²³ So Solomon sat^(A) on the throne^(B) of the Lord as king in place of his father David. He prospered and all Israel obeyed him. ²⁴ All the officers and warriors, as well as all of King David’s sons,^(C) pledged their submission to King Solomon.

²⁵ The Lord highly exalted^(D) Solomon in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him royal splendor^(E) such as no king over Israel ever had before.^(F)

Psalm 72

Of Solomon.

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.

³⁶ Then the king sent for Shimei^(AG) and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, but do not go anywhere else. ³⁷ The day you leave and cross the Kidron Valley,^(AH) you can be sure you will die; your blood will be on your own head.”^(AI)

³⁸ Shimei answered the king, “What you say is good. Your servant will do as my lord the king has said.” And Shimei stayed in Jerusalem for a long time.

Solomon Asks for Wisdom^(A)

3 Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married^(B) his daughter.^(C) He brought her to the City of David^(D) until he finished building his palace^(E) and the temple of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem.

¹⁶ (Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire. He killed its Canaanite inhabitants and then gave it as a wedding gift to his daughter,^(A) Solomon’s wife.