1 Kings 2

1 As the time drew near for David to die, he charged his son Solomon,

And the days of David to die draw near, and he charges his son Solomon, saying,

2 “I am about to go the way of all the earth. So be strong and prove yourself a man.

“I am going in the way of all the earth, and you have been strong, and become a man,

3 And keep the charge of the LORD your God to walk in His ways and to keep His statutes, commandments, ordinances, and decrees, as is written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you turn,

and you have kept the charge of your God YHWH, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commands, and His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, so that you do wisely [in] all that you do, and wherever you turn,

4 and so that the LORD may fulfill His promise to me: ‘If your descendants take heed to walk faithfully before Me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’

so that YHWH establishes His word which He spoke to me, saying, If your sons observe their way to walk before Me in truth, with all their heart, and with all their soul; saying, A man of yours is never cut off from the throne of Israel.

5 Moreover, you know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me—what he did to Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether, the two commanders of the armies of Israel. He killed them in peacetime to avenge the blood of war. He stained with the blood of war the belt around his waist and the sandals on his feet.

And also, you have known that which he did to me—Joab son of Zeruiah—that which he did to two heads of the hosts of Israel, to Abner son of Ner, and to Amasa son of Jether—that he slays them, and makes the blood of war in peace, and puts the blood of war in his girdle, that [is] on his loins, and in his sandals that [are] on his feet;

6 So act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace. (Sheol h7585)

and you have done according to your wisdom, and do not let his old age go down in peace to Sheol. (Sheol h7585)

7 But show loving devotion to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, because they stood by me when I fled from your brother Absalom.

And you do kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and they have been among those eating at your table, for so they drew near to me in my fleeing from the face of your brother Absalom.

8 Keep an eye on Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim who is with you. He called down bitter curses against me on the day I went to Mahanaim, but when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the LORD: ‘I will never put you to the sword.’

And behold, Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite of Bahurim, [is] with you, and he reviled me—a grievous reviling—in the day of my going to Mahanaim; and he has come down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swear to him by YHWH, saying, I do not put you to death by the sword;

9 Now therefore, do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man. You know what you ought to do to him to bring his gray head down to Sheol in blood.” (Sheol h7585)

and now, do not acquit him, for you [are] a wise man, and you have known that which you do to him, and have brought down his old age with blood to Sheol.” (Sheol h7585)

10 Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David.

And David lies down with his fathers, and is buried in the City of David,

11 The length of David’s reign over Israel was forty years—seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

and the days that David has reigned over Israel [are] forty years; he has reigned seven years in Hebron, and he has reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

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

And Solomon has sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingdom is established greatly,

13 Now Adonijah son of Haggith went to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, and she asked, “Do you come in peace?” “Yes, in peace,” he replied.

and Adonijah son of Haggith comes to Bathsheba, mother of Solomon, and she says, “Is your coming peace?” And he says, “Peace.”

14 Then he said, “I have something to tell you.” “Say it,” she answered.

And he says, “I have a word for you,” and she says, “Speak.”

15 “You know that the kingship was mine,” he said. “All Israel expected that I should reign, but the kingship has turned to my brother, for it has come to him from the LORD.

And he says, “You have known that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel had set their faces toward me for reigning, and the kingdom is turned around, and is my brother’s, for it was his from YHWH;

16 So now I have just one request of you; do not deny me.” “State your request,” she told him.

and now, I am asking one petition of you—do not turn back my face”; and she says to him, “Speak.”

17 Adonijah replied, “Please speak to King Solomon, since he will not turn you down. Let him give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.”

And he says, “Please speak to Solomon the king, for he does not turn back your face, and he gives Abishag the Shunammite to me for a wife.”

18 “Very well,” Bathsheba replied. “I will speak to the king for you.”

And Bathsheba says, “Good; I speak to the king for you.”

19 So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. The king stood up to greet her, bowed to her, and sat down on his throne. Then the king had a throne brought for his mother, who sat down at his right hand.

And Bathsheba comes to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, and the king rises to meet her, and bows himself to her, and sits on his throne, and places a throne for the mother of the king, and she sits at his right hand.

20 “I have just one small request of you,” she said. “Do not deny me.” “Make your request, my mother,” the king replied, “for I will not deny you.”

And she says, “I ask one small petition of you, do not turn back my face”; and the king says to her, “Ask, my mother, for I do not turn back your face.”

21 So Bathsheba said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to your brother Adonijah as his wife.”

And she says, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to your brother Adonijah for a wife.”

22 King Solomon answered his mother, “Why do you request Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Since he is my older brother, you might as well request the kingdom for him and for Abiathar the priest and for Joab son of Zeruiah!”

And King Solomon answers and says to his mother, “And why are you asking [for] Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Also ask [for] the kingdom for him—for he [is] my elder brother—even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab son of Zeruiah.”

23 Then King Solomon swore by the LORD: “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if Adonijah has not made this request at the expense of his life.

And King Solomon swears by YHWH, saying, “Thus God does to me, and thus He adds—surely Adonijah has spoken this word against his [own] soul;

24 And now, as surely as the LORD lives—the One who established me, who set me on the throne of my father David, and who founded for me a dynasty as He promised—surely Adonijah shall be put to death today!”

and now, YHWH lives, who has established me, and causes me to sit on the throne of my father David, and who has made a house for me as He spoke—surely Adonijah is put to death today.”

25 So King Solomon sent the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who struck down Adonijah, and he died.

And King Solomon sends by the hand of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he falls on him, and he dies.

26 Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your fields in Anathoth. Even though you deserve to die, I will not put you to death at this time, since you carried the ark of the Lord GOD before my father David, and you suffered through all that my father suffered.”

And the king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go to Anathoth, to your fields; for you [are] a man of death, but I do not put you to death in this day, because you have carried the Ark of Lord YHWH before my father David, and because you were afflicted in all that my father was afflicted in.”

27 So Solomon banished Abiathar from the priesthood of the LORD and thus fulfilled the word that the LORD had spoken at Shiloh against the house of Eli.

And Solomon casts out Abiathar from being priest of YHWH, to fulfill the word of YHWH which He spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

28 When the news reached Joab, who had conspired with Adonijah but not with Absalom, he fled to the tent of the LORD and took hold of the horns of the altar.

And the report has come to Joab—for Joab has turned aside after Adonijah, though he did not turn aside after Absalom—and Joab flees to the tent of YHWH, and lays hold on the horns of the altar.

29 It was reported to King Solomon: “Joab has fled to the tent of the LORD and is now beside the altar.” So Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, strike him down!”

And it is declared to King Solomon that Joab has fled to the tent of YHWH, and behold, [is] near the altar; and Solomon sends Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, fall on him.”

30 And Benaiah entered the tent of the LORD and said to Joab, “The king says, ‘Come out!’” But Joab replied, “No, I will die here.” So Benaiah relayed the message to the king, saying, “This is how Joab answered me.”

And Benaiah comes into the tent of YHWH and says to him, “Thus said the king: Come out”; and he says, “No, but I die here.” And Benaiah brings back word [to] the king, saying, “Thus spoke Joab, indeed, thus he answered me.”

31 And the king replied, “Do just as he says. Strike him down and bury him, and so remove from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood that Joab shed.

And the king says to him, “Do as he has spoken, and fall on him, and you have buried him, and turned aside the causeless blood which Joab shed from off me, and from off the house of my father;

32 The LORD will bring his bloodshed back upon his own head, for without the knowledge of my father David he struck down two men more righteous and better than he when he put to the sword Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army.

and YHWH has turned back his blood on his own head, [on him] who has fallen on two men more righteous and better than he, and slays them with the sword—and my father David did not know—Abner son of Ner, head of the host of Israel, and Amasa son of Jether, head of the host of Judah;

33 Their blood will come back upon the heads of Joab and his descendants forever; but for David, his descendants, his house, and his throne, there shall be peace from the LORD forever.”

indeed, their blood has turned back on the head of Joab, and on the head of his seed for all time; and for David, and for his seed, and for his house, and for his throne, there is peace for all time, from YHWH.”

34 So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up, struck down Joab, and killed him. He was buried at his own home in the wilderness.

And Benaiah son of Jehoiada goes up and falls on him, and puts him to death, and he is buried in his own house in the wilderness,

35 And the king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada in Joab’s place over the army, and he appointed Zadok the priest in Abiathar’s place.

and the king puts Benaiah son of Jehoiada over the host in his stead, and the king has put Zadok the priest in the stead of Abiathar.

36 Then the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem and live there, but do not go anywhere else.

And the king sends and calls for Shimei, and says to him, “Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem, and you have dwelt there, and do not go out [from] there anywhere;

37 On the day you go out and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will die; your blood will be on your own head.”

and it has been, in the day of your going out, and you have passed over the Brook of Kidron, you certainly know that you surely die—your blood is on your head.”

38 “The sentence is fair,” Shimei replied. “Your servant will do as my lord the king has spoken.” And Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time.

And Shimei says to the king, “The word [is] good; as my lord the king has spoken so your servant does”; and Shimei dwells in Jerusalem many days.

39 After three years, however, two of Shimei’s slaves ran away to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. And Shimei was told, “Look, your slaves are in Gath.”

And it comes to pass, at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei flee to Achish son of Maachah, king of Gath, and they declare to Shimei, saying, “Behold, your servants [are] in Gath”;

40 So Shimei saddled his donkey and set out to Achish at Gath in search of his slaves, and he brought them back from Gath.

and Shimei rises, and saddles his donkey, and goes to Gath, to Achish, to seek his servants, and Shimei goes and brings his servants from Gath.

41 When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned,

And it is declared to Solomon that Shimei has gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and returns,

42 the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the LORD and warn you, ‘On the day you leave and go elsewhere, know for sure that you will die’? And you told me, ‘The sentence is fair; I will comply.’

and the king sends and calls for Shimei, and says to him, “Have I not caused you to swear by YHWH—and I testify against you, saying, In the day of your going out, and you have gone anywhere, you certainly know that you surely die; and you say to me, The word I have heard [is] good?

43 So why have you not kept your oath to the LORD and the command that I gave you?”

And why have you not kept the oath of YHWH, and the charge that I charged on you?”

44 The king also said, “You know in your heart all the evil that you did to my father David. Therefore the LORD will bring your evil back upon your head.

And the king says to Shimei, “You have known all the evil that your heart has known, which you did to my father David, and YHWH has turned back your evil on your head,

45 But King Solomon will be blessed and David’s throne will remain secure before the LORD forever.”

and King Solomon [is] blessed, and the throne of David is established before YHWH for all time.”

46 Then the king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck Shimei down, and he died. Thus the kingdom was firmly established in the hand of Solomon.

And the king charges Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he goes out and falls on him, and he dies, and the kingdom is established in the hand of Solomon.