1 Kings

¹As the time drew near for David to die, he gave his son Solomon these instructions:

²"I am about to die. Be strong and act like a man."

³"Keep your obligation to the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, commandments, ordinances, and stipulations as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may succeed in everything you do and wherever you go.

⁴"Then the Lord will keep his promise to me: 'If your descendants are careful to walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will always have a successor 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, staining his own belt and the sandals on his feet with innocent blood."

⁶"Deal with him according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to the grave in peace."

⁷"Show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite and let them be among those who eat at your table. They stood by me when I fled from your brother Absalom."

⁸"And remember, you have with you Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim. He cursed me viciously 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 not put you to death by the sword.'"

⁹"But now, do not leave him unpunished. You are a wise man and you know what to do to him. Bring his gray head down to the grave in blood."

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

¹¹He had reigned over Israel for forty years — seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

¹²Solomon sat on his father David's throne, and his kingdom was firmly established.

¹³Adonijah son of Haggith came to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. She asked him, "Do you come in peace?" He said, "Yes, in peace."

¹⁴He continued, "I have something to say to you." She replied, "Say it."

¹⁵"You know that the kingdom was mine," he said, "and all Israel expected me to be king. But the kingdom has turned and become my brother's, because it was the Lord's will."

¹⁶"Now I have one request to make of you. Please do not refuse me." She said to him, "Say it."

¹⁷He said, "Please ask King Solomon — he won't refuse you — to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife."

¹⁸"Very well," Bathsheba replied, "I will speak to the king on your behalf."

¹⁹When Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him about Adonijah, the king stood up to meet her, bowed down to her, and sat back on his throne. He had a throne brought for the king's mother, and she sat at his right hand.

²⁰She said, "I have one small request to make of you. Please don't refuse me." The king replied, "Make your request, my mother. I will not refuse you."

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

²²King Solomon answered his mother, "Why are you requesting Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? You might as well ask for the kingdom for him — after all, he is my older brother. He has Abiathar the priest and Joab son of Zeruiah on his side!"

²³Then King Solomon swore by the Lord: "May God punish me severely if Adonijah does not pay for this with his life!"

²⁴"Now, as surely as the Lord lives — who has established me on the throne of my father David and given me a dynasty just as he promised — Adonijah will be put to death today!"

²⁵So King Solomon gave orders to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he struck Adonijah down, and Adonijah died.

²⁶To Abiathar the priest, the king said, "Go back to your estate in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but I will not put you to death now, because you carried the ark of the Lord God before my father David and shared in all the hardships my father endured."

²⁷So Solomon removed Abiathar from serving as priest to the Lord, fulfilling the word the Lord had spoken at Shiloh about the house of Eli.

²⁸When the news reached Joab — who had sided with Adonijah though not with Absalom — he fled to the tent of the Lord and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar.

²⁹King Solomon was told that Joab had fled to the tent of the Lord and was beside the altar. Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada with orders to "Go and cut him down."

³⁰Benaiah went to the tent of the Lord and said to Joab, "The king says, 'Come out.'" But Joab answered, "No, I will die here." Benaiah reported back to the king: "This is what Joab said to me."

³¹The king replied, "Do as he says. Strike him down and bury him. Remove from me and from my father's house the guilt of the innocent blood that Joab shed."

³²"The Lord will repay him for the blood he shed, because without my father David's knowledge he attacked and killed two men more righteous and better than himself — 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 Joab and his descendants forever, but David and his descendants, his house and his throne, will have God's peace forever."

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

³⁵The king put Benaiah son of Jehoiada in charge of the army in place of Joab, and appointed Zadok the priest in place of Abiathar.

³⁶Then the king sent for Shimei and said to him, "Build a house in Jerusalem and live there. Do not go anywhere else."

³⁷"The day you leave and cross the Kidron Valley, you can be sure you will die. Your blood will be on your own head."

³⁸Shimei answered the king, "What you say is fair. Your servant will do as my lord the king has said." Shimei stayed in Jerusalem for a long time.

³⁹Three years later, two of Shimei's slaves ran away to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. Shimei was told, "Your slaves are in Gath."

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

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

⁴²the king summoned Shimei and said, "Didn't I make you swear by the Lord and warn you clearly: 'On the day you leave and go anywhere, you can be sure you will die'? And you said to me, 'What you say is fair. I agree.'"

⁴³"Then why have you broken the oath you made to the Lord and disobeyed the command I gave you?"

⁴⁴The king also said to Shimei, "You know all the evil you did to my father David. Now the Lord will repay you for your wickedness."

⁴⁵"But King Solomon will be blessed, and David's throne will be secure before the Lord forever."

⁴⁶Then the king gave orders to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who went out and struck Shimei down. He died. And the kingdom was now firmly in Solomon's grip.