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¹ And all the tribes of Israel come to David, to Hebron, and speak, saying, "Behold, we [are] your bone and your flesh;² also thus far, in Saul's being king over us, you have been he who is bringing out and bringing in Israel, and YHWH says to you, You feed My people Israel, and you are for leader over Israel."³ And all [the] elderly of Israel come to the king, to Hebron, and King David makes a covenant with them in Hebron before YHWH, and they anoint David for king over Israel.⁴ A son of thirty years [is] David in his being king; he has reigned [for] forty years;⁵ he reigned over Judah in Hebron [for] seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned [for] thirty-three years, over all Israel and Judah.

⁶ And the king goes, and his men, to Jerusalem, to the Jebusite, the inhabitant of the land, and they speak to David, saying, "You do not come in here, except [that] you turn aside the blind and the lame," saying, "David does not come in here."⁷ And David captures the fortress of Zion, it [is] the City of David.⁸ And on that day David says, "Anyone striking the Jebusite, let him go up by the watercourse (and the lame and the blind—the hated of David's soul)." Therefore they say, "The blind and lame—he does not come into the house."⁹ And David dwells in the fortress, and calls it the City of David, and David builds all around, from Millo and inward,¹⁰ and David goes, going on and becoming great, and YHWH, God of Hosts, [is] with him.

¹¹ And Hiram king of Tyre sends messengers to David, and cedar-trees, and craftsmen of wood, and craftsmen of stone, for walls, and they build a house for David,¹² and David knows that YHWH has established him for king over Israel, and that He has lifted up his kingdom, because of His people Israel.¹³ And again David takes concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after his coming from Hebron, and again there are born to David sons and daughters.¹⁴ And these [are] the names of those born to him in Jerusalem: Shammuah, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon,¹⁵ and Ibhar, and Elishua, and Nepheg, and Japhia,¹⁶ and Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphalet.

¹⁷ And the Philistines hear that they have anointed David for king over Israel, and all the Philistines come up to seek David, and David hears, and goes down to the fortress,¹⁸ and the Philistines have come, and are spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.¹⁹ And David asks of YHWH, saying, "Do I go up to the Philistines? Do You give them into my hand?" And YHWH says to David, "Go up, for I certainly give the Philistines into your hand."²⁰ And David comes to Ba‘al-Perazim, and David strikes them there, and says, "YHWH has broken forth [on] my enemies before me, as the breaking forth of waters"; therefore he has called the name of that place Ba‘al-Perazim.²¹ And they forsake their idols there, and David and his men lift them up.²² And the Philistines add again to come up, and are spread out in the Valley of Rephaim,²³ and David asks of YHWH, and He says, "You do not go up, turn around to their rear, and you have come to them from the front [[or in front]] of the mulberries,²⁴ and it comes to pass, in your hearing the sound of a stepping in the tops of the mulberries, then you move sharply, for then YHWH has gone out before you to strike in the camp of the Philistines."²⁵ And David does so, as YHWH commanded him, and strikes the Philistines from Geba to your coming to Gazer.