Solomon’s Throne Established

¹³ Now Adonijah,^(A) the son of Haggith, went to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. Bathsheba asked him, “Do you come peacefully?”^(B)

He answered, “Yes, peacefully.” ¹⁴ Then he added, “I have something to say to you.”

“You may say it,” she replied.

¹⁵ “As you know,” he said, “the kingdom was mine. All Israel looked to me as their king. But things changed, and the kingdom has gone to my brother; for it has come to him from the Lord. ¹⁶ Now I have one request to make of you. Do not refuse me.”

“You may make it,” she said.

¹⁷ So he continued, “Please ask King Solomon—he will not refuse you—to give me Abishag^(C) the Shunammite as my wife.”

¹⁸ “Very well,” Bathsheba replied, “I will speak to the king for you.”

¹⁹ When Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, the king stood up to meet her, bowed down to her and sat down on his throne. He had a throne brought for the king’s mother,^(D) and she sat down at his right hand.^(E)

²⁰ “I have one small request to make of you,” she said. “Do not refuse me.”

The king replied, “Make it, my mother; I will not refuse you.”

²¹ So she said, “Let Abishag^(F) the Shunammite be given in marriage to your brother Adonijah.”

²² King Solomon answered his mother, “Why do you request Abishag^(G) the Shunammite for Adonijah? You might as well request the kingdom for him—after all, he is my older brother^(H)—yes, for him and for Abiathar^(I) the priest and Joab son of Zeruiah!”

²³ Then King Solomon swore by the Lord: “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely,^(J) if Adonijah does not pay with his life for this request! ²⁴ And now, as surely as the Lord lives—he who has established me securely on the throne of my father David and has founded a dynasty for me as he promised^(K)—Adonijah shall be put to death today!” ²⁵ So King Solomon gave orders to Benaiah^(L) son of Jehoiada, and he struck down Adonijah and he died.^(M)

²⁶ To Abiathar^(N) the priest the king said, “Go back to your fields in Anathoth.^(O) You deserve to die, but I will not put you to death now, because you carried the ark^(P) of the Sovereign Lord before my father David and shared all my father’s hardships.”^{(Q) 27} So Solomon removed Abiathar from the priesthood of the Lord, fulfilling^(R) the word the Lord had spoken at Shiloh about the house of Eli.

²⁸ When the news reached Joab, who had conspired with Adonijah though not with Absalom, he fled to the tent of the Lord and took hold of the horns^(S) of the altar. ²⁹ King Solomon was told that Joab had fled to the tent of the Lord and was beside the altar.^(T) Then Solomon ordered Benaiah^(U) son of Jehoiada, “Go, strike him down!”

³⁰ So Benaiah entered the tent^(V) of the Lord and said to Joab, “The king says, ‘Come out!^(W)’”

But he answered, “No, I will die here.”

Benaiah reported to the king, “This is how Joab answered me.”

³¹ Then the king commanded Benaiah, “Do as he says. Strike him down and bury him, and so clear me and my whole family of the guilt of the innocent blood^(X) that Joab shed. ³² The Lord will repay^(Y) him for the blood he shed,^(Z) because without my father David knowing it he attacked two men and killed them with the sword. Both of them—Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa^(AA) son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army—were better^(AB) men and more upright than he. ³³ May the guilt of their blood rest on the head of Joab and his descendants forever. But on David and his descendants, his house and his throne, may there be the Lord’s peace forever.”

³⁴ So Benaiah^(AC) son of Jehoiada went up and struck down Joab^(AD) and killed him, and he was buried at his home out in the country. ³⁵ The king put Benaiah^(AE) son of Jehoiada over the army in Joab’s position and replaced Abiathar with Zadok^(AF) the priest.

¹⁵ In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) ¹⁶ and said, “Brothers and sisters,^[a](A) the Scripture had to be fulfilled^(B) in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas,^(C) who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. ¹⁷ He was one of our number^(D) and shared in our ministry.”^(E)

¹⁸ (With the payment^(F) he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field;^(G) there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. ¹⁹ Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language^(H) Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

²⁰ “For,” said Peter, “it is written in the Book of Psalms:

and,

²¹ Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, ²² beginning from John’s baptism^(K) to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness^(L) with us of his resurrection.”

²³ So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. ²⁴ Then they prayed,^(M) “Lord, you know everyone’s heart.^(N) Show us^(O) which of these two you have chosen ²⁵ to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” ²⁶ Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.^(P)