Solomon Confirmed King

²⁸ King David responded by saying, “Call in Bathsheba for me.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before him. ²⁹ The king swore an oath and said, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from every difficulty,^{(A) 30} just as I swore to you by the Lord God of Israel: Your son Solomon is to become king after me, and he is the one who is to sit on my throne in my place,^(B) that is exactly what I will do this very day.”^(C)

³¹ Bathsheba knelt low with her face to the ground, paying homage to the king,^(D) and said, “May my lord King David live forever!” ^(E)

³² King David then said, “Call in the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada for me.”^(F) So they came into the king’s presence. ³³ The king said to them, “Take my servants^(G) with you, have my son Solomon ride on my own mule,^(H) and take him down to Gihon.^{(I) 34} There, the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan are to anoint him as king over Israel.^(J) You are to blow the ram’s horn^(K) and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ ^{(L) 35} You are to come up after him, and he is to come in and sit on my throne. He is the one who is to become king in my place; he is the one I have commanded to be ruler^(M) over Israel and Judah.”^(N)

³⁶ “Amen,” Benaiah son of Jehoiada replied to the king. “May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, so affirm it.^{(O) 37} Just as the Lord was with my lord the king,^(P) so may he^[a] be with Solomon and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.”^(Q)

³⁸ Then the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites^(R) went down, had Solomon ride on King David’s mule, and took him to Gihon. ³⁹ The priest Zadok took the horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon.^(S) Then they blew the ram’s horn,^(T) and all the people proclaimed, “Long live King Solomon!” ^{(U) 40} All the people went up after him, playing flutes and rejoicing with such a great joy^(V) that the earth split open from the sound.^[b]