Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options
Close NET

1 Kings 2
New English Translation

David’s Final Words to Solomon

2 When David was close to death,[a] he told[b] Solomon his son: 2 “I am about to die.[c] Be strong and become a man! 3 Do the job the Lord your God has assigned you[d] by following his instructions[e] and obeying[f] his rules, commandments, regulations, and laws as written in the law of Moses. Then you will succeed in all you do and seek to accomplish,[g] 4 and the Lord will fulfill his promise to me,[h] ‘If your descendants watch their step[i] and live faithfully in my presence[j] with all their heart and being,[k] then,’ he promised,[l] ‘you will not fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’[m]

5 “You know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me—how he murdered two commanders of the Israelite armies, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether.[n] During peacetime he struck them down as if in battle;[o] when he shed their blood, he stained the belt on his waist and the sandals on his feet.[p] 6 Do to him what you think is appropriate,[q] but don’t let him live long and die a peaceful death.[r]

7 “Treat fairly[s] the sons of Barzillai of Gilead and provide for their needs,[t] because they helped me[u] when I had to flee from your brother Absalom.

8 “Note well, you still have to contend with Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim,[v] who tried to call down upon me a horrible judgment when I went to Mahanaim.[w] He came down and met me at the Jordan, and I solemnly promised[x] him by the Lord, ‘I will not strike you down[y] with the sword.’ 9 But now[z] don’t treat him as if he were innocent. You are a wise man and you know how to handle him;[aa] make sure he has a bloody death.”[ab]

10 Then David passed away[ac] and was buried in the City of David.[ad] 11 David reigned over Israel forty years; he reigned in Hebron seven years, and in Jerusalem thirty-three years.

Solomon Secures the Throne

12 Solomon sat on his father David’s throne, and his royal authority[ae] was firmly solidified.

13 Haggith’s son Adonijah visited Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. She asked, “Do you come in peace?” He answered, “Yes.”[af] 14 He added,[ag] “I have something to say to you.” She replied, “Speak.” 15 He said, “You know that the kingdom[ah] was mine and all Israel considered me king.[ai] But then the kingdom was given to my brother, for the Lord decided it should be his.[aj] 16 Now I’d like to ask you for just one thing. Please don’t refuse me.”[ak] She said, “Go ahead and ask.”[al] 17 He said, “Please ask King Solomon if he would give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife, for he won’t refuse you.”[am] 18 Bathsheba replied, “That’s fine;[an] I’ll speak to the king on your behalf.”

19 So Bathsheba visited King Solomon to speak to him on Adonijah’s behalf. The king got up to greet[ao] her, bowed to her, and then sat on his throne. He ordered a throne to be brought for the king’s mother,[ap] and she sat at his right hand. 20 She said, “I would like to ask you for just one small favor.[aq] Please don’t refuse me.”[ar] He said,[as] “Go ahead and ask, my mother, for I would not refuse you.” 21 She said, “Allow Abishag the Shunammite to be given to your brother Adonijah as a wife.” 22 King Solomon answered his mother, “Why just request Abishag the Shunammite for him?[at] Since he is my older brother, you should also request the kingdom for him, for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab son of Zeruiah!”

23 King Solomon then swore an oath by the Lord, “May God judge me severely,[au] if Adonijah does not pay for this request with his life![av] 24 Now, as certainly as the Lord lives (he who made me secure, allowed me to sit on my father David’s throne, and established a dynasty[aw] for me as he promised), Adonijah will be executed today!” 25 King Solomon then sent[ax] Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he killed Adonijah.[ay]

26 The king then told Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your property[az] in Anathoth. You deserve to die,[ba] but today I will not kill you because you did carry the ark of the Sovereign Lord before my father David and you suffered with my father through all his difficult times.”[bb] 27 Solomon removed Abiathar from being a priest for the Lord, fulfilling the Lord’s message that he had pronounced against the family of Eli in Shiloh.

28 When the news reached Joab (for Joab had supported[bc] Adonijah, although he had not supported Absalom), he[bd] ran to the tent of the Lord and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar.[be] 29 When King Solomon heard[bf] that Joab had run to the tent of the Lord and was right there beside the altar, he ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada,[bg] “Go, strike him down.” 30 When Benaiah arrived at the tent of the Lord, he said to him, “The king says, ‘Come out!’” But he replied, “No, I will die here!” So Benaiah sent word to the king and reported Joab’s reply.[bh] 31 The king told him, “Do as he said! Strike him down and bury him. Take away from me and from my father’s family[bi] the guilt of Joab’s murderous, bloody deeds.[bj] 32 May the Lord punish him for the blood he shed;[bk] behind my father David’s back he struck down and murdered with the sword two men who were more innocent and morally upright than he[bl]—Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army. 33 May Joab and his descendants be perpetually guilty of their shed blood, but may the Lord give perpetual peace to David, his descendants, his family,[bm] and his dynasty.”[bn] 34 So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and executed Joab;[bo] he was buried at his home in the wilderness. 35 The king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada to take his place at the head of[bp] the army, and the king appointed Zadok the priest to take Abiathar’s place.[bq]

36 Next the king summoned[br] Shimei and told him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, but you may not leave there to go anywhere.[bs] 37 If you ever do leave and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will certainly die. You will be responsible for your own death.”[bt] 38 Shimei said to the king, “My master the king’s proposal is acceptable.[bu] Your servant will do as you say.”[bv] So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time.[bw]

39 Three years later two of Shimei’s servants ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, “Look, your servants are in Gath.” 40 So Shimei got up, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to find his servants; Shimei went and brought back his servants from Gath. 41 When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had then returned, 42 the king summoned[bx] Shimei and said to him, “You will recall[by] that I made you take an oath by the Lord, and I solemnly warned you, ‘If you ever leave and go anywhere,[bz] know for sure that you will certainly die.’ You said to me, ‘The proposal is acceptable; I agree to it.’[ca] 43 Why then have you broken the oath you made before the Lord and disobeyed the order I gave you?”[cb] 44 Then the king said to Shimei, “You are well aware of the way you mistreated my father David.[cc] The Lord will punish you for what you did.[cd] 45 But King Solomon will be empowered,[ce] and David’s dynasty[cf] will endure permanently before the Lord.” 46 The king then gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada who went and executed Shimei.[cg]

So Solomon took firm control of the kingdom.[ch]

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 2:1 tn Heb “and the days of David approached to die.”
  2. 1 Kings 2:1 tn Or “commanded.”
  3. 1 Kings 2:2 tn Heb “going the way of all the earth.”
  4. 1 Kings 2:3 tn Heb “keep the charge of the Lord your God.”
  5. 1 Kings 2:3 tn Heb “by walking in his ways.”
  6. 1 Kings 2:3 tn Or “keeping.”
  7. 1 Kings 2:3 tn Heb “then you will cause to succeed all which you do and all which you turn there.”
  8. 1 Kings 2:4 tn Heb “then the Lord will establish his word which he spoke to me, saying.”
  9. 1 Kings 2:4 tn Heb “guard their way.”
  10. 1 Kings 2:4 tn Heb “by walking before me in faithfulness.”
  11. 1 Kings 2:4 tn Or “soul.”
  12. 1 Kings 2:4 tn Heb “saying.”
  13. 1 Kings 2:4 tn Heb “there will not be cut off from you a man from upon the throne of Israel.”
  14. 1 Kings 2:5 tn Heb “what he did to the two commanders…and he killed them.”
  15. 1 Kings 2:5 tn Heb “he shed the blood of battle in peace.”
  16. 1 Kings 2:5 tn Heb “and he shed the blood of battle on his belt which is on his waist and on his sandal[s] which are on his feet.” That is, he covered himself with guilt and his guilt was obvious to all who saw him.
  17. 1 Kings 2:6 tn Heb “according to your wisdom.”
  18. 1 Kings 2:6 tn Heb “and do not bring down his grey hair in peace [to] Sheol.”
  19. 1 Kings 2:7 tn Heb “do loyalty with”; or “act faithfully toward.”
  20. 1 Kings 2:7 tn Heb “and let them be among the ones who eat [at] your table.”
  21. 1 Kings 2:7 tn Heb “thus drew near to.”
  22. 1 Kings 2:8 tn Heb “Look, with you is Shimei….”
  23. 1 Kings 2:8 tn Heb “and he cursed me with a horrible curse on the day I went to Mahanaim.”
  24. 1 Kings 2:8 tn Or “swore an oath to.”
  25. 1 Kings 2:8 tn Heb “kill you.”
  26. 1 Kings 2:9 tc The Lucianic recension of the Old Greek and the Vulgate have here “you” rather than “now.” The two words are homonyms in Hebrew.
  27. 1 Kings 2:9 tn Heb “what you should do to him.”
  28. 1 Kings 2:9 tn Heb “bring his grey hair down in blood [to] Sheol.”
  29. 1 Kings 2:10 tn Heb “and David lay down with his fathers.”
  30. 1 Kings 2:10 sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
  31. 1 Kings 2:12 tn Or “kingship.”
  32. 1 Kings 2:13 tn Heb “[in] peace.”
  33. 1 Kings 2:14 tn Heb “and he said.”
  34. 1 Kings 2:15 tn Or “kingship.”
  35. 1 Kings 2:15 tn Heb “set their face to me to be king.”
  36. 1 Kings 2:15 tn Heb “and the kingdom turned about and became my brother’s, for from the Lord it became his.”
  37. 1 Kings 2:16 tn Heb “Do not turn back my face.”
  38. 1 Kings 2:16 tn Heb “She said, ‘Speak!’”
  39. 1 Kings 2:17 tn Heb “Say to Solomon the king, for he will not turn back your face, that he might give to me Abishag the Shunammite for a wife.”
  40. 1 Kings 2:18 tn Heb “[It is] good!”
  41. 1 Kings 2:19 tn Or “meet.”
  42. 1 Kings 2:19 tn Heb “he set up a throne for the mother of the king.”
  43. 1 Kings 2:20 tn Or “I’d like to make just one request of you.”
  44. 1 Kings 2:20 tn Heb “Do not turn back my face.”
  45. 1 Kings 2:20 tn Heb “and the king said to her.”
  46. 1 Kings 2:22 tn Heb “for Adonijah.”
  47. 1 Kings 2:23 tn Heb “So may God do to me, and so may he add.”
  48. 1 Kings 2:23 tn Heb “if with his life Adonijah has not spoken this word.”
  49. 1 Kings 2:24 tn Heb “house.”
  50. 1 Kings 2:25 tn The Hebrew text adds, “by the hand of.”
  51. 1 Kings 2:25 tn Heb “and he struck him and he died.”
  52. 1 Kings 2:26 tn Or “field.”
  53. 1 Kings 2:26 tn Heb “you are a man of death,” an idiom.
  54. 1 Kings 2:26 tn Heb “and because you suffered through all which my father suffered.”
  55. 1 Kings 2:28 tn Heb “turned after” (also later in this verse).
  56. 1 Kings 2:28 tn Heb “Joab.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  57. 1 Kings 2:28 sn Grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. The “horns” of the altar were the horn-shaped projections on the four corners of the altar (see Exod 27:2). By going to the holy place and grabbing hold of the horns of the altar, Joab was seeking asylum from Solomon.
  58. 1 Kings 2:29 tn Heb “and it was related to King Solomon.”
  59. 1 Kings 2:29 tn Heb “so Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying.”
  60. 1 Kings 2:30 tn Heb “saying, “In this way Joab spoke and in this way he answered me.”
  61. 1 Kings 2:31 tn Heb “house.”
  62. 1 Kings 2:31 tn Heb “take away the undeserved bloodshed which Joab spilled from upon me and from upon the house of my father.”
  63. 1 Kings 2:32 tn Heb “The Lord will cause his blood to return upon his head.”
  64. 1 Kings 2:32 tn Heb “because he struck down two men more innocent and better than he and he killed them with the sword, and my father David did not know.”
  65. 1 Kings 2:33 tn Heb “house.”
  66. 1 Kings 2:33 tn Heb “his throne.”
  67. 1 Kings 2:34 tn Heb “struck him and killed him.” The referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  68. 1 Kings 2:35 tn Heb “over.”
  69. 1 Kings 2:35 tc The Old Greek translation includes after v. 35 some fourteen verses that are absent from the MT.
  70. 1 Kings 2:36 tn Heb “sent and summoned.”
  71. 1 Kings 2:36 tn Heb “and you may not go out from there here or there.”
  72. 1 Kings 2:37 tn Heb “your blood will be upon your head.”
  73. 1 Kings 2:38 tn Heb “Good is the word, as my master the king has spoken.”
  74. 1 Kings 2:38 tn Heb “so your servant will do.”
  75. 1 Kings 2:38 tn Heb “many days.”
  76. 1 Kings 2:42 tn Heb “sent and summoned.”
  77. 1 Kings 2:42 tn Heb “Is it not [true]…?” In the Hebrew text the statement is interrogative; the rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course it is.”
  78. 1 Kings 2:42 tn Heb “here or there.”
  79. 1 Kings 2:42 tn Heb “good is the word; I have heard.”
  80. 1 Kings 2:43 tn Heb “Why have you not kept the oath [to] the Lord and the commandment I commanded you?”
  81. 1 Kings 2:44 tn Heb “You know all the evil, for your heart knows, which you did to David my father.”
  82. 1 Kings 2:44 tn Heb “The Lord will cause your evil to return upon your head.”
  83. 1 Kings 2:45 tn Or “blessed.”
  84. 1 Kings 2:45 tn Heb “throne.”
  85. 1 Kings 2:46 tn “The king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada and he went out and struck him down and he died.”
  86. 1 Kings 2:46 tn “And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.”
Close ASV

1 Kings 2
American Standard Version

2 Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying, 2 I am going the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and show thyself a man; 3 and keep the charge of Jehovah thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his ordinances, and his testimonies, according to that which is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest [a]prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself; 4 that Jehovah may establish his word which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel. 5 Moreover thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did unto me, even what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and [b]shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet. 6 Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down to Sheol in peace. 7 But show kindness unto the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at thy table; for so they came to me when I fled from Absalom thy brother. 8 And, behold, there is with thee Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim; but he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I sware to him by Jehovah, saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword. 9 Now therefore hold him not guiltless, for thou art a wise man; and thou wilt know what thou oughtest to do unto him, and thou shalt bring his hoar head down to Sheol with blood.

10 And David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. 11 And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem. 12 And Solomon sat upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly.

13 Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bath-sheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, Comest thou peaceably? And he said, Peaceably. 14 He said moreover, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And she said, Say on. 15 And he said, Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign: howbeit the kingdom is turned about, and is become my brother’s; for it was his from Jehovah. 16 And now I ask one petition of thee; [c]deny me not. And she said unto him, Say on. 17 And he said, Speak, I pray thee, unto Solomon the king (for he will not say thee nay), that he give me Abishag the Shunammite to wife. 18 And Bath-sheba said, Well; I will speak for thee unto the king.

19 Bath-sheba therefore went unto king Solomon, to speak unto him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a throne to be set for the king’s mother; and she sat on his right hand. 20 Then she said, I ask one small petition of thee; deny me not. And the king said unto her, Ask on, my mother; for I will not deny thee. 21 And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother to wife. 22 And king Solomon answered and said unto his mother, And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also; for he is mine elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah. 23 Then king Solomon sware by Jehovah, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah hath not spoken this word against his own life. 24 Now therefore as Jehovah liveth, who hath established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, and who hath made me a house, as he promised, surely Adonijah shall be put to death this day. 25 And king Solomon sent by Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him, so that he died.

26 And unto Abiathar the priest said the king, Get thee to Anathoth, unto thine own fields; for thou art [d]worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou barest the ark of the Lord Jehovah before David my father, and because thou wast afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted. 27 So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto Jehovah, that he might fulfil the word of Jehovah, which he spake concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

28 And the tidings came to Joab; for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled unto the Tent of Jehovah, and caught hold on the horns of the altar. 29 And it was told king Solomon, Joab is fled unto the Tent of Jehovah, and, behold, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him. 30 And Benaiah came to the Tent of Jehovah, and said unto him, Thus saith the king, Come forth. And he said, Nay; but I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me. 31 And the king said unto him, Do as he hath said, and fall upon him, and bury him; that thou mayest take away the blood, which Joab shed without cause, from me and from my father’s house. 32 And Jehovah will return his blood upon his own head, because he fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, and my father David knew it not, to wit, Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah. 33 So shall their blood return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever: but unto David, and unto his seed, and unto his house, and unto his throne, shall there be peace for ever from Jehovah. 34 Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell upon him, and slew him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. 35 And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host; and Zadok the priest did the king put in the room of Abiathar.

36 And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him, Build thee a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and go not forth thence any whither. 37 For on the day thou goest out, and passest over the brook Kidron, know thou for certain that thou shalt surely die: thy blood shall be upon thine own head. 38 And Shimei said unto the king, The saying is good: as my lord the king hath said, so will thy servant do. And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.

39 And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away unto Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, Behold, thy servants are in Gath. 40 And Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish, to seek his servants; and Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath. 41 And it was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and was come again. 42 And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him, Did I not adjure thee by Jehovah, and protest unto thee, saying, Know for certain, that on the day thou goest out, and walkest abroad any whither, thou shalt surely die? and thou saidst unto me, The saying that I have heard is good. 43 Why then hast thou not kept the oath of Jehovah, and the commandment that I have charged thee with? 44 The king said moreover to Shimei, Thou knowest all the wickedness which thy heart is privy to, that thou didst to David my father: therefore Jehovah shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head. 45 But king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before Jehovah for ever. 46 So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out, and fell upon him, so that he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 2:3 Or, do wisely
  2. 1 Kings 2:5 Hebrew set.
  3. 1 Kings 2:16 Hebrew turn not away my face.
  4. 1 Kings 2:26 Hebrew a man of.
Next
1 Kings 1
1 Kings 3
Next
dropdown
New English Translation (NET)

NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

American Standard Version (ASV)

Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)