David’s Anointing as King

11 All Israel^(A) came together to David at Hebron and said, ‘Here we are, your own flesh and blood.^{[a] 2} Even previously when Saul was king, you were leading Israel out to battle and bringing us back. The Lord your God also said to you, “You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will be ruler over my people Israel.” ’

³ So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron. David made a covenant with them at Hebron in the Lord’s presence, and they anointed David king over Israel, in keeping with the Lord’s word through Samuel.^(B)

David’s Capture of Jerusalem

⁴ David^(C) and all Israel marched to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus); the Jebusites who inhabited the land were there.^{(D) 5} The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, ‘You will never get in here.’ Yet David did capture the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David.

⁶ David said, ‘Whoever is the first to kill a Jebusite will become chief commander.’ Joab^(E) son of Zeruiah went up first, so he became the chief.

⁷ Then David took up residence in the stronghold; therefore, it was called the city of David. ⁸ He built up the city all the way round, from the supporting terraces to the surrounding parts, and Joab restored the rest of the city. ⁹ David steadily grew more powerful,^(F) and the Lord of Armies was with him.

Exploits of David’s Warriors

¹⁰ The following were the chiefs of David’s warriors who, together with all Israel, strongly supported him in his reign to make him king according to the Lord’s word about Israel.^{(G) 11} This^(H) is the list of David’s warriors:

Jashobeam son of Hachmoni was chief^(I) of the Thirty;^[b] he wielded his spear against three hundred and killed them at one time.

¹² After him, Eleazar son of Dodo^(J) the Ahohite was one of the three warriors. ¹³ He was with David at Pas-dammim when the Philistines had gathered there for battle. There was a portion of a field full of barley, where the troops had fled from the Philistines.^{(K) 14} But Eleazar and David^[c] took their stand in the middle of the field and defended it. They killed the Philistines, and the Lord gave them a great victory.

¹⁵ Three of the thirty chief men went down to David, to the rock at the cave of Adullam,^(L) while the Philistine army was encamped in Rephaim Valley.^{(M) 16} At that time David was in the stronghold,^(N) and a Philistine garrison^(O) was at Bethlehem. ¹⁷ David was extremely thirsty^[d] and said, ‘If only someone would bring me water to drink from the well at the city gate of Bethlehem! ’ ¹⁸ So the Three broke through to the Philistine camp and drew water from the well at the gate of Bethlehem. They brought it back to David, but he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out to the Lord. ¹⁹ David said, ‘I would never do such a thing in the presence of my God! How can I drink the blood of these men who risked their lives? ’ For they brought it at the risk of their lives. So he would not drink it. Such were the exploits of the three warriors.

²⁰ Abishai,^(P) Joab’s brother, was the leader of the Three.^[e] He raised his spear against three hundred men and killed them, gaining a reputation among the Three. ²¹ He was more honoured than the Three and became their commander even though he did not become one of the Three.

²² Benaiah son of Jehoiada^(Q) was the son of a brave man^[f] from Kabzeel, a man of many exploits. Benaiah killed two sons of Ariel of Moab,^[g] and he went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. ²³ He also killed an Egyptian who was 2.25 metres tall.^[h] Even though the Egyptian had a spear in his hand like a weaver’s beam,^(R) Benaiah went down to him with a staff, snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and then killed him with his own spear. ²⁴ These were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who had a reputation among the three warriors. ²⁵ He was the most honoured of the Thirty, but he did not become one of the Three. David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

²⁶ The best soldiers^(S) were