A reading from the book of 2 Samuel.

Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said,

Behold, we are your bone and flesh.

In times past, when Saul was king over us,

it was you who led out and brought in Israel.

And the Lord said to you, You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be

prince over Israel.

So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant

with them at Hebron before the Lord.

And they anointed David, king over Israel.

David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 40 years. At Hebron, he

reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and at Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah 33 years. And

the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land,

who said to David, you will not come in here, but the blind and the lame will ward you

off, thinking, David cannot come in here.

Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is the city of David, and David said

on that day, whoever would strike the Jebusites, let him get up the water shaft to attack

the lame and the blind who were hated by David's

soul. Therefore, it is said, the blind and the lame shall not come into the house.

And David lived in the stronghold and called it the city of David. And David built the city

all around from the millo inward. And David became greater and greater, for the Lord

the God of hosts was with him.

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