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1 Kings 2:12-46
New American Standard Bible

12 Then (A)Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was firmly established.

13 Now Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. So she said, “(B)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 (C)the kingdom was mine and (D)that all Israel [a]intended for me to be king; (E)however, the kingdom has turned around and become my brother’s, (F)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 (G)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 (H)had a throne set up for the king’s mother, and (I)she sat on his right. 20 Then she said, “I am making one small request of you; (J)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, “(K)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? (L)Request for him the kingdom as well—(M)since he is my older brother—for him, for (N)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 (O)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 (P)has made me a house just as He [g]promised, Adonijah certainly shall be put to death today!” 25 Then King Solomon (Q)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, “(R)Go to Anathoth to your own field, (S)for you [i]deserve to die; but I will not put you to death at this [j]time, because (T)you carried the ark of the Lord [k]God before my father David, and because (U)you were afflicted in everything with which my father was afflicted.” 27 So Solomon dismissed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, to fulfill (V)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 (W)because Joab had followed Adonijah, (X)though he had not followed Absalom. So Joab fled to the tent of the Lord and (Y)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 (Z)sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “(AA)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, “(AB)Do just as he has spoken, and [n]execute him and bury him, (AC)so that you may remove from me and from my father’s house the blood which Joab shed without [o]justification. 32 (AD)The Lord will return his blood on his own head, (AE)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: (AF)Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and (AG)Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. 33 (AH)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.” 34 Then (AI)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and [s]struck him and put him to death, and he was buried at his own house (AJ)in the wilderness. 35 And (AK)the king appointed Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in his place, and the king appointed (AL)Zadok the priest (AM)in place of Abiathar.

Shimei Executed

36 Now the king sent men and summoned (AN)Shimei, and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, and do not leave there for any other place. 37 For on the day you leave and (AO)cross the [t]brook Kidron, you will know for certain that you will assuredly die; (AP)your blood will be [u]on your own head.” 38 Shimei then said to the king, “The word is good. Just as my lord the king has spoken, so your servant shall do.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for many days.

39 But it came about at the end of three years, that two of Shimei’s servants ran away (AQ)to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. And others told Shimei, saying, “Behold, your servants are in Gath.” 40 Then Shimei got up and saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish, to search for his servants. And Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath. 41 And it was reported to Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had returned. 42 So the king sent men and summoned Shimei, and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord, and solemnly warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you depart and go anywhere, you shall assuredly 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 command which I [v]imposed on you?” 44 The king also said to Shimei, “(AR)You yourself know all the evil that [w]you acknowledge in your heart, which you did to my father David; therefore (AS)the Lord will return your evil on your own head. 45 But King Solomon will be blessed, and (AT)the throne of David will be established before the Lord forever.” 46 (AU)So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and [x]struck him so that he died.

(AV)And the kingdom was established in the hands of Solomon.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 2:15 Lit set their faces toward me
  2. 1 Kings 2:16 Lit turn away my face
  3. 1 Kings 2:17 Lit turn away your face
  4. 1 Kings 2:20 Lit turn away my face
  5. 1 Kings 2:20 Lit turn away your face
  6. 1 Kings 2:23 Lit soul
  7. 1 Kings 2:24 Lit spoke
  8. 1 Kings 2:25 Lit attacked
  9. 1 Kings 2:26 Lit are a man of death
  10. 1 Kings 2:26 Lit day
  11. 1 Kings 2:26 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
  12. 1 Kings 2:29 Lit behold, beside
  13. 1 Kings 2:29 Lit attack
  14. 1 Kings 2:31 Lit attack
  15. 1 Kings 2:31 Or cause
  16. 1 Kings 2:32 Lit attacked
  17. 1 Kings 2:33 Lit seed
  18. 1 Kings 2:33 Lit seed
  19. 1 Kings 2:34 Lit attacked
  20. 1 Kings 2:37 Or wadi
  21. 1 Kings 2:37 I.e., your own responsibility
  22. 1 Kings 2:43 Lit commanded
  23. 1 Kings 2:44 Lit your heart acknowledges
  24. 1 Kings 2:46 Lit attacked
Close NLT

1 Kings 2:12-46
New Living Translation

12 Solomon became king and sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established.

Solomon Establishes His Rule

13 One day Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, came to see Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. “Have you come with peaceful intentions?” she asked him.

“Yes,” he said, “I come in peace. 14 In fact, I have a favor to ask of you.”

“What is it?” she asked.

15 He replied, “As you know, the kingdom was rightfully mine; all Israel wanted me to be the next king. But the tables were turned, and the kingdom went to my brother instead; for that is the way the Lord wanted it. 16 So now I have just one favor to ask of you. Please don’t turn me down.”

“What is it?” she asked.

17 He replied, “Speak to King Solomon on my behalf, for I know he will do anything you request. Ask him to let me marry Abishag, the girl from Shunem.”

18 “All right,” Bathsheba replied. “I will speak to the king for you.”

19 So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak on Adonijah’s behalf. The king rose from his throne to meet her, and he bowed down before her. When he sat down on his throne again, the king ordered that a throne be brought for his mother, and she sat at his right hand.

20 “I have one small request to make of you,” she said. “I hope you won’t turn me down.”

“What is it, my mother?” he asked. “You know I won’t refuse you.”

21 “Then let your brother Adonijah marry Abishag, the girl from Shunem,” she replied.

22 “How can you possibly ask me to give Abishag to Adonijah?” King Solomon demanded. “You might as well ask me to give him the kingdom! You know that he is my older brother, and that he has Abiathar the priest and Joab son of Zeruiah on his side.”

23 Then King Solomon made a vow before the Lord: “May God strike me and even kill me if Adonijah has not sealed his fate with this request. 24 The Lord has confirmed me and placed me on the throne of my father, David; he has established my dynasty as he promised. So as surely as the Lord lives, Adonijah will die this very day!” 25 So King Solomon ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada to execute him, and Adonijah was put to death.

26 Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your home in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but I will not kill you now, because you carried the Ark of the Sovereign Lord for David my father and you shared all his hardships.” 27 So Solomon deposed Abiathar from his position as priest of the Lord, thereby fulfilling the prophecy the Lord had given at Shiloh concerning the descendants of Eli.

28 Joab had not joined Absalom’s earlier rebellion, but he had joined Adonijah’s rebellion. So when Joab heard about Adonijah’s death, he ran to the sacred tent of the Lord and grabbed on to the horns of the altar. 29 When this was reported to King Solomon, he sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada to execute him.

30 Benaiah went to the sacred tent of the Lord and said to Joab, “The king orders you to come out!”

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

So Benaiah returned to the king and told him what Joab had said.

31 “Do as he said,” the king replied. “Kill him there beside the altar and bury him. This will remove the guilt of Joab’s senseless murders from me and from my father’s family. 32 The Lord will repay him[a] for the murders of two men who were more righteous and better than he. For my father knew nothing about the deaths of Abner son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and of Amasa son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. 33 May their blood be on Joab and his descendants forever, and may the Lord grant peace forever to David, his descendants, his dynasty, and his throne.”

34 So Benaiah son of Jehoiada returned to the sacred tent and killed Joab, and he was buried at his home in the wilderness. 35 Then the king appointed Benaiah to command the army in place of Joab, and he installed Zadok the priest to take the place of Abiathar.

36 The king then sent for Shimei and told him, “Build a house here in Jerusalem and live there. But don’t step outside the city to go anywhere else. 37 On the day you so much as cross the Kidron Valley, you will surely die; and your blood will be on your own head.”

38 Shimei replied, “Your sentence is fair; I will do whatever my lord the king commands.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time.

39 But three years later two of Shimei’s slaves ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. When Shimei learned where they were, 40 he saddled his donkey and went to Gath to search for them. When he found them, he brought them back to Jerusalem.

41 Solomon heard that Shimei had left Jerusalem and had gone to Gath and returned. 42 So the king sent for Shimei and demanded, “Didn’t I make you swear by the Lord and warn you not to go anywhere else or you would surely die? And you replied, ‘The sentence is fair; I will do as you say.’ 43 Then why haven’t you kept your oath to the Lord and obeyed my command?”

44 The king also said to Shimei, “You certainly remember all the wicked things you did to my father, David. May the Lord now bring that evil on your own head. 45 But may I, King Solomon, receive the Lord’s blessings, and may one of David’s descendants always sit on this throne in the presence of the Lord.” 46 Then, at the king’s command, Benaiah son of Jehoiada took Shimei outside and killed him.

So the kingdom was now firmly in Solomon’s grip.

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Footnotes

  1. 2:32 Hebrew will return his blood on his own head.
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