Previous     Next       Play // Stop Sound    

          DASV: 1 Kings 2    

1 When the time of David's death drew near, he charged his son
Solomon, saying,
2 "I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong and act
like a man.
3 Keep the requirements of the LORD your God, walk in his
ways, keep his statutes, his commandments, his regulations,
and his laws as written in the law of Moses, that you may
prosper in everything you do, and wherever you decide to go.
4 Then the LORD will keep his word that he promised me,
'If your children pay careful attention to their way,
to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with
all their soul, then you will never fail to have a successor
on the throne of Israel.'

5 Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did
to me, when he murdered the two commanders of the armies
of Israel, Abner the son of Ner, and Amasa the son of Jether,
shedding the blood of war in a time of peace, and putting
the blood of war on his belt around his waist and on the
sandals on his feet.
6 Take care of this according to your wisdom, and do not let
his gray head go down to the grave 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, for they
came to my aid when I fled from Absalom your brother.
8 Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, of Bahurim is
still with you. He cursed me with a terrible curse in the
day when I fled to Mahanaim. When he came down to meet me
at the Jordan River, and I swore to him by the LORD, '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 will know what you ought to do to him. Make sure
you bring his gray head down to grave with blood."
10 Then David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the
City of David.
11 David reigned over Israel forty years. He reigned seven
years in Hebron, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

12 Now Solomon sat on the throne of David his father; and
his kingdom was firmly established.
13 Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the
mother of Solomon. She asked, "Do you come in peace?" He
replied, "Yes, in peace."
14 Then he added, "I do have a favor to ask of you." She said,
"Tell me about it."
15 He said, "You know that the kingdom was mine, and that
all Israel expected that I should have been the one to reign.
But the kingdom was turned around and became my brother's;
for it was his from the LORD.
16 Now I ask you for just one favor, do not refuse me." She
said to him, "Tell me what it is."
17 He requested, "Please ask king Solomon--for he will not
refuse you--that he give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife."
18 So Bathsheba said, "All right, I will speak to the king
for you."

19 So Bathsheba went to king Solomon, to speak to him on
Adonijah's behalf. The king rose to meet her, and bowed
himself to her, then sat down on his throne. He had a
throne brought for the king's mother, and she sat at
his right hand.
20 Then she said, "I have just one small request to ask
of you. Do not refuse me." The king said to her, "Go ahead
and make your request my mother; for I will not refuse you."
21 Then she requested, "Let Abishag the Shunammite be given
to Adonijah your brother as a wife."
22 But king Solomon answered his mother, "Why are you asking
for Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Why not ask to
give him the kingdom too, since he is my older brother.
Why ask just for him, why not for Abiathar the priest,
and for Joab the son of Zeruiah too?"
23 Then king Solomon swore by the LORD, "God do so to me,
and more also, if Adonijah has not made this request
at the cost of his own life.
24 Now therefore as the LORD lives, who has established me
and set me on the throne of David my father, and who
has established my dynasty just as he promised, Adonijah
will surely be put to death today."
25 So king Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada
and he struck down Adonijah and he died.

26 Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, "Go to
Anathoth, to your fields; for you deserve to die,
but I will not at this time put you to death, because
you carried the ark of the sovereign LORD before David
my father, and because you shared in all the hardships
my father went through."
27 So Solomon banished Abiathar from being a priest to
the LORD, thereby fulfilling the word of the LORD,
which he spoke concerning the house of Eli at Shiloh.

28 The news came to Joab, for Joab had sided with Adonijah,
though he had not supported Absalom. So Joab fled
to the Tent of the LORD, and grabbed hold of the
horns of the altar.
29 King Solomon was told that Joab had fled to the Tent
of the LORD, and that he was beside the altar. Then
Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying,
"Go, strike him down."
30 So Benaiah came to the Tent of the LORD, and told him,
"This is what the king says, Come out." But he refused,
"No, I will die here." Then Benaiah reported back to
the king, "This is what Joab said, and this is how
he answered me."
31 Then the king replied, "Do as he has requested.
Strike him down and bury him so that you may remove
the guilt of Joab's having shed innocent blood from
me and from my father's house.
32 The LORD will bring back his bloody actions on his
own head, because he struck down with the sword two men
more righteous and better than he, without my father
David knowing 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 So their blood will come back on the head of Joab,
and on the head of his descendants forever, but may
the LORD grant peace to David and his descendants
and to his house and his throne forever."
34 Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and
struck Joab down and killed him; he was buried in his
own house in the wilderness.
35 The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in Joab’s
place over the army, and the king replaced Abiathar
with Zadok the priest.

36 The king sent and summoned Shimei, and said to him,
"Build a house in Jerusalem, and live there, do not
leave there to go anywhere else.
37 For on the day you go out, and cross the Kidron
Valley, know for sure that you will die. Your blood
will be on your own head."
38 Shimei answered the king, "The sentence is fair.
Your servant will do just as my lord the king has
commanded." So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.

39 But after three years, two of Shimei’s servants ran
away to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. Shimei
was told, "Look, your servants are in Gath."
40 So Shimei got up and saddled his donkey, and went
to Gath to Achish, to search for his servants. Shimei
went and brought back his servants from Gath.
41 Solomon was told that Shimei had left Jerusalem to go
to Gath, and had returned.
42 The king summoned Shimei and said to him, "Didn’t I
make you swear by the LORD, and warn you, 'Know for sure
that on the day you leave to go out anywhere, you
will surely die?' You promised me, 'The sentence
is fair, I accept it.'
43 Why then have you not kept your oath to the LORD,
and the command I have charged you?"
44 The king also said to Shimei, "You know all the
wicked things you did to my father David; so the LORD
will return your wickedness on your own head.
45 But king Solomon will be blessed, and the throne
of David will be established before the LORD forever."
46 So the king ordered Benaiah the son of Jehoiada,
and he went out and struck him down, and he died.
So the kingdom was firmly established in Solomon’s hand.

 Previous     Next       Play // Stop Sound