1 KingsChapter 2

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¹The time came near for David to die. So he gave his son Solomon these orders. ²He said, "I am about to go the way everyone on earth goes. So be strong, and show that you are a man. ³Do what the LORD your God requires of you. Walk in his ways. Keep his rules, commands, laws, and decrees, as they are written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you will do well in all you do and wherever you turn. ⁴Do it also so that the LORD will keep his promise to me. He said, 'If your descendants are careful to walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will always have a man on the throne of Israel.' ⁵You also know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me. You know what he did to the two commanders of Israel's armies. They were Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. Joab killed them in a time of peace. He did it to pay them back for blood spilled in war. He got that blood of war on the belt around his waist and on the sandals on his feet. ⁶So use your wisdom. Do not let his gray head go down to the grave in peace.a ⁷But show faithful love to the sons of Barzillai from Gilead. Let them be among those who eat at your table. Do this because they stood by me when I ran away from your brother Absalom. ⁸And watch out for Shimei son of Gera. He is the man from the tribe of Benjamin who lives in Bahurim. He is here with you. He shouted terrible curses at me on the day I went to Mahanaim. But later he came down to meet me at the Jordan River. So I made a promise to him by the LORD. I said, 'I will never kill you with the sword.' ⁹So now, do not let him go unpunished, for you are a wise man. You will know what to do to him to bring his gray head down to the grave in blood."b ¹⁰Then David died and rested with his fathers. He was buried in the City of David. ¹¹David ruled over Israel for forty years. He ruled seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. ¹²So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David. His kingdom was strong and secure. ¹³Now Adonijah son of Haggith went to see Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. She asked, "Have you come in peace?" He answered, "Yes, in peace." ¹⁴Then he said, "I have something to tell you." She answered, "Go ahead." ¹⁵He said, "You know the kingdom was mine. All Israel expected me to be king. But things turned around. The kingdom went to my brother. The LORD gave it to him. ¹⁶Now I have just one thing to ask you. Please don't say no." She told him, "Go on and ask." ¹⁷Adonijah answered, "Please speak to King Solomon. He won't say no to you. Ask him to give me Abishag the Shunammite to be my wife." ¹⁸"All right," Bathsheba answered. "I will speak to the king for you." ¹⁹So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. The king stood up to meet her and bowed down to her. Then he sat down on his throne. He had a throne brought for his mother. She sat down at his right side. ²⁰She said, "I have one small thing to ask you. Please don't say no." The king answered, "Ask, my mother. I won't say no to you." ²¹So Bathsheba said, "Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to your brother Adonijah as his wife." ²²King Solomon answered his mother, "Why do you ask for Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? He is my older brother. You might as well ask for the kingdom for him too! Ask it for him, for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab son of Zeruiah!" ²³Then King Solomon made a promise by the LORD. He said, "May God punish me, and punish me terribly, if Adonijah doesn't pay for this request with his life! ²⁴The LORD has made me secure. He set me on the throne of my father David. He gave me a family line of kings, just as he promised. Now, as surely as the LORD lives, Adonijah will be put to death today!" ²⁵So King Solomon gave orders to Benaiah son of Jehoiada. Benaiah struck Adonijah down, and he died. ²⁶Then the king spoke to Abiathar the priest. He said, "Go back to your fields in Anathoth. You deserve to die. But I won't put you to death now, because you carried the ark of the Lord GOD before my father David. And you went through all the hard times my father went through." ²⁷So Solomon removed Abiathar from being a priest of the LORD. This made come true what the LORD had said at Shiloh about the family of Eli. ²⁸Joab heard the news. He had sided with Adonijah, though he had not sided with Absalom. So Joab ran to the tent of the LORD. He grabbed the horns of the altar. ²⁹Someone told King Solomon, "Joab has run to the tent of the LORD. He is beside the altar now." So Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada. He said, "Go and strike him down!" ³⁰Benaiah went into the tent of the LORD. He said to Joab, "The king says, 'Come out!'" But Joab answered, "No. I will die here." So Benaiah took the message back to the king. He said, "This is how Joab answered me." ³¹The king answered, "Do what he says. Strike him down and bury him. That will take away from me and from my father's family the guilt of the innocent blood Joab spilled. ³²The LORD will bring the blood he spilled back on his own head. For he struck down two men who were more righteous and better than he was. He killed them with the sword, and my father David did not know about it. One was Abner son of Ner, the commander of Israel's army. The other was Amasa son of Jether, the commander of Judah's army. ³³Their blood will be on the heads of Joab and his children forever. But the LORD will give peace forever to David and his children, his family, and his throne." ³⁴So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and struck Joab down and killed him. Joab was buried at his own home out in the wilderness. ³⁵The king put Benaiah son of Jehoiada over the army in Joab's place. And he put Zadok the priest in Abiathar's place. ³⁶Then the king sent for Shimei. He said to him, "Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem and live there. But don't go anywhere else. ³⁷On 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, "That's fair. I am your servant. I will do what my lord the king has said." So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time. ³⁹But three years later, two of Shimei's slaves ran away. They went to Achish son of Maacah, the king of Gath. Someone told Shimei, "Look, your slaves are in Gath." ⁴⁰So Shimei saddled his donkey. He went to Achish at Gath to look for his slaves. Then he brought them back from Gath. ⁴¹Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had come back. ⁴²So the king sent for Shimei and said to him, "Didn't I make you swear by the LORD? Didn't I warn you? I said, 'On the day you leave and go anywhere else, you can be sure you will die.' And you told me, 'That's fair. I will obey.' ⁴³So why didn't you keep your promise to the LORD? Why didn't you obey the command I gave you?" ⁴⁴The king also said, "You know in your heart all the evil you did to my father David. So the LORD will pay you back for your evil. ⁴⁵But King Solomon will be blessed. And David's throne will stay secure before the LORD forever." ⁴⁶Then the king gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada. Benaiah went out and struck Shimei down, and he died. So the kingdom was now firmly in Solomon's hands.