When
the time drew near for David to die, he gave a charge to Solomon his son.
2 “I
am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a
man, 3 and observe what the Lord
your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands,
his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you
may prosper in all you do and wherever you go 4 and that the Lord may keep his promise to me: ‘If
your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me
with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the
throne of Israel.’
5 “Now
you yourself 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 their blood in peacetime as if in battle, and with that
blood he stained the belt around his waist and the sandals on his feet. 6 Deal
with him according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to the
grave in peace.
7 “But
show kindness to the sons of Barzillai of Gilead 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 Benjamite from Bahurim, who
called down bitter curses on me the day I went to Mahanaim. 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
consider him innocent. You are a man of wisdom; you will know what to do to
him. Bring his gray head down to the grave in blood.”
10 Then
David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. 11 He
had reigned forty years over Israel—seven years in Hebron and thirty-three in
Jerusalem. 12 So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David,
and his rule was firmly established.
13 Now
Adonijah, the son of Haggith, went to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. Bathsheba
asked him, “Do you come peacefully?”
He
answered, “Yes, peacefully.” 14 Then he added, “I have
something to say to you.”
“You
may say it,” she replied.
15 “As
you know,” he said, “the kingdom was mine. All Israel looked to me as their
king. But things changed, and the kingdom has gone to my brother; for it has
come to him from the Lord. 16 Now
I have one request to make of you. Do not refuse me.”
“You
may make it,” she said.
17 So
he continued, “Please ask King Solomon—he will not refuse you—to give me
Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.”
18 “Very
well,” Bathsheba replied, “I will speak to the king for you.”
19 When
Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, the king stood up
to meet her, bowed down to her and sat down on his throne. He had a throne
brought for the king’s mother, and she sat down at his right hand.
20 “I
have one small request to make of you,” she said. “Do not refuse me.”
The
king replied, “Make it, my mother; I will not refuse you.”
21 So
she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given in marriage to your brother
Adonijah.”
22 King
Solomon answered his mother, “Why do you request Abishag the Shunammite for
Adonijah? You might as well request the kingdom for him—after all, he is my
older brother—yes, for him and for Abiathar the priest and Joab son of
Zeruiah!”
23 Then
King Solomon swore by the Lord:
“May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if Adonijah does not pay with
his life for this request! 24 And now, as surely as the Lord lives—he who has established me
securely on the throne of my father David and has founded a dynasty for me as
he promised—Adonijah shall be put to death today!” 25 So King
Solomon gave orders to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he struck down Adonijah and
he died.
26 To
Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go back to your fields in Anathoth. You
deserve to die, but I will not put you to death now, because you carried the
ark of the Sovereign Lord before
my father David and shared all my father’s hardships.” 27 So
Solomon removed Abiathar from the priesthood of the Lord, fulfilling the word the Lord had spoken at Shiloh about the house of Eli.
28 When
the news reached Joab, who had conspired with Adonijah though not with Absalom,
he fled to the tent of the Lord
and took hold of the horns of the altar. 29 King Solomon was
told that Joab had fled to the tent of the Lord
and was beside the altar. Then Solomon ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada, “Go,
strike him down!”
30 So
Benaiah entered the tent of the Lord
and said to Joab, “The king says, ‘Come out!’”
But
he answered, “No, I will die here.”
Benaiah
reported to the king, “This is how Joab answered me.”
31 Then
the king commanded Benaiah, “Do as he says. Strike him down and bury him, and
so clear me and my whole family of 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 knowing
it he attacked two men and killed them with the sword. Both of them—Abner son
of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of
Judah’s army—were better men and more upright than he. 33 May
the guilt of their blood rest on the head of Joab and his descendants forever.
But on David and his descendants, his house and his throne, may there be the Lord’s peace forever.”
34 So
Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and struck down Joab and killed him, and he was
buried at his home out in the country. 35 The king put Benaiah
son of Jehoiada over the army in Joab’s position and replaced Abiathar with
Zadok the priest.
36 Then
the king sent for Shimei and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem
and live there, but 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.”
38 Shimei
answered the king, “What you say is good. Your servant will do as my lord the
king has said.” And Shimei stayed in Jerusalem for a long time.
39 But
three years later, two of Shimei’s slaves ran off to Achish son of Maakah, king
of Gath, and Shimei was told, “Your slaves are in Gath.” 40 At
this, he saddled his donkey and went to Achish at Gath in search of his slaves.
So Shimei went away and brought the slaves back from Gath.
41 When
Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned, 42 the
king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord and warn you, ‘On the day you leave
to go anywhere else, you can be sure you will die’? At that time you said to
me, ‘What you say is good. I will obey.’ 43 Why then did you
not keep your oath to the Lord and
obey the command I gave you?”
44 The
king also said to Shimei, “You know in your heart all the wrong you did to my
father David. Now the Lord will
repay you for your wrongdoing. 45 But King Solomon will be
blessed, and David’s throne will remain secure before the Lord forever.”
46 Then
the king gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck
Shimei down and he died.
The
kingdom was now established in Solomon’s hands.
