1 Kings 2

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

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

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

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

3 and 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.

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.

4 That 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.'

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.’

5 "Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, even what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed, avenging the blood of war in peacetime, and put the blood of war on my belt that was about my waist, and on my sandal that was on my foot.

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.

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

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

7 But 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.

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.

8 "Look, 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.'

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.’

9 Now 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." (Sheol h7585)

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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

13 Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, and did homage to her. And she said, "Do you come peaceably?" And he said, "Peaceably."

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.”

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

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

15 He 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.

“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.

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

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

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

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.”

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

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

19 Bathsheba 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.

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.

20 Then 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."

“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.”

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

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

22 King 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. For him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah."

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!”

23 Then 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.

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.

24 Now 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."

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.”

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

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

26 To 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 before David my father, and because you were afflicted in all in which my father was afflicted."

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.”

27 So 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.

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.

28 The 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.

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.)

29 It was told king Solomon, "Joab has fled to the Tent of the LORD, and look, he is by the altar." And Solomon sent to Joab, saying, "What happened to you, that you have fled to the altar?" And Joab said, "Because I was afraid of you, so I fled to the LORD." And Solomon sent to Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, "Go, fall on him."

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

30 Benaiah 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."

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.

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

“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.

32 The 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, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the army of Judah.

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.

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

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.”

34 Then 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.

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

35 The 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.

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

36 The 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.

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

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 Shimei 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.

“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 It 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, "Look, your servants are in Gath."

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

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

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

42 The 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.'

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

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

44 The 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.

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

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

46 So 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.

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.