1 Kings 2

1 The time of David's death was approaching, so he gave his son Solomon these last instructions:

And the days of David drew near that he should die: and he addressed his son Solomon, saying, I go the way of all the earth:

2 “I am about to go the way everybody on earth must go. Be brave, and act like a man.

but be you strong, and show yourself a man;

3 Do what God orders you to do, follow his ways. Keep his rules, his commands, and his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses, so you may be successful in everything you do, and in everything you give your attention to.

and keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, to keep the commandments and the ordinances and the judgements which are written in the law of Moses; that you may understand what you shall do in all things that I command you:

4 If so, then the Lord will keep his promise to me when he said: ‘If your descendants are to live right before me, faithfully and with complete commitment, then you will always have one of them on the throne of Israel.’

that the Lord may confirm his word which he spoke, saying, If your children shall take heed to their way to walk before me in truth with all their heart, [I promise you], saying, there shall not fail you a man on the throne of Israel.

5 In addition, you know what Joab, son of Zeruiah, did to me and what he did to Abner, son of Ner, and Amasa, son of Jether, the two army commanders of Israel. He murdered them, spilling the blood of war during a time of peace. He smeared the blood of war on his belt and on his sandals.

Moreover you know all that Joab the son of Saruia did to me, what he did to the two captains of the forces of Israel, to Abenner the son of Ner, and to Amessai the son of Jether, that he killed them, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put innocent blood on his girdle that was about his loins, and on his sandal that was on his foot.

6 Do what you think is right, but don't let his gray head go down peacefully into the grave. (Sheol h7585)

Therefore you shall deal [with him] according to your wisdom, and you shall not bring down his grey hairs in peace to the grave. (Sheol h7585)

7 But be kind to the sons of Barzillai of Gilead. Bring them into your royal court, for they helped me when I ran from your brother Absalom.

But you shall deal kindly with the sons of Berzelli the Galaadite, and they shall be amongst those that eat at your table; for thus they drew near to me when I fled from the face of your brother Abessalom.

8 Don't you forget Shimei, son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim who cursed me with painful words when I went to Mahanaim. When he met me at the Jordan I swore to him by the Lord, ‘I will not kill you with the sword.’

And, behold, [there is] with you Semei the son of Gera, a Benjamite of Baurim: and he cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went into the camp; and he came down to Jordan to meet me, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying, I will not put you to death with the sword.

9 So don't leave him unpunished. You're a wise man and you know what you have to do to him—send him down into the grave with blood on his gray head.” (Sheol h7585)

But you shall by no means hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man, and will know what you shall do to him, and shall bring down his grey hairs with blood to the grave. (Sheol h7585)

10 Then David died and his was buried in the City of David.

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

11 His reign over Israel lasted forty years; seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

And the days which David reigned over Israel [were] forty years; he reigned seven years in Chebron, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

12 Solomon took over as king, sitting on the throne of his father David, and his hold on his kingdom was secure.

And Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was established greatly.

13 Adonijah, son of Haggith, went to see Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. She asked him, “Have you come here with good intentions?” He replied, “Yes, with good intentions.”

And Adonias the son of Aggith came in to Bersabee the mother of Solomon, and did obeisance to her: and she said, Do you enter peaceably? and he said, Peaceably:

14 “I have something I'd like to ask of you,” he continued. “Go on,” she said.

I have business with you. And she said to him, Say on.

15 “You know that the kingdom was mine,” he declared, “and everyone in Israel was looking forward to me being their next king. But everything was turned upside-down, and the kingdom passed to my brother, because that's what the Lord wanted.

And he said to her, You know that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel turned their face towards me for a king; but the kingdom was turned [from me] and became my brother's: for it was [appointed] to him from the Lord.

16 Now I've just one request to ask of you—please don't say no.” “Tell me,” she said.

And now I make one request of you, do not turn away your face. And Bersabee said to him, Speak [on].

17 He went on, “Please talk to King Solomon for me because he won't turn you down. Ask him to give me Abishag from Shunem as my wife.”

And he said to her, Speak, I pray you, to king Solomon, for he will not turn away his face from you, and let him give me Abisag the Somanite for a wife.

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

And Bersabee said, Well; I will speak for you to the king.

19 So Bathsheba went to talk to King Solomon for Adonijah. The king got up from his throne to meet her, and bowed before her. Then he sat back down and ordered another throne brought in for his mother. She sat to his right.

And Bersabee went in to king Solomon to speak to him concerning Adonias; and the king rose up to meet her, and kissed her, and sat on the throne, and a throne was set for the mother of the king, and she sat on his right hand.

20 “I have just one small request to ask of you,” she said. “Please don't say no.” The king replied, “Ask away, dear mother. I won't say no to you.”

And she said to him, I ask of you one little request; turn not away my face from you. And the king said to her, Ask, my mother, and I will not reject you.

21 “Please give Abishag from Shunem to your brother Adonijah as his wife,” she replied.

And she said, Let, I pray you, Abisag the Somanite be given to Adonias your brother to wife.

22 King Solomon answered his mother, “Why on earth are you asking me to give Abishag to Adonijah? You might as well ask me to give my brother the kingdom! He is my older brother, and Abiathar the priest and Joab, son of Zeruiah, are on his side!”

And king Solomon answered and said to his mother, And why have you asked Abisag for Adonias? ask for him the kingdom also; for he [is] my elder brother, and he has for his companion Abiathar the priest, and Joab the son of Saruia the commander-in-chief.

23 Then King Solomon vowed before the Lord, “May God punish me, really punish me, if what Adonijah has asked for doesn't cost him his life.

And king Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, God do so to me, and more also, [if it be not] that Adonias has spoken this word against his own life.

24 So I vow, as the Lord lives, who affirmed me as king and placed me on the throne of my father David, making me the head of a dynasty as he promised, Adonijah shall be executed today.”

And now [as] the Lord lives who has established me, and set me on the throne of my father David, and he has made me a house, as the Lord spoke, this day shall Adonias be put to death.

25 King Solomon sent Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, who carried out the king's orders and executed Adonijah.

So king Solomon sent by the hand of Banaeas the son of Jodae, and he killed him, and Adonias died in that day.

26 In the case of Abiathar, the high priest, the king told him, “Go home and take care of your fields. You should be condemned to death, but I will not kill you right now because you carried the Ark of the Lord God ahead of my father David and went through all his hard times with him.”

And the king said to Abiathar the priest, Depart you quickly to Anathoth to your farm, for you are worthy of death this day; but I will not kill you, because you have borne the ark of the covenant of the Lord before my father, and because you was afflicted in all things wherein my father was afflicted.

27 So Solomon dismissed Abiathar from his position as priest of the Lord, and so fulfilled what the Lord had said at Shiloh regarding the descendants of Eli.

And Solomon removed Abiathar from being a priest of the Lord, that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he spoke concerning the house of Heli in Selom.

28 When Joab heard the news he ran to the Lord's Tent and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. (He had not supported Absalom's rebellion but he had supported Adonijah.)

And the report came to Joab son of Saruia; for Joab had turned after Adonias, and he went not after Solomon: and Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and caught hold of the horns of the altar.

29 When King Solomon was told that Joab was seeking sanctuary by the altar, he sent Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, to execute him.

And it was told Solomon, saying, Joab has fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and behold! he has hold of the horns of the altar. And king Solomon sent to Joab, saying, What ails you, that you have fled to the altar? and Joab said, Because I was afraid of you, and fled for refuge to the Lord. And Solomon sent Banaeas son of Jodae, saying, Go and kill him, and bury him.

30 Benaiah went to the Lord's Tent and told called to Joab, “The king orders you to come out!” “No! I'll die here!” Joab replied. Benaiah went back to the king and told him what Joab had said.

And Banaeas son of Jodae came to Joab to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him, Thus says the king, Come forth. And Joab said, I will not come forth, for I will die here. And Banaeas son of Jodae returned and spoke to the king, saying, Thus has Joab spoken, and thus has he answered me.

31 “Do as he says,” the king told Benaiah. “Strike him down and bury him. In that way you will remove from me and my family the guilt of the innocent blood that Joab shed.

And the king said to him, Go, and do to him as he has spoken, and kill him: and you shall bury him, and you shall remove this day the blood which he shed without cause, from me and from the house of my father.

32 The Lord will pay him back for the blood he shed, for without my father David's knowledge, he killed two good men who were better than he was. With his sword he killed Abner, son of Ner, commander of Israel's army, and Amasa, son of Jether, commander of Judah's army.

And the Lord has returned upon his own head the blood of his unrighteousness, inasmuch as he attacked two men more righteous and better than himself, and killed them with the sword, and my father David knew not of their blood, [even] Abenner the son of Ner the commander-in-chief of Israel, and Amessa the son of Jether the commander-in-chief of Juda.

33 May the responsibility for shedding their blood come back on Joab and his descendants forever; but may the Lord give peace and prosperity to David, his descendants, his family, and his dynasty forever.”

And their blood is returned upon his head, and upon the head of his seed for ever: but to David, and his seed, and his house, and his throne, may there be peace for ever from the Lord.

34 So Benaiah son of Jehoiada returned and killed Joab. He was buried at his home in the wilderness.

So Banaeas son of Jodae went up, and attacked him, and killed him, and buried him in his house in the wilderness.

35 The king appointed Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, to take over Joab's role as army commander, and replaced Abiathar with Zadok the priest.

And the king appointed Banaeas son of Jodae in his place over the host; and the kingdom was established in Jerusalem; and [as for] Sadoc the priest, the king appointed him to be high priest in the room of Abiathar. And Solomon son of David reigned over Israel and Juda in Jerusalem: and the Lord gave understanding to Solomon, and very much wisdom, and largeness of heart, as the sand by the sea-shore.

36 Then the king summoned Shimei and told him, “Go and build yourself a house in Jerusalem and stay there, but don't leave and go anywhere else.

37 You should know for certain that the day you leave and cross the Kidron Valley you will die. Your death will be your own responsibility.”

38 “What Your Majesty says is fair,” Shimei replied. “Your servant will do as my lord the king has ordered.” Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time.

39 But three years later, two of Shimei's slaves escaped to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. Shimei was told, “Look, your slaves are in Gath.”

40 So Shimei saddled up his donkey and went to Achish in Gath to look for his slaves. He found them and brought them back from Gath.

41 Solomon was informed that Shimei had left Jerusalem to go to Gath, and had then returned.

42 The king summoned Shimei and asked him, “Didn't I vow to you by the Lord, didn't I warn you that the day you left and went somewhere else that you should know for certain that you would die? Didn't you reply to me, ‘What Your Majesty says is fair; I'll do as you ordered’?

43 So why haven't you kept your vow to the Lord, and obeyed my orders?”

44 The king also told Shimei, “Deep down you know all the evil things you did to my father David. That's why the Lord will repay you for your evil.

45 But I, King Solomon, will be blessed and David's dynasty will be kept safe in the presence of the Lord forever.”

46 The king ordered Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, to execute Shimei, so he went and killed Shimei. In this way Solomon's hold on the kingdom was made secure.