JOIN THE JOURNEY JR.

1 Chronicles 11

David Becomes King of All Israel

1Then all Israel gathered before David at Hebron and told him, “We are your own flesh and blood. 2In the past,* even when Saul was king, you were the one who really led the forces of Israel. And the Lord your God told you, ‘You will be the shepherd of my people Israel. You will be the leader of my people Israel.’”

3So there at Hebron, David made a covenant before the Lord with all the elders of Israel. And they anointed him king of Israel, just as the Lord had promised through Samuel.

David Captures Jerusalem

4Then David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (or Jebus, as it used to be called), where the Jebusites, the original inhabitants of the land, were living. 5The people of Jebus taunted David, saying, “You’ll never get in here!” But David captured the fortress of Zion, which is now called the City of David.

6David had said to his troops, “Whoever is first to attack the Jebusites will become the commander of my armies!” And Joab, the son of David’s sister Zeruiah, was first to attack, so he became the commander of David’s armies.

7David made the fortress his home, and that is why it is called the City of David. 8He extended the city from the supporting terraces* to the surrounding area, while Joab rebuilt the rest of Jerusalem. 9And David became more and more powerful, because the Lord of Heaven’s Armies was with him.

David’s Mightiest Warriors

10These are the leaders of David’s mighty warriors. Together with all Israel, they decided to make David their king, just as the Lord had promised concerning Israel.

11Here is the record of David’s mightiest warriors: The first was Jashobeam the Hacmonite, who was leader of the Three—the mightiest warriors among David’s men.* He once used his spear to kill 300 enemy warriors in a single battle.