2 Samuel 5:6-16

Expanded Bible

⁶ When the king and his men went to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites who lived there, the Jebusites said to David, “You can’t ·get inside our city [^Lcome in here]. Even the blind and the ·crippled can stop you [^Llame can hold you off/turn you away].” They thought David could not enter their city. ⁷ But David did ·take the city of Jerusalem with its strong walls [capture the stronghold/fortress of Zion], and it ·became [is] the City of David [^Cit did not belong to a specific tribe; David made it the national capital].

⁸ That day David said to his men, “To ·defeat [^Lstrike] the Jebusites you must go through the water tunnel. ·Then you can reach [or David hates] those ·‘crippled’ [lame] and ‘blind’ enemies. This is why people say, ‘The blind and the ·crippled [lame] may not enter the ·palace [^Lhouse; or Temple].’”

⁹ So David lived in the ·strong, walled city [stronghold; fortress] and called it the City of David. David built more buildings around it, ·beginning where the land was filled in. He also built more buildings inside the city [^L…from the Millo/terraces inward; ^CMillo may refer to earth-filled terraces that allowed the expansion of the city]. ¹⁰ He became ·stronger and stronger [more and more powerful/great], because the Lord God ·All-Powerful [of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts] was with him.

David Consolidates His Kingdom^(A)

¹¹ Hiram king of the city of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs, carpenters, and ·stonecutters [stonemasons]. They built a ·palace [^Lhouse] for David. ¹² Then David ·knew [realized] that the Lord really had ·made [confirmed; established] him king ·of [over] Israel and that the Lord had ·made his kingdom great [blessed/exalted his kingdom] ·because the Lord loved [for the sake of] his people Israel.

¹³ After he came from Hebron, David took for himself more ·slave women [concubines; ^Ca secondary wife; 3:7] and wives in Jerusalem. More sons and daughters were born to David. ¹⁴ These are the names of the sons born to David in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ¹⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶ Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.