1 Kings 2-3

International Children’s Bible

The Death of David

2 It was almost time for David to die. So he talked to Solomon and gave him his last commands. ² David said, “My time to die is near. Be a good and strong leader. ³ Obey everything that the Lord commands. Follow the commands he has given us. Obey all his laws, and do what he told us. Obey what is written in the teachings of Moses. If you do these things, you will be successful in all you do and wherever you go. ⁴ And if you obey the Lord, he will keep the promise he made to me. He promised: ‘Your descendants must live as I tell them. They must have complete faith in me. If they do this, then a man from your family will always be king over the people of Israel.’

⁵ “Also, you remember what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me. He killed the two commanders of Israel’s armies. He killed Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He killed them as if he and they were at war. But this was in a time of peace. He killed innocent men. And their blood got on his belt and sandals. ⁶ You should punish him in the way you think is wisest. (But do not let him die peacefully of old age.)

⁷ “Be kind to the children of Barzillai of Gilead. Allow them to eat at your table. They helped me when I ran away from your brother Absalom.

⁸ “And remember, Shimei son of Gera is here with you. He is from the people of Benjamin in Bahurim. Remember he cursed me the day I went to Mahanaim. Then he came down to meet me at the Jordan River. I promised him before the Lord, ‘Shimei, I will not kill you.’ ⁹ But you should not leave him unpunished. You are a wise man. You will know what to do to him. But you must be sure he is killed.”

¹⁰ Then David died and was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem. ¹¹ He had ruled over Israel 40 years. Seven years were in Hebron, and 33 years were in Jerusalem.

Solomon Takes Control as King

¹² Now Solomon became king after David, his father. And he was in control of his kingdom.

¹³ At this time Adonijah son of Haggith went to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. Bathsheba asked, “Do you come in peace?”

Adonijah answered, “Yes. This is a peaceful visit. ¹⁴ I have something to say to you.”

“You may speak,” she said.

¹⁵ Adonijah said, “You remember that at one time the kingdom was mine. All the people of Israel thought I was their king. But things changed. Now my brother is the king because the Lord chose him. ¹⁶ So now I have one thing to ask you. Please do not refuse me.”

Bathsheba answered, “What do you want?”

¹⁷ Adonijah said, “I know King Solomon will do anything you ask him. So please ask him to give me Abishag the Shunammite woman to be my wife.”

¹⁸ “Very well,” she answered. “I will speak to the king for you.”

¹⁹ So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to talk to him for Adonijah. When Solomon saw her, he stood up to meet her. Then he bowed down to her and sat on the throne. He told some servants to bring another throne for his mother. Then she sat down at his right side.

²⁰ Bathsheba said to him, “I have one small thing to ask you. Please do not refuse me.”

The king answered, “Ask, mother. I will not refuse you.”

²¹ So she said, “Allow Abishag the Shunammite woman to marry your brother Adonijah.”

²² King Solomon answered his mother, “Why do you ask me to give him Abishag? Why don’t you ask for him to become the king also since he is my older brother? Abiathar the priest and Joab son of Zeruiah will support him!”

²³ Then King Solomon made a promise in the name of the Lord. He said, “I promise Adonijah will pay for asking me this! May God punish me terribly if it doesn’t cost Adonijah his life! ²⁴ The Lord has given me the throne that belonged to my father David. The Lord has kept his promise and given the kingdom to me and my people. As surely as the Lord lives, Adonijah will die today!” ²⁵ So King Solomon gave orders to Benaiah son of Jehoiada. And he went out and killed Adonijah.

²⁶ Then King Solomon said to Abiathar the priest, “I should kill you. But I will allow you to go back to your home in Anathoth. I will not kill you now because you helped to carry the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord God while marching with my father David. And I know you shared in all of the hard times with my father.” ²⁷ So Solomon removed Abiathar from being a priest to the Lord. This happened as the Lord had said it would. He had said this about the priest Eli and his family in Shiloh.

²⁸ When Joab heard about this, he was afraid. He had supported Adonijah, but not Absalom. So Joab ran to the Tent of the Lord and took hold of the corners of the altar.^{[a] 29} Someone told King Solomon that Joab had run to the Tent of the Lord and was beside the altar. So Solomon ordered Benaiah to go and kill him.

³⁰ Benaiah went into the Tent of the Lord and said to Joab, “The king says, ‘Come out!’”

But Joab answered, “No, I will die here.”

So Benaiah went back to the king and told him what Joab had said. ³¹ Then the king commanded Benaiah, “Do as he says! Kill him there and bury him. Then my family and I will be free of the guilt of Joab. Joab is guilty of killing innocent people. ³² He killed two men who were much better than he was. They were Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. Abner was the commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa was the commander of Judah’s army. My father David did not know that he killed them. So the Lord will pay him back for those men he killed. ³³ He and his family will be forever guilty for their deaths. But there will be peace from God for David, his descendants, his family and his rule forever.”

³⁴ So Benaiah son of Jehoiada killed Joab. And he was buried near his home in the desert. ³⁵ Solomon then made Benaiah son of Jehoiada commander of the army in Joab’s place. Solomon also made Zadok the new high priest in Abiathar’s place.

³⁶ Next the king sent for Shimei. The king said to him, “Build a house for yourself here in Jerusalem. Live in the house, and don’t leave the city. ³⁷ If you leave and go past Kidron Valley, someone will kill you. And it will be your own fault.”

³⁸ So Shimei answered the king, “What you have said is good. I will obey you, my master and king.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time.

³⁹ But three years later two of Shimei’s slaves ran away. They went to Achish king of Gath. He was the son of Maacah. Shimei heard that his slaves were in Gath. ⁴⁰ So he put his saddle on his donkey and left. He went to Achish at Gath to find his slaves. When he found them there, he brought them back to his home.

⁴¹ Someone told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned. ⁴² So Solomon sent for Shimei. Solomon said, “I made you promise in the name of the Lord not to leave Jerusalem. I warned you that if you went anywhere else you would die. And you agreed to what I said. You said you would obey me. ⁴³ Why did you break your promise to the Lord? Why did you not obey my command? ⁴⁴ You know the many wrong things you did against my father David. Now the Lord will punish you for those wrongs. ⁴⁵ But the Lord will bless me. He will make the rule of David safe before the Lord forever.”

⁴⁶ Then the king ordered Benaiah to kill Shimei, and he did. Now Solomon was in full control of his kingdom.

Solomon Asks for Wisdom

3 Solomon made an agreement with the king of Egypt by marrying his daughter. Solomon brought her to Jerusalem. At this time Solomon was still building his palace and the Temple of the Lord. He was also building a wall around Jerusalem. ² The Temple had not yet been finished. So people were still offering animal sacrifices at altars in many places of worship. ³ Solomon showed that he loved the Lord. He did this by following the commands his father David had given him. But Solomon still used the many places of worship to offer sacrifices and to burn incense.

⁴ King Solomon went to Gibeon to offer a sacrifice. He went there because it was the most important place of worship. He offered 1,000 burnt offerings on that altar. ⁵ While he was at Gibeon, the Lord came to him in a dream during the night. God said, “Ask for anything you want. I will give it to you.”

⁶ Solomon answered, “You were very kind to your servant, my father David. He obeyed you. He was honest and lived right. And you showed great kindness to him when you allowed his son to be king after him. ⁷ Lord my God, you have allowed me to be king in my father’s place. But I am like a little child. I do not have the wisdom I need to do what I must do. ⁸ I, your servant, am here among your chosen people. There are too many of them to count. ⁹ So I ask that you give me wisdom. Then I can rule the people in the right way. Then I will know the difference between right and wrong. Without wisdom, it is impossible to rule this great people of yours.”

¹⁰ The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked him for this. ¹¹ So God said to him, “You did not ask for a long life. And you did not ask for riches for yourself. You did not ask for the death of your enemies. Since you asked for wisdom to make the right decisions, ¹² I will give you what you asked. I will give you wisdom and understanding. Your wisdom will be greater than anyone has had in the past. And there will never be anyone in the future like you. ¹³ Also, I will give you what you did not ask for. You will have riches and honor. During your life no other king will be as great as you. ¹⁴ I ask you to follow me and obey my laws and commands. Do this as your father David did. If you do, I will also give you a long life.”

¹⁵ Then Solomon woke up. He knew that God had talked to him in the dream. Then he went to Jerusalem and stood before the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord. There he gave burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord. After that, he gave a feast for all of his leaders and officers.

Solomon Makes a Wise Decision

¹⁶ One day two women who were prostitutes came to Solomon. They stood before him. ¹⁷ One of the women said, “My master, this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a baby while she was there with me. ¹⁸ Three days later this woman also gave birth to a baby. No one else was in the house with us. There were only the two of us. ¹⁹ One night this woman rolled over on her baby, and it died. ²⁰ So during the night she took my son from my bed while I was asleep. She carried him to her bed. Then she put the dead baby in my bed. ²¹ The next morning I got up to feed my baby. But I saw that he was dead! Then I looked at him more closely. I saw that he was not my son.”

²² But the other woman said, “No! The living baby is my son. The dead baby is yours!”

But the first woman said, “No! The dead baby is yours, and the living one is mine!” So the two women argued before the king.

²³ Then King Solomon said, “Each of you says the living baby is your own. And each of you says the dead baby belongs to the other woman.”

²⁴ Then King Solomon sent his servants to get a sword. When they brought it to him, ²⁵ he said, “Cut the living baby into two pieces. Give each woman half of the baby.”

²⁶ The real mother of the living child was full of love for her son. She said to the king, “Please, my master, don’t kill him! Give the baby to her!”

But the other woman said, “Neither of us will have him. Cut him into two pieces!”

²⁷ Then King Solomon said, “Give the baby to the first woman. Don’t kill him. She is the real mother.”

²⁸ When the people of Israel heard about King Solomon’s decision, they respected him very much. They saw he had wisdom from God to make the right decisions.