⁸ “And see, you have with you ^(A)Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a malicious curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim. But ^(B)he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and ^(C)I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’

Shimei Curses David

⁵ Now when King David came to ^(A)Bahurim, there was a man from the family of the house of Saul, whose name was ^(B)Shimei the son of Gera, coming from there. He came out, cursing continuously as he came. ⁶ And he threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David. And all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. ⁷ Also Shimei said thus when he cursed: “Come out! Come out! You ^[a]bloodthirsty man, ^(C)you ^[b]rogue! ⁸ The Lord has ^(D)brought upon you all ^(E)the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned; and the Lord has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom your son. So now you are caught in your own evil, because you are a ^[c]bloodthirsty man!”

Shimei Executed

³⁶ Then the king sent and called for ^(A)Shimei, and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there anywhere. ³⁷ For it shall be, on the day you go out and cross ^(B)the Brook Kidron, know for certain you shall surely die; ^(C)your ^[a]blood shall be on your own head.”

³⁸ And Shimei said to the king, “The saying is good. As my lord the king has said, so your servant will do.” So Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.

³⁹ Now it happened at the end of three years, that two slaves of Shimei ran away to ^(D)Achish the son of Maachah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, “Look, your slaves are in Gath!” ⁴⁰ So Shimei arose, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to seek his slaves. And Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath. ⁴¹ And Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had come back. ⁴² Then the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord, and warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you go out and travel anywhere, you shall surely die’? And you said to me, ‘The word I have heard is good.’ ⁴³ Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord and the commandment that I gave you?” ⁴⁴ The king said moreover to Shimei, “You know, as your heart acknowledges, ^(E)all the wickedness that you did to my father David; therefore the Lord will ^(F)return your wickedness on your own head. ⁴⁵ But King Solomon shall be blessed, and ^(G)the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever.”

⁴⁶ So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out and struck him down, and he died. Thus the ^(H)kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.

¹⁶ And ^(A)Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite, who was from Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David. ¹⁷ There were a thousand men of ^(B)Benjamin with him, and ^(C)Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they went over the Jordan before the king. ¹⁸ Then a ferryboat went across to carry over the king’s household, and to do what he thought good.

David’s Mercy to Shimei

Now Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king when he had crossed the Jordan. ¹⁹ Then he said to the king, ^(D)“Do not let my lord ^[a]impute iniquity to me, or remember what ^(E)wrong your servant did on the day that my lord the king left Jerusalem, that the king should ^(F)take it to heart. ²⁰ For I, your servant, know that I have sinned. Therefore here I am, the first to come today of all ^(G)the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.”

²¹ But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, “Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, ^(H)because he ^(I)cursed the Lord’s anointed?”

²² And David said, ^(J)“What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should be adversaries to me today? ^(K)Shall any man be put to death today in Israel? For do I not know that today I am king over Israel?” ²³ Therefore ^(L)the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” And the king swore to him.