1Kgs 2
1
Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son,
saying,
2
I am going the way of all the earth: be you strong therefore, and show yourself a
man;
3
and keep the charge of YHWH your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, [and]
his commandments, and 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.
4
That YHWH 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 (said he) 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 hosts of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the
son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood
of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his
feet.
6
Do therefore according to your wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down to Sheol
in peace.
7
But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those
that eat at your table; for so they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother.
8
And, 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 YHWH, saying, I will not put
you to death with the sword.
9
Now therefore hold him not guiltless, for you are a wise man; and you will know what
you ought to do to him, and you shall bring his hoar head down to Sheol with blood.
10
And David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.
11
And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years; seven years reigned
he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.
12
And Solomon sat upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established
greatly.
13
Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bath-sheba the mother of Solomon. And she
said, Come you peaceably? And he said, Peaceably.
14
He said moreover, I have somewhat to say to you. And she said, Say on.
15
And he said, You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces
on me, that I should reign: nevertheless the kingdom is turned about, and is become
my brother`s; for it was his from YHWH.
16
And now I ask one petition of you; deny me not. And she said to him, Say on.
17
And he said, Speak, I pray you, to Solomon the king (for he will not say you nay),
that he give me Abishag the Shunammite to wife.
18
And Bath-sheba said, Well; I will speak for you to the king.
19
Bath-sheba therefore went to king Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. And 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.
20
Then she said, I ask one small petition of you; deny me not. And the king said to
her, Ask on, my mother; for I will not deny you.
21
And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother to wife.
22
And king Solomon answered and said to his mother, And why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite
for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also; for he is mine elder brother; even for
him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.
23
Then king Solomon swore by YHWH, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah
has not spoken this word against his own life.
24
Now therefore as YHWH 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.
25
And king Solomon sent by Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him, so that
he died.
26
And to Abiathar the priest said the king, Get you 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 YHWH before David my father, and because you were afflicted
in all wherein my father was afflicted.
27
So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest to YHWH, that he might fulfill the
word of YHWH, which he spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.
28
And the tidings came to Joab; for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he turned
not after Absalom. And Joab fled to the Tent of YHWH, and caught hold on the horns
of the altar.
29
And it was told king Solomon, Joab is fled to the Tent of YHWH, and, behold, he is
by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon
him.
30
And Benaiah came to the Tent of YHWH, and said to him, Thus says the king, Come forth.
And he said, Nay; but I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying,
Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.
31
And the king said to him, Do as he has said, and fall upon him, and bury him; that
you may take away the blood, which Joab shed without cause, from me and from my father`s
house.
32
And YHWH will return his blood upon his own head, because he fell upon two men more
righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, and my father David knew
it not, [to wit], Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the
son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah.
33
So shall their blood return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for
ever: but to David, and to his seed, and to his house, and to his throne, shall there
be peace for ever from YHWH.
34
Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell upon him, and slew him; and he
was buried in his own house in the wilderness.
35
And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host; and Zadok
the priest did the king put in the room of Abiathar.
36
And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, Build you a house in Jerusalem,
and dwell there, and go not forth thence any where.
37
For on the day you go out, and pass over the brook Kidron, know you for certain that
you shall surely die: your blood shall be upon your own head.
38
And Shimei said to the king, The saying is good: as my lord the king has said, so
will your servant do. And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.
39
And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei
ran away to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, Behold,
your servants are in Gath.
40
And Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish, to seek his servants;
and Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath.
41
And it was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and was come
again.
42
And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, Did I not adjure you by
YHWH, and protest to you, saying, Know for certain, that on the day you go out, and
walk abroad any where, you shall surely die? and you said to me, The saying that I
have heard is good.
43
Why then have you not kept the oath of YHWH, and the commandment that I have charged
you with?
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 YHWH shall return your wickedness
upon your own head.
45
But king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before
YHWH for ever.
46
So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out, and fell upon
him, so that he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.