swore, "May God bring terrible curses on me and worse ones yet if I taste bread or anything else until the sun goes down."

They brought the head of Ish-Boshet to David in Hevron and said to the king, "Here is the head of Ish-Boshet the son of Sha'ul your enemy, who wanted to take your life. Today ADONAI has taken revenge on Sha'ul and his son for the sake of my lord the king."

But David answered Rekhav and Ba'anah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Be'eroti, "As ADONAI lives, who has rescued me from every kind of difficulty,

David then gave the order to his men, and they put them to death, cutting off their hands and feet and hanging them up next to the pool at Hevron. But they took the head of Ish-Boshet and buried it in Avner's grave at Hevron.

Then all the tribes of Isra'el came to David in Hevron and said, "Here, we are your own flesh and bone.

So all the leaders of Isra'el came to the king in Hevron, and King David made a covenant with them in Hevron in the presence of ADONAI. Then they anointed David king over Isra'el.

David was thirty years old when he began his rule, and he ruled forty years.

The king and his men went to Yerushalayim to attack the Y'vusi, the inhabitants of that region. They taunted David, "You won't get in here! Even the blind and the lame could fend you off!"- in other words, they were thinking, "David will never get in here."

Nevertheless, David captured the stronghold of Tziyon, also known [now] as the City of David.

What David said on that day was, "In order to attack the Y'vusi, you have to climb up [from the spring outside the city] through the water tunnel. Then you can do away with those [so-called] 'lame and blind'" (whom David despises - hence the expression, "The 'blind and lame' keep him from entering the house").

David lived in the stronghold and called it the City of David. Then David built up the city around it, starting at the Millo [earth rampart] and working inward.

David grew greater and greater, because ADONAI the God of Armies was with him.

Hiram king of Tzor sent envoys to David with cedar logs, and with them were carpenters and stonemasons; and they built David a palace.

David then knew that ADONAI had set him up as king over Isra'el and increased his royal power for the sake of his people.

David took for himself more concubines and wives in Yerushalayim after coming from Hevron, so that still more sons and daughters were born to David.

When the P'lishtim heard that David had been anointed king over Isra'el, all the P'lishtim went up in search of David. On learning of it, David went down to the stronghold.

David consulted ADONAI, asking, "Should I attack the P'lishtim? Will you hand them over to me?"ADONAI answered David, "Attack; I will certainly hand the P'lishtim over to you."

So David went to Ba'al-P'ratzim and defeated them there. He said, "ADONAI has broken through my enemies for me like a river breaking through its banks." This is why he called the place Ba'al-P'ratzim [Lord of breaking through].

The P'lishtim had left their idols there, so David and his men took them away.

When David consulted ADONAI, he said, "Don't attack! Circle behind them, and engage them opposite the balsam trees.

David did exactly as ADONAI had ordered him to do and pursued his attack on the P'lishtim from Geva all the way to Gezer.

Again David summoned all the picked troops of Isra'el, 30,000 men.

Then David, taking along the entire force he had with him then, set out for Ba'alei-Y'hudah to bring up from there the ark of God, which bears the Name, the name of ADONAITzva'ot enthroned above the k'ruvim.

David and the whole house of Isra'el celebrated in the presence of ADONAI with all kinds of musical instruments made of cypress-wood, including lyres, lutes, tambourines, rattles and cymbals.