3 Kingdoms 2

1Now the days of David drew near to death, and he charged Solomon his son, saying

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2'I am going the way of all the earth, but you must be strong and become a man.

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3Keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His commandments and statutes, and the writings of His judgments in the Law of Moses, so you may understand what you shall do regarding whatever I command of you;

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4that the Lord may confirm His word which He spoke, saying, 'If your sons guard their way and go before Me in truth, with their whole heart and their whole soul, I say to you, a man from them shall not fail to sit on the throne of Israel.'

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5'Furthermore, you know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner and Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed. He shed the blood of war in peacetime, and put innocent blood on the belt around his waist and on the sandal on his foot.

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6Therefore do according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down to the grave in peace.

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7But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table; for they drew near to me when I fled from your brother Absalom.

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8Behold, you have with you Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite from Bahurim, who laid a grievous curse on me in the day I went to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and by the Lord I swore to him, saying, 'I will not put you to death with the sword.'

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9But you shall by no means hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man, and you realize what you must do to him, even to bring his gray hair to the grave with blood.'

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10So David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David.

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11David reigned over Israel forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

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12Thus Solomon sat on the throne of David, his father, and the kingdom was exceedingly well established.

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13Now Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon and bowed down before her. She said, 'Have you come peaceably?' He said, 'Peaceably.

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14I have something to say to you.' She said, 'Speak.'

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15Then Adonijah said, 'You know the kingdom was mine, and all Israel turned their face to me as king. But then the kingdom was taken back, and it was given to my brother; for it was from the Lord to be given to Solomon.

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16Now I ask one petition of you. Do not turn away your face.' Bathsheba said to him, 'Speak.'

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17Then he said to her, 'Speak to King Solomon, for he will not turn his face from you; and let him give me Abishag the Shunammite for a wife.'

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18So Bathsheba said, 'Very well, I will speak for you to the king.'

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19So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. The king rose up to meet her and kissed her tenderly. He then sat down on his throne, and a throne was placed for the king's mother; and she was seated at his right hand.

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20Then she said to him, 'I desire one small petition of you. Do not turn away your face.' The king said to her, 'Ask it, mother, for I will not refuse you.'

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21So she said, 'Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as a wife.'

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22King Solomon answered and said to his mother, 'Why did you request Abishag for Adonijah? Do you ask for him the kingdom as well? For he is my older brother above me in age, and his companions are Abiathar the priest and Joab the son of Jeruiah, the chief captain of the army.'

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23Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, 'May God do so to me and more also, if Adonijah has not said this against his own life.

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24Now therefore, as the Lord lives who prepared me, set me on the throne of David my father, and established a house for me, as the Lord promised, this day Adonijah will be put to death.'

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25So King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he struck him; and Adonijah died that day.

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26Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, 'Go to Anathoth, to your field, for you are deserving of death today; but I will not put you to death, because you carried the ark of the Lord God before my father, and because you were afflicted every time my father was afflicted.'

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27So Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, to fulfill the word of the Lord He spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

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28Then the news came to Joab the son of Zeruiah, for Joab leaned toward Adonijah and not toward Solomon. So Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord and took hold of the horns of the altar.

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29They told King Solomon, 'Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord. He is there, holding the horns of the altar.' Solomon sent word to Joab, saying, 'Why did you flee to the altar?' Joab said, 'Because I was afraid to face you, and I fled to the Lord.' Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, 'Go, kill and bury him.'

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30So Benaiah went to Joab in the tabernacle of the Lord and said to him, 'The king says to come out.' But he said, 'No, I am not coming out. I am going to die here.' So Benaiah brought back word to the king, saying, 'This is what Joab said, this is what he answered me.'

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31Then the king said to him, 'Go, and do as he said. Strike him down and bury him, and remove from me and from my father's house today the blood Joab shed for no reason.

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32The Lord will turn the blood of his unrighteousness back on his own head, because he struck down two men, Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah, who were more righteous and better than he; and yet he killed them with the sword. My father David did not know of their blood being shed.

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33That is why their blood was returned upon the head of Joab and upon the head of his descendants forever. But upon David and his descendants, upon his house and his throne, let there be peace forever from the Lord.'

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34So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, struck and killed him; and he buried him in his own house in the wilderness.

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35The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in Joab's place over the army, and the kingdom was established in Jerusalem. Then the king made Zadok the first priest in the place of Abiathar.

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36The Lord gave discernment to Solomon, exceedingly great wisdom, and a heart as broad as the sand alongside the sea.

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37Solomon's discernment was multiplied exceedingly, beyond the discernment of all the sons of the ancient ones and all the wise men of Egypt.

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38Then he took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her into the City of David until he should complete his house, and before all the house of the Lord, and the wall surrounding Jerusalem. In seven years he made and completed them.

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39Solomon had seventy thousand chosen men and eighty thousand stonecutters in the mountain.

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40Thus Solomon made the sea, the undergirding, the great basins, the pillars, the fountain of the open court, and the sea of bronze.

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41He also built the citadel and its battlements, and divided the City of David in two. Consequently, the daughter of Pharaoh went up from the City of David into the house he built for her. Then he built the citadel.

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42Solomon went up three times a year to offer whole burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he built for the Lord, and to burn incense before the Lord; and he completed the house.

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43Now these were the governors put in charge over the works of Solomon—three thousand six hundred overseers of the people doing the work.

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44He also built Ashur and Megiddo, and Gezer and Beth-Horon the greater, and Baalath.

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45However, it was after he built the house of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem that he built those cities.

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46While still living, David commanded Solomon, saying, 'Behold, take with you Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite from Hebron,

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47Who cursed me with a grievous curse in the day I was going to the encampments.

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48But he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying, 'He shall not be put to death with the sword.'

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49Now therefore, do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man and know what to do to him. But bring his gray hair with blood down to the grave.'

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50Then the king sent and called for Shimei and said to him, 'Build yourself a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and do not leave for any reason.

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51For on the day you go out and cross the Brook Kidron, know for certain you shall surely die; and your blood shall be on your own head.' So the king forced him to take an oath that day.

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52Then Shimei said to the king, 'What you have said is good, O my lord and king. Thus your servant will do.' So Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem three years.

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53Now at the end of three years, two of Shimei's slaves ran away to Achish the son of Maachah, king of Gath. They told Shimei, saying, 'Behold, your slaves are in Gath.'

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54Shimei then arose, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to seek his slaves. So Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath.

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55But Solomon was told Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and brought back his servants.

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56Then the king sent and called for Shimei and said to him, 'Did I not make you swear by the Lord and warn you, saying, 'Know for certain on the day you leave Jerusalem and go to the right or the left, you shall surely die'?

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57Why then did you not keep the oath of the Lord and the commandment I gave you?'

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58The king also said to Shimei, 'You know and your heart acknowledges all the wickedness you did to my father David, and now the Lord has returned your wickedness on your own head.

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59But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever.'

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60So King Solomon commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck Shimei down; and he died.

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61Thus King Solomon was exceedingly prudent and wise, and Judah and all Israel were as many as the sand of the sea in number, eating and drinking and rejoicing.

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62Now Solomon was ruler in all the kingdoms; and they brought him gifts, and served Solomon all the days of his life.

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63Then Solomon went to open the domain of Lebanon,

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64and he built Thermae in the desert.

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65Moreover, Solomon's daily provision was thirty measures of the finest wheat flour and sixty measures of ground meal, ten chosen calves and twenty pastured oxen and a hundred sheep, and, besides this, deer and gazelles and choice fed hens,

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66because there was a governor all along the opposite shore of the river from Raphia unto Gaza, in all the kingdoms on the opposite shore of the river.

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67Thus he had peace from all his territories around him, and Judah and Israel dwelt confidently, each man under his own vine and his own fig tree, eating and drinking from Dan to Beersheba all the days of Solomon.

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68Now Solomon's officials were Azariah, the son of Zadok, the priest, and Orniah, the son of Nathan, who was ruler of the standing guard, and Edram was over his house, and Zoba the scribe, and Baasha, the son of Achithalam, writing memoirs, and Abi, the son of Joab, the chief captain, and Achira, the son of Edrahi, over the labor force, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the temple-court and over the brickworks, and Zechariah, the son of Nathan, the counselor.

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69Solomon had forty thousand breeding horses for chariots and twelve thousand horsemen.

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70So there was a ruler in every kingdom from the river to the land of the foreigners and the boundaries of Egypt.

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71Thus Solomon the son of David ruled over Israel and Judah in Jerusalem

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