1 Now the days of David drew near that he should die; and he charged
Solomon his son, saying, 2 I am going the way of all the earth: be you
strong therefore, and show yourself a man; 3 and keep the charge of Yahweh
your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his
commandments, and his ordinances, and his testimonies, according to that
which is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you
do, and wherever you turn yourself. 4 That Yahweh may establish his word
which he spoke concerning me, saying, If your children take heed to their
way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul,
there shall not fail you (said he) a man on the throne of Israel.
5 Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, even what
he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner,
and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed, and shed the blood of war in
peace, and put the blood of war on his sash that was about his loins, and in
his shoes that were on his feet. 6 Do therefore according to your wisdom,
and don’t let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace. 7 But show kindness
to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those who eat at
your table; for so they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother.
8 Behold, there is with you Shimei the son of Gera, the 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 the Jordan, and I swore to him by
Yahweh, saying, I will not put you to death with the sword. 9 Now
therefore don’t hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man; and you will know
what you ought to do to him, and you shall bring his gray head down to Sheol
with blood. 10 David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of
David. 11 The days that David reigned over Israel were forty years; seven
years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty-three years reigned he in Jerusalem.
12 Solomon sat on the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was
established greatly. 13 Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba
the mother of Solomon. She said, Come you peaceably? He said, Peaceably.
14 He said moreover, I have somewhat to tell you. She said, Say on.
15 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 about,
and is become my brother’s; for it was his from Yahweh. 16 Now I ask one
petition of you; don’t deny me. She said to him, Say on. 17 He said,
Please speak to Solomon the king (for he will not tell you ‘no’), that he
give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife. 18 Bathsheba said, Well; I will
speak for you to the king. 19 Bathsheba therefore went to king Solomon, to
speak to him for Adonijah. The king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself to
her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a throne to be set for the king’s
mother; and she sat on his right hand. 20 Then she said, I ask one small
petition of you; don’t deny me. The king said to her, Ask on, my mother; for
I will not deny you. 21 She said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to
Adonijah your brother as wife. 22 King Solomon answered his mother, Why do
you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also;
for he is my elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and
for Joab the son of Zeruiah. 23 Then king Solomon swore by Yahweh, saying,
God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against
his own life. 24 Now therefore as Yahweh lives, who has established me,
and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, as
he promised, surely Adonijah shall be put to death this day. 25 King
Solomon sent by Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell on him, so that he
died. 26 To Abiathar the priest said the king, Get you to Anathoth, to
your own fields; for you are worthy of death: but I will not at this time put
you to death, because you bear the ark of the Lord Yahweh before David my
father, and because you were afflicted in all in which my father was
afflicted. 27 So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest to Yahweh,
that he might fulfill the word of Yahweh, which he spoke concerning the house
of Eli in Shiloh. 28 The news came to Joab; for Joab had turned after
Adonijah, though he didn’t turn after Absalom. Joab fled to the Tent of
Yahweh, and caught hold on the horns of the altar. 29 It was told king
Solomon, Joab is fled to the Tent of Yahweh, and, behold, he is by the altar.
Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall on him.
30 Benaiah came to the Tent of Yahweh, and said to him, Thus says the
king, Come forth. He said, No; but I will die here. Benaiah brought the king
word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me. 31 The king
said to him, Do as he has said, and fall on him, and bury him; that you may
take away the blood, which Joab shed without cause, from me and from my
father’s house. 32 Yahweh will return his blood on his own head, because
he fell on two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with
the sword, and my father David didn’t know it, to wit, Abner the son
of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain
of the host of Judah. 33 So shall their blood return on the head of Joab,
and on the head of his seed forever: but to David, and to his seed, and to
his house, and to his throne, shall there be peace for ever from Yahweh.
34 Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell on him, and killed
him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. 35 The king put
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host; and Zadok the priest
did the king put in the room of Abiathar. 36 The king sent and called for
Shimei, and said to him, Build yourself a house in Jerusalem, and dwell
there, and don’t go forth from there any where. 37 For on the day you go
out, and pass over the brook Kidron, know you for certain that you shall
surely die: your blood shall be on your own head. 38 Shimei said to the
king, The saying is good: as my lord the king has said, so will your servant
do. Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days. 39 It happened at the end of
three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away to Achish, son of
Maacah, king of Gath. They told Shimei, saying, Behold, your servants are in
Gath. 40 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 It was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and
was come again. 42 The king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him,
Didn’t I adjure you by Yahweh, and protest to you, saying, Know for certain,
that on the day you go out, and walk abroad any where, you shall surely die?
and you said to me, The saying that I have heard is good. 43 Why then have
you not kept the oath of Yahweh, and the commandment that I have charged you
with? 44 The king said moreover to Shimei, You know all the wickedness
which your heart is privy to, that you did to David my father: therefore
Yahweh shall return your wickedness on your own head. 45 But king Solomon
shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before Yahweh
forever. 46 So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went
out, and fell on him, so that he died. The kingdom was established in the
hand of Solomon.
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