I Kings 2

¹Now the time of David's death came near; and he gave orders to Solomon his son, saying,

²I am going the way of all the earth: so be strong and be a man;

³And keep the orders of the Lord your God, walking in his ways, keeping his laws and his orders and his rules and his words, as they are recorded in the law of Moses; so that you may do well in all you do and wherever you go,

⁴So that the Lord may give effect to what he said of me, If your children give attention to their ways, living uprightly before me with all their heart and their soul, you will never be without a man to be king in Israel.

⁵Now you have knowledge of what Joab, the son of Zeruiah, did to me, and to the two captains of the army of Israel, Abner, the son of Ner, and Amasa, the son of Jether, whom he put to death, taking payment for the blood of war in time of peace, and making the band of my clothing and the shoes on my feet red with the blood of one put to death without cause.

⁶So be guided by your wisdom, and let not his white head go down to the underworld in peace.

⁷But be good to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be guests at your table; for so they came to me when I went in flight from Absalom your brother.

⁸Now you have with you Shimei, the son of Gera the Benjamite of Bahurim, who put a bitter curse on me on the day when I went to Mahanaim; but he came down to see me at Jordan, and I gave him my oath by the Lord, saying, I will not put you to death by the sword.

⁹But do not let him be free from punishment, for you are a wise man; and it will be clear to you what you have to do with him; see that his white head goes down to the underworld in blood.

¹⁰Then David went to rest with his fathers, and his body was put into the earth in the town of David.

¹¹David was king over Israel for forty years: for seven years he was king in Hebron and for thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

¹²And Solomon took his place on the seat of David his father, and his kingdom was made safe and strong.

¹³Then Adonijah, the son of Haggith, came to Bath-sheba, the mother of Solomon. And she said, Come you in peace? And he said, Yes, in peace.

¹⁴Then he said, I have something to say to you. And she said, Say on.

¹⁵And he said, You saw how the kingdom was mine, and all Israel had the idea that I would be their king; but now the kingdom is turned about, and has become my brother's, for it was given to him by the Lord.

¹⁶Now I have one request to make to you, and do not say, No, to me. And she said to him, Say on.

¹⁷Then he said, Will you go to Solomon the king (for he will not say, No, to you) and put before him my request that he will give me Abishag the Shunammite for a wife?

¹⁸And Bath-sheba said, Good! I will make your request to the king.

¹⁹So Bath-sheba went to King Solomon to have talk with him on Adonijah's account. And the king got up to come to her, and went down low to the earth before her; then he took his place on the king's seat and had a seat made ready for the king's mother and she took her place at his right hand.

²⁰Then she said, I have one small request to make to you; do not say, No, to me. And the king said, Say on, my mother, for I will not say, No, to you.

²¹And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother for a wife.

²²Then King Solomon made answer and said to his mother, Why are you requesting me to give Abishag the Shunammite to Adonijah? Take the kingdom for him in addition, for he is my older brother, and Abiathar the priest and Joab, the son of Zeruiah, are on his side.

²³Then King Solomon took an oath by the Lord, saying, May God's punishment be on me if Adonijah does not give payment for these words with his life.

²⁴Now by the living Lord, who has given me my place on the seat of David my father, and made me one of a line of kings, as he gave me his word, truly Adonijah will be put to death this day.

²⁵And King Solomon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and he made an attack on him and put him to death.

²⁶And to Abiathar the priest the king said, Go to Anathoth, to your fields; for death would be your right reward; but I will not put you to death now, because you took up the ark of the Lord God before David my father, and you were with him in all his troubles.

²⁷So Solomon let Abiathar be priest no longer, so that he might make the word of the Lord come true which he said about the sons of Eli in Shiloh.

²⁸And news of this came to Joab; for Joab had been one of Adonijah's supporters, though he had not been on Absalom's side. Then Joab went in flight to the Tent of the Lord, and put his hands on the horns of the altar.

²⁹And they said to King Solomon, Joab has gone in flight to the Tent of the Lord and is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, make an attack on him.

³⁰And Benaiah came to the Tent of the Lord and said to him, The king says, Come out. And he said, No; but let death come to me here. And Benaiah went back to the king and gave him word of the answer which Joab had given.

³¹And the king said, Do as he has said and make an attack on him there, and put his body into the earth; so that you may take away from me and from my family the blood of one put to death by Joab without cause.

³²And the Lord will send back his blood on his head, because of the attack he made on two men more upright and better than himself, putting them to the sword without my father's knowledge; even Abner, the son of Ner, captain of the army of Israel, and Amasa, the son of Jether, captain of the army of Judah.

³³So their blood will be on the head of Joab, and on the head of his seed for ever; but for David and his seed and his family and the seat of his kingdom, there will be peace for ever from the Lord.

³⁴So Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, went up, and falling on him, put him to death; and his body was put to rest in his house in the waste land.

³⁵And the king put Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, in his place over the army; and Zadok the priest he put in the place of Abiathar.

³⁶Then the king sent for Shimei, and said to him, Make a house for yourself in Jerusalem and keep there and go to no other place.

³⁷For be certain that on the day when you go out and go over the stream Kidron, death will overtake you: and your blood will be on your head.

³⁸And Shimei said to the king, Very well! as my lord the king has said, so will your servant do. And for a long time Shimei went on living in Jerusalem.

³⁹But after three years, two of the servants of Shimei went in flight to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. And word was given to Shimei that his servants had gone to Gath.

⁴⁰Then Shimei got up, and making ready his ass, he went to Gath, to Achish, in search of his servants; and he sent and got them from Gath.

⁴¹And news was given to Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had come back again.

⁴²Then the king sent for Shimei, and said to him, Did I not make you take an oath by the Lord, protesting to you and saying, Be certain that on the day when you go out from here, wherever you go, death will overtake you? and you said to me, Very well!

⁴³Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord and the order which I gave you?

⁴⁴And the king said to Shimei, You have knowledge of all the evil which you did to David my father; and now the Lord has sent back your evil on yourself.

⁴⁵But a blessing will be on King Solomon, and the kingdom of David will keep its place before the Lord for ever.

⁴⁶So the king gave orders to Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada; and he went out and, falling on him, put him to death. And Solomon's authority over the kingdom was complete.

I Kings 2

¹Now the days of David drew near that he should die; and he commanded Solomon his son, saying,

²"I am going the way of all the earth. You be strong therefore, and show yourself a man;

³and keep the instruction of the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, according to that which is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do, and wherever you turn yourself.

⁴That the Lord may establish his word which he spoke concerning me, saying, 'If your children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail you,' he said, 'a man on the throne of Israel.'

⁵"Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, even what he did to the two captains of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war on his sash that was about his waist, and in his shoes that were on his feet.

⁶Do therefore according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace.

⁷But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those who eat at your table; for so they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother.

⁸"Behold, there is with you Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim; but he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying, 'I will not put you to death with the sword.'

⁹Now therefore do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man; and you will know what you ought to do to him, and you shall bring his gray head down to Sheol with blood."

¹⁰David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.

¹¹The days that David reigned over Israel were forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

¹²Solomon sat on the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was firmly established.

¹³Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. She said, "Do you come peaceably?" He said, "Peaceably.

¹⁴He said moreover, I have something to tell you." She said, "Say on."

¹⁵He said, "You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign. However the kingdom is turned around, and has become my brother's; for it was his from the Lord.

¹⁶Now I ask one petition of you. Do not deny me." She said to him, "Say on."

¹⁷He said, "Please speak to Solomon the king (for he will not tell you 'no'), that he give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife."

¹⁸Bathsheba said, "Alright. I will speak for you to the king."

¹⁹Bathsheba therefore went to king Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. The king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself to her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a throne to be set for the king's mother; and she sat on his right hand.

²⁰Then she said, "I ask one small petition of you; do not deny me." The king said to her, "Ask on, my mother; for I will not deny you."

²¹She said, "Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as wife."

²²King Solomon answered his mother, "Why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also; for he is my elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah."

²³Then king Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, "God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life.

²⁴Now therefore as the Lord lives, who has established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised, surely Adonijah shall be put to death this day."

²⁵King Solomon sent by Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell on him, so that he died.

²⁶To Abiathar the priest the king said, "Go to Anathoth, to your own fields; for you are worthy of death. But I will not at this time put you to death, because you bore the ark of the Lord God before David my father, and because you were afflicted in all in which my father was afflicted."

²⁷So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, that he might fulfill the word of the Lord, which he spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

²⁸The news came to Joab; for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he did not turn after Absalom. Joab fled to the Tent of the Lord, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.

²⁹It was told king Solomon, "Joab has fled to the Tent of the Lord, and behold, he is by the altar." Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, "Go, fall on him."

³⁰Benaiah came to the Tent of the Lord, and said to him, "Thus says the king, 'Come forth!'" He said, "No; but I will die here." Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, "Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me."

³¹The king said to him, "Do as he has said, and fall on him, and bury him; that you may take away the blood, which Joab shed without cause, from me and from my father's house.

³²The Lord will return his blood on his own head, because he fell on two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword, and my father David did not know it: Abner the son of Ner, captain of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the army of Judah.

³³So shall their blood return on the head of Joab, and on the head of his seed forever. But to David, and to his seed, and to his house, and to his throne, there shall be peace forever from the Lord."

³⁴Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell on him, and killed him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.

³⁵The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army; and the king put Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar.

³⁶The king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and do not go out from there anywhere.

³⁷For on the day you go out, and pass over the brook Kidron, know for certain that you shall surely die: your blood shall be on your own head."

³⁸Shimei said to the king, "The saying is good. As my lord the king has said, so will your servant do." Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.

³⁹It happened at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. They told Shimei, saying, "Behold, your servants are in Gath."

⁴⁰Shimei arose, and saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish, to seek his servants; and Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath.

⁴¹It was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had come again.

⁴²The king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, "Did I not adjure you by the Lord, and warn you, saying, 'Know for certain, that on the day you go out, and walk abroad any where, you shall surely die?' You said to me, 'The saying that I have heard is good.'

⁴³Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord, and the commandment that I have instructed you with?"

⁴⁴The king said moreover to Shimei, "You know all the wickedness which your heart is privy to, that you did to David my father. Therefore the Lord shall return your wickedness on your own head.

⁴⁵But king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever."

⁴⁶So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out, and fell on him, so that he died. The kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.