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1 Kings

Solomon Consolidates His Power

2
Chapter 2
13 Adonijah son of Haggith came to Bathsheba mother of Solomon. And she said, "Peace to you." And he said, "Peace." 14 And he said, "A word to me, to you," and you said, "A word." 15 And he said, "You know that the kingship was mine, and all Israel set their faces on me as king, and the kingship turned and became my brother's, for from the LORD it was his." 16 Now I ask one request from you—do not turn away my face. And you said to him a word. 17 And he said, "Please say to King Solomon, for he will not turn away your face, and he will give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife." 18 And Bathsheba said, "Good. I will speak for you to the king." 19 And Bathsheba the daughter of seven came to King Solomon to speak to him about Adonijah, and the king rose to meet her and he bowed to her and he sat on his throne and he set a throne for the mother of the king and she sat at his right side. 20 And she said, "One small request I have asked from you; do not turn away my face." And the king said to her, "Ask, my mother, for I will not turn away your face." 21 And she said, "Let him give Abishag the Shunammite to Adonijah your brother as the woman." 22 And King Solomon answered and said to his mother, "Why did you ask for Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? And ask for him the kingdom, for he is my elder brother, and for him and for Abiathar the priest and for Joab son of Zeruiah." 23 And King Solomon swore by the LORD, saying, "As the LORD lives, thus may God do to me and thus may He add, for with his nephesh Adonijah has spoken this word." 24 And now, as the LORD lives, who established me and caused me to sit on the throne of David my father, and who made for me a house just as he spoke, today Adonijah shall be put to death. 25 And King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he struck him, and he died. 26 And the king said to Abiathar the priest, "To Anathoth, to your fields—for you are a man of death. But on this day I will not put you to death, because you bore the ark of the Lord GOD before David my father, and you were afflicted in all that my father was afflicted." 27 And Solomon drove out Abiathar from being priest to the LORD, to fulfill the word of the LORD which he spoke against the house of Eli at Shiloh. 28 And the report came to Joab, for Joab had inclined after Adonijah and after Absalom he had not inclined. And Joab fled to the tent of the LORD, and he strengthened himself in the horns of the altar. 29 And it was told to King Solomon that Joab had fled to the Tent of the LORD, and behold, he was beside the altar. And Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying, "Go, fall upon him." 30 And Benaiah came to the Tent of the LORD and said to him, "The king has said: 'Come out!'" And he said, "No, for here I will die." And Benaiah returned word to the king, saying, "Joab has spoken this way, and this is how he answered me." 31 And the king said to him, "Do as he spoke and strike him and bury him and remove the blood of nothing which Joab poured out upon me and upon the house of my father." 32 And the LORD brought his blood back upon his own head, because he struck two righteous and good men who were better than him and killed them with the sword—David's father did not know Abner son of Ner, ruler of the army of Israel, and Amasa son of Jether, ruler of the army of Judah. 33 And their blood will return on the head of Joab and on the head of his seed forever, and to David and to his seed and to his house and to his throne there will be peace forever from the LORD. 34 And Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and struck him and put him to death and buried him in his house in the wilderness. 35 And the king put Benaiah son of Jehoiada in his place over the army, and the king put Zadok the priest in place of Abiathar. 36 And the king sent and called Shimei and said to him, "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there anywhere." 37 And on the day you go out and cross the brook Kidron, you will know—you will know that you will die the death; your blood will be on your head. 38 And Shimei said to the king, "The word is good, as my lord the king has spoken; so your servant will do." And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days. 39 And at the end of three years, two servants of Shimei fled to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath, and they told Shimei, saying, "Behold, your servants are in Gath." 40 And Shimei arose and saddled his donkeys and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants. And Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath. 41 And it was told to Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had dwelt there. 42 And the king sent and called Shimei and said to him, "Did I not make you swear by the LORD and testify to you solemnly, saying, 'On the day you go out and walk anywhere, know for certain that you will die'? And you said to me, 'The word is good; I have heard.'" 43 Why did you not keep the oath of the LORD and the commandment that I commanded you? 44 The king said to Shimei, "You know all the evil that you knew in your heart, which you did to David my father. And the LORD has returned your evil upon your head." 45 King Solomon is blessed, and the throne of David will be established before the LORD forever. 46 The king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck him down, and he died. The kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.