1 Kings 2
1 As the day of David’s death drew near, he gave these instructions to his son Solomon:
2 “I am going the way of everyone on earth. Be strong and be a man.
3 Keep the charge of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commands, his ordinances, and his testimonies, as written in the Law of Moses. Then you will prosper in everything you do and wherever you go.
4 Then the LORD will uphold the promise he made concerning me: ‘If your sons keep their way, walking before me faithfully with all their heart and all their soul, you will never lack a man on the throne of Israel.’
5 You also know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me, what he did to the two commanders of Israel’s armies, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He killed them, shedding the blood of war in peacetime, and put the blood of war on the belt around his waist and on the sandals on his feet.
6 Deal with him according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace.
7 But show loyal kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, because they came to me when I was fleeing from your brother Absalom.
8 You also have with you Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim. He cursed me with a terrible curse on the day I was going to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the LORD, ‘I will not put you to death by the sword.’
9 But now do not let him go unpunished, for you are a wise man and will know what to do with him. Bring his gray head down to Sheol in blood.”
10 David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David.
11 David reigned over Israel for forty years: he reigned in Hebron for seven years and in Jerusalem for thirty-three years.
12 Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was firmly established.
13 Adonijah son of Haggith went to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. She asked, “Have you come in peace?” He answered, “In peace.”
14 Then he said, “I have something to say to you.” She said, “Speak.”
15 He said, “You know that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel had turned toward me, expecting me to reign. But the kingdom changed hands and became my brother’s, for it was from the LORD that he received it.
16 Now I have one request to make of you; do not refuse me.” She said, “Speak.”
17 He said, “Please ask King Solomon for me—he will not refuse you—to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.”
18 Bathsheba answered, “Very well; I will speak to the king for you.”
19 Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him about Adonijah. The king rose to meet her, bowed to her, and sat on his throne. He had a throne placed for the king’s mother, and she sat at his right hand.
20 She said, “I have one small request to make of you; do not refuse me.” The king said to her, “Ask, my mother, for I will not refuse you.”
21 She said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given as a wife to your brother Adonijah.”
22 King Solomon answered his mother, “Why are you asking for Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? You might as well ask for the kingdom for him too, since he is my older brother—for him, for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab son of Zeruiah!”
23 Then King Solomon swore by the LORD: “May God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken these words at the cost of his life.
24 “Now, as surely as the LORD lives, who has established me and seated me on the throne of my father David, and who has given me a house as he promised, Adonijah will be put to death today.”
25 King Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who struck him down, and he died.
26 The king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go to your fields at Anathoth. You deserve death, but I will not put you to death today, because you carried the ark of the Lord GOD before my father David and shared in all my father’s hardships.”
27 So Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest of the LORD, fulfilling the word the LORD had spoken about the house of Eli at Shiloh.
28 The news reached Joab, for Joab had supported Adonijah, though he had not supported Absalom. Joab fled to the tent of the LORD and clung to the horns of the altar.
29 King Solomon was told, “Joab has fled to the tent of the LORD and is there beside the altar.” So Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go and strike him down.”
30 Benaiah went to the tent of the LORD and said to Joab, “The king says, ‘Come out!’” He answered, “No; I will die here.” Benaiah took the answer back to the king: “This is what Joab said, and this is how he answered me.”
31 The king said to him, “Do as he said: strike him down and bury him. In this way you will remove from me and my father’s house the innocent blood Joab shed.
32 “The LORD will bring his blood back on his own head, because he struck down two men more righteous and better than he was, and killed them with the sword without my father David’s knowledge: Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army.
33 Their blood will come back on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever. But may there be peace forever from the LORD for David, his descendants, his house, and his throne.”
34 Then Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up, struck Joab down, and killed him. He was buried at his home in the wilderness.
35 The king put Benaiah son of Jehoiada in Joab’s place over the army, and he appointed Zadok the priest in Abiathar’s place.
36 Then the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem, live there, and do not leave that place to go anywhere else.
37 “On the day you leave and cross the Kidron Valley, know for certain that you will die; your blood will be on your own head.”
38 Shimei said to the king, “What you say is good. Your servant will do as my lord the king has said.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for many days.
39 At the end of three years, two of Shimei’s slaves ran away to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. Shimei was told, “Your slaves are in Gath.”
40 Shimei got up, saddled his donkey, and went to Gath, to Achish, to look for his slaves. He went and brought them back from Gath.
41 Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and returned.
42 The king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the LORD and warn you, saying, ‘On the day you leave and go anywhere, know for certain that you will die’? And you said to me, ‘What you say is good; I have heard.’
43 Why, then, have you not kept your oath to the LORD and the command I gave you?”
44 The king also said to Shimei, “You know, and your heart knows, all the harm you did to my father David. The LORD will bring your wickedness back on your own head.
45 “But King Solomon will be blessed, and the throne of David will be established before the LORD forever.”
46 The king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who went out and struck Shimei down, and he died. So the kingdom was firmly established in Solomon’s hands.
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