⁵ At about that time, David’s son^[a] Adonijah (his mother was Haggith) decided to crown himself king in place of his aged father. So he hired chariots and drivers and recruited fifty men to run down the streets before him as royal footmen. ⁶ Now his father, King David, had never disciplined him at any time—not so much as by a single scolding! He was a very handsome man and was Absalom’s younger brother. ⁷ He took General Joab and Abiathar the priest into his confidence, and they agreed to help him become king.