1 As David’s 1Lit daysAGen 47:29; Deut 31:14time to die drew near, he charged Solomon his son, saying, 2 “AJosh 23:14I am going the way of all the earth. BDeut 31:7, 23; Josh 1:6, 7Be strong, therefore, and 1Lit become a manshow yourself a man. 3  “Keep the charge of the Loʀᴅ your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, ADeut 17:18-20according to what is written in the Law of Moses, that B1 Chr 22:12, 13you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn, 4 so that A2 Sam 7:25the Loʀᴅ may carry out His promise which He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘BPs 132:12If your sons are careful of their way, C2 Kin 20:3to walk before Me in 1Or faithfulnesstruth with all their heart and with all their soul, 2Lit there shall not be cast off to you a man from before MeD2 Sam 7:12, 13; 1 Kin 8:25; 9:5you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

5 “Now you also know what Joab the A2 Sam 2:13, 18son of Zeruiah did to me, what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to B2 Sam 3:27; 1 Kin 2:32Abner the son of Ner, and to C2 Sam 20:10Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed; he also 1Lit madeshed the blood of war in peace. And he put the blood of war on his belt 2Lit that was aboutabout his waist, and on his sandals 3Lit that were onon his feet. 6  “A1 Kin 2:9So act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down to 1I.e. the nether worldSheol in peace. 7  “But A2 Sam 19:31-38show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and B2 Sam 9:7, 10let them be among those who eat at your table; C2 Sam 17:27-29for they 1Lit came near toassisted me when I fled from Absalom your brother. 8  “Behold, A2 Sam 16:5-8there is with you Shimei the son of Gera the Benjamite, of Bahurim; now it was he who cursed me with a 1Or grievousviolent curse on the day I went to Mahanaim. But when B2 Sam 19:18-23he came down to me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Loʀᴅ, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ 9  “Now therefore, do not let him go unpunished, A1 Kin 2:6for you are a wise man; and you will know what you ought to do to him, and you will bring his gray hair down to 1I.e. the nether worldSheol with blood.”

10 Then AActs 2:29; 13:36David slept with his fathers and was buried in B2 Sam 5:7; 1 Kin 3:1the city of David. 11 A2 Sam 5:4, 5; 1 Chr 3:4; 29:26, 27The days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: B2 Sam 5:5seven years he reigned in Hebron and thirty-three years he reigned in Jerusalem. 12 And A1 Chr 29:23; 2 Chr 1:1Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established.

13 Now Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, “A1 Sam 16:4Do you come peacefully?” And he said, “Peacefully.” 14 Then he said, “I have something to say to you.” And she said, “Speak.” 15 So he said, “You know that A2 Sam 3:3, 4; 1 Kin 2:22the kingdom was mine and B1 Kin 1:5-25that all Israel 1Lit set their faces on meexpected me to be king; C1 Kin 1:38-50however, the kingdom has turned about and become my brother’s, D1 Chr 22:9, 10; 28:5-7for it was his from the Loʀᴅ. 16  “Now I am making one request of you; do not 1Lit turn away my facerefuse me.” And she said to him, “Speak.” 17 Then he said, “Please speak to Solomon the king, for he will not 1Lit turn away your facerefuse you, that he may give me A1 Kin 1:3, 4Abishag the Shunammite as a wife.” 18 Bathsheba said, “Very well; I will speak to the king for you.”

19 So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king arose to meet her, bowed before her, and sat on his throne; then he A1 Kin 15:13had a throne set for the king’s mother, and BPs 45:9she sat on his right. 20 Then she said, “I am making one small request of you; A1 Kin 2:16do not 1Lit turn away my facerefuse me.” And the king said to her, “Ask, my mother, for I will not 2Lit turn away your facerefuse you.” 21 So she said, “A1 Kin 1:3, 4Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as a wife.” 22 King Solomon answered and said to his mother, “And why are you asking Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? A2 Sam 12:8Ask for him also the kingdom—B1 Kin 1:6; 2:15; 1 Chr 3:2, 5for he is my older brother—even for him, for C1 Kin 1:7Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah!” 23 Then King Solomon swore by the Loʀᴅ, saying, “May God do so to me and more also, if Adonijah has ARuth 1:17not spoken this word against his own 1Lit soullife. 24  “Now therefore, as the Loʀᴅ lives, who has established me and set me on the throne of David my father and A2 Sam 7:11, 13; 1 Chr 22:10who has made me a house as He promised, surely Adonijah shall be put to death today.” 25 So King Solomon A2 Sam 8:18sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him so that he died.

26 Then to Abiathar the priest the king said, “AJosh 21:18; Jer 1:1Go to Anathoth to your own field, B1 Sam 26:16for you 1Lit are a man of deathdeserve to die; but I will not put you to death at this time, because C1 Sam 23:6; 2 Sam 15:24-29you carried the ark of the Lord 2Heb YHWH, usually rendered LoʀᴅGoᴅ before my father David, and because D1 Sam 22:20-23; 23:8, 9you were afflicted in everything with which my father was afflicted.” 27 So Solomon dismissed Abiathar from being priest to the Loʀᴅ, in order to fulfill A1 Sam 2:27-36the word of the Loʀᴅ, which He had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

28 Now the news came to Joab, A1 Kin 1:7for Joab had followed Adonijah, B2 Sam 17:25; 18:2although he had not followed Absalom. And Joab fled to the tent of the Loʀᴅ and C1 Kin 1:50took hold of the horns of the altar. 29 It was told King Solomon that Joab had fled to the tent of the Loʀᴅ, and behold, he is beside the altar. Then Solomon A1 Kin 2:25sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “BEx 21:14Go, fall upon him.” 30 So Benaiah came to the tent of the Loʀᴅ and said to him, “Thus the king has said, ‘Come out.’ ” But he said, “No, for I will die here.” And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, “Thus spoke Joab, and thus he answered me.” 31 The king said to him, “AEx 21:14Do as he has spoken and fall upon him and bury him, BNum 35:33; Deut 19:13; 21:8, 9that you may remove from me and from my father’s house the blood which Joab shed without cause. 32  “AGen 9:6; Judg 9:24, 57; Ps 7:16The Loʀᴅ will return his blood on his own head, B2 Chr 21:13, 14because he fell upon two men more righteous and better than he and killed them with the sword, while my father David did not know it: C2 Sam 3:27Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and D2 Sam 20:9, 10Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. 33  “A2 Sam 3:29So shall their blood return on the head of Joab and on the head of his 1Lit seeddescendants forever; but to David and his 1Lit seeddescendants and his house and his throne, may there be peace from the Loʀᴅ forever.” 34 Then A1 Kin 2:25Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and fell upon him and put him to death, and he was buried at his own house BJosh 15:61; Matt 3:1in the wilderness. 35 A1 Kin 4:4The king appointed Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in his place, and the king appointed B1 Chr 6:53; 24:3; 29:22Zadok the priest C1 Kin 2:27in the place of Abiathar.

36 Now the king sent and called for A2 Sam 16:5; 1 Kin 2:8Shimei and said to him, “Build for yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, and do not go out from there to any place. 37  “For on the day you go out and A2 Sam 15:23; 2 Kin 23:6; John 18:1cross over the 1Or wadibrook Kidron, you will know for certain that you shall surely die; BJosh 2:19; 2 Sam 1:16; Ezek 18:13your blood shall be on your own head.” 38 Shimei then said to the king, “The word is good. As my lord the king has said, so your servant will do.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.

39 But it came about at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away A1 Sam 27:2to Achish son of Maacah, 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 look for 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 had returned. 42 So the king sent and called for Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Loʀᴅ and solemnly warn you, saying, ‘You will know for certain that on the day you depart and go anywhere, you shall surely die’? And you said to me, ‘The word which I have heard is good.’ 43  “Why then have you not kept the oath of the Loʀᴅ, and the command which I 1Lit commandedhave laid on you?” 44 The king also said to Shimei, “A2 Sam 16:5-13You know all the evil which 1Lit your heart acknowledgesyou acknowledge in your heart, which you did to my father David; therefore B1 Sam 25:39; 2 Kin 11:1, 12-16; Ps 7:16the Loʀᴅ shall return your evil on your own head. 45  “But King Solomon shall be blessed, and A2 Sam 7:13; Prov 25:5the throne of David shall be established before the Loʀᴅ forever.” 46 A1 Kin 2:25, 34So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and fell upon him so that he died.

B1 Kin 2:12; 2 Chr 1:1

Thus the kingdom was established in the hands of Solomon.