I Kings 2

1. And the days of David drew near for him to die. And he charged Solomon his son, saying,

2. “I go the way of all the earth. Be strong therefore, and show yourself a man.

3. And keep the charge of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, and His commandments, and His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn yourself,

4. That the LORD may establish His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons take heed to their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, then there shall not be a man of yours cut off from the throne of Israel.’

5. And also you know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, 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, that he murdered them. He also shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle on his loins, and in his shoes on his feet.

6. And you shall do according to your wisdom and shall not let his gray head go down to the grave 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 because of Absalom your brother.

8. Now behold, with you is Shimei the son of Gera, a 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 Jordan, and I swore to him by the LORD, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’

9. Now therefore, do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man and you know what you ought to do to him. But bring his gray head down to the grave with blood.”

10. Then 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. He reigned seven years in Hebron, and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

12. And Solomon sat upon the throne of David his father. And his kingdom was firmly established.

13. And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, “Do you come peacefully?” And he said, “Peaceably.”

14. And he said, “I have a word to say to you.” And she said, “Speak.”

15. And 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.

16. And now I ask one favor of you; do not turn away your face.” And she said to him, “Speak.”

17. And he said, “Please speak to Solomon the king, for he will not turn away your face, that he give me Abishag the Shunammite for my wife.”

18. And Bathsheba said, “Very well; I will speak for you to the king.”

19. Then Bathsheba came in to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself to her, and sat on his throne and caused a throne to be set for the king’s mother. And she sat on his right hand.

20. And she said, “I desire one small favor of you. Do not refuse me.” And the king said to her, “Ask on, my mother, for I will not refuse you.”

21. And she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to your brother Adonijah for a wife.”

22. And King Solomon answered and said to his mother, “Now why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask the kingdom also for him. For he is my older brother! And you ask for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah!”

23. And King Solomon swore by the LORD, saying, “May God do so to me, and more He shall do, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his life.

24. And now, 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 spoke, Adonijah shall be put to death today.”

25. Then King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And he fell upon him so that he died.

26. And the king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go to Anathoth, to your fields, for you are worthy of death. But I will not put you to death at this time because you carried the ark of the Lord GOD before David my father, and because you have been afflicted in all that in which my father was afflicted.”

27. And Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest to the LORD, so that he might fulfill the word of the LORD which He spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

28. And the report came to Joab. For Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he did not turn after Absalom. And Joab fled to the tabernacle of the LORD, and caught hold of the horns of the altar.

29. And it was told King Solomon that Joab had fled to the tabernacle of the LORD, and, behold, he was by the altar. And Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go fall upon him.”

30. And Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the LORD, and said to him, “Thus says the king, come forth!” And he said, “No, but I will die here.” And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, “Thus said Joab, and so he answered me.”

31. And the king said to him, “Do as he has said and fall upon him, and bury him, so that you may take away from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood which Joab shed.

32. And the LORD shall return his blood upon his own head, who fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword, and my father David not knowing of it: Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah.

33. Yes, He shall turn back their blood upon the head of Joab and upon the head of his seed forever. But upon David and upon his seed and upon his house and upon his throne, there shall be peace forever from the LORD.”

34. And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and fell upon him and killed him. And he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.

35. And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in his place. And the king put Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar.

36. And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, “Build a house at Jerusalem and live there, but do not go forth from there anywhere,

37. For it shall be, on the day you go out and pass over the brook Kidron, you shall know for certain that you shall surely die. Your blood shall be upon your own head.”

38. And Shimei said to the king, “Your saying is good. As my lord the king has said, so will your servant do.” And Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.

39. And it came to pass at the end of three years, two of the servants of Shimei ran away to Achish son of Maachah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, “Behold, your servants are in Gath.”

40. Then 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.

41. Now it was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had come again.

42. And the king sent and called for Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the LORD, and warn you, saying, ‘In the day you go out, and you have gone anywhere, you certainly shall know that you shall surely die?’ And you said to me, ‘The word I have heard is good.’

43. Why then have you not kept the oath of the LORD and the command that I have charged you with?”

44. And the king said to Shimei, “You know all the wickedness that your own heart secretly knows, what you did to David my father. Now the LORD shall return your wickedness upon your own head.

45. And King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD forever.”

46. Then the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and fell upon him so that he died. And the kingdom was made sure in the hand of Solomon.