1 Kings 2:13-33

New American Standard Bible

¹³ Now Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. So she said, “^(A)Do you come peacefully?” And he said, “Peacefully.” ¹⁴ Then he said, “I have something to say to you.” And she said, “Speak.” ¹⁵ So he said, “You yourself know that ^(B)the kingdom was mine and ^(C)that all Israel ^[a]intended for me to be king; ^(D)however, the kingdom has turned around and become my brother’s, ^(E)for it was his from the Lord. ¹⁶ So now I am making one request of you; do not ^[b]refuse me.” And she said to him, “Speak.” ¹⁷ Then he said, “Please speak to Solomon the king—for he will not ^[c]refuse you—that he may give me ^(F)Abishag the Shunammite as a wife.” ¹⁸ And Bathsheba said, “Very well; I will speak to the king for you.”

Adonijah Executed

¹⁹ So Bathsheba went to King Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king stood to meet her, bowed to her, and sat on his throne; then he ^(G)had a throne set up for the king’s mother, and ^(H)she sat on his right. ²⁰ Then she said, “I am making one small request of you; ^(I)do not ^[d]refuse me.” And the king said to her, “Ask, my mother, for I will not ^[e]refuse you.” ²¹ So she said, “^(J)Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as a wife.” ²² But King Solomon answered and said to his mother, “And why are you requesting Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ^(K)Request for him the kingdom as well—^(L)since he is my older brother—for him, for ^(M)Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah!” ²³ Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, “May God do so to me and more so, if Adonijah has ^(N)not spoken this word against his own ^[f]life! ²⁴ Now then, as the Lord lives, who has established me and set me on the throne of David my father, and ^(O)has made me a house just as He ^[g]promised, Adonijah certainly shall be put to death today!” ²⁵ Then King Solomon ^(P)sent the order by Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he ^[h]struck him so that he died.

²⁶ Then to Abiathar the priest the king said, “^(Q)Go to Anathoth to your own field, ^(R)for you ^[i]deserve to die; but I will not put you to death at this ^[j]time, because ^(S)you carried the ark of the Lord ^[k]God before my father David, and because ^(T)you were afflicted in everything with which my father was afflicted.” ²⁷ So Solomon dismissed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, to fulfill ^(U)the word of the Lord, which He had spoken regarding the house of Eli in Shiloh.

Joab Executed

²⁸ Now the news came to Joab ^(V)because Joab had followed Adonijah, ^(W)though he had not followed Absalom. So Joab fled to the tent of the Lord and ^(X)took hold of the horns of the altar. ²⁹ And it was reported to King Solomon that Joab had fled to the tent of the Lord, and ^[l]was beside the altar. Then Solomon ^(Y)sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “^(Z)Go, ^[m]execute him.” ³⁰ So Benaiah came to the tent of the Lord and said to him, “This is what the king has said: ‘Come out.’” But he said, “No, for I will die here.” So Benaiah brought back word to the king, saying, “This is what Joab spoke, and so he answered me.” ³¹ And the king said to him, “^(AA)Do just as he has spoken, and ^[n]execute him and bury him, ^(AB)so that you may remove from me and from my father’s house the blood which Joab shed without ^[o]justification. ^32 (AC)The Lord will return his blood on his own head, ^(AD)because he ^[p]struck two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword, while my father David did not know about it: ^(AE)Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and ^(AF)Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. ^33 (AG)So their blood shall return on the head of Joab and on the head of his ^[q]descendants forever; but for David and his ^[r]descendants, and his house and his throne, may there be peace from the Lord forever.”