³² King David said, “Summon to me the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” When they came before the king, ³³ the king said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord and have my son Solomon ride on my own mule and bring him down to Gihon.^{(A) 34} There let the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan anoint him king over Israel; then blow the trumpet and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’^{(B) 35} You shall go up following him. Let him enter and sit on my throne; he shall be king in my place, for I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.” ³⁶ Benaiah son of Jehoiada answered the king, “Amen! May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, so ordain. ³⁷ As the Lord has been with my lord the king, so may he be with Solomon and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.”^(C)

³⁸ So the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule and led him to Gihon.^{(D) 39} There the priest Zadok took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!”^{(E) 40} And all the people went up following him, playing on pipes and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth quaked at their noise.

⁴¹ Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished feasting. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, “Why is the city in an uproar?” ⁴² While he was still speaking, Jonathan son of the priest Abiathar arrived. Adonijah said, “Come in, for you are a worthy man and surely you bring good news.”^{(F) 43} Jonathan answered Adonijah, “No, for our lord King David has made Solomon king; ⁴⁴ the king has sent with him the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and they had him ride on the king’s mule; ⁴⁵ the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan have anointed him king at Gihon, and they have gone up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise that you heard.^{(G) 46} Solomon now sits on the royal throne.^{(H) 47} Moreover, the king’s servants came to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May God make the name of Solomon more famous than yours and make his throne greater than your throne.’ The king bowed in worship on the bed^{(I) 48} and went on to pray thus, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who today has granted one of my offspring^[a] to sit on my throne and permitted me to witness it.’ ”^(J)

⁴⁹ Then all the guests of Adonijah got up trembling and went their own ways. ⁵⁰ Adonijah, fearing Solomon, got up and went to grasp the horns of the altar.^{(K) 51} Solomon was informed, “Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon; see, he has laid hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me first that he will not kill his servant with the sword.’ ” ⁵² So Solomon responded, “If he proves to be a worthy man, not one of his hairs shall fall to the ground, but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.”^{(L) 53} Then King Solomon sent to have him brought down from the altar. He came to do obeisance to King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, “Go home.”

David’s Instruction to Solomon

2 When David’s time to die drew near, he charged his son Solomon, saying:^{(M) 2} “I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, be courageous,^{(N) 3} and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn.^{(O) 4} Then the Lord will establish his word that he spoke concerning me: ‘If your heirs take heed to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail you a successor on the throne of Israel.’^(P)