David’s Instructions to Solomon

2 Now ^(A)the days of David drew near that he should die, and he ^[a]charged Solomon his son, saying: ^2 (B)“I go the way of all the earth; ^(C)be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man. ³ And keep the charge of the Lord your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may ^(D)prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn; ⁴ that the Lord may ^(E)fulfill His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, ^(F)‘If your sons take heed to their way, to ^(G)walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul,’ He said, ^(H)‘you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

⁵ “Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah ^(I)did to me, and what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to ^(J)Abner the son of Ner and ^(K)Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed. And he shed the blood of war in peacetime, and put the blood of war on his belt that was around his waist, and on his sandals that were on his feet. ⁶ Therefore do ^(L)according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down to the grave in peace.

⁷ “But show kindness to the sons of ^(M)Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who ^(N)eat at your table, for so ^(O)they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother.

⁸ “And see, you have with you ^(P)Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a malicious curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim. But ^(Q)he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and ^(R)I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ ⁹ Now therefore, ^(S)do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man and know what you ought to do to him; but ^(T)bring his gray hair down to the grave with blood.”

Death of David^(U)

¹⁰ So ^(V)David ^[b]rested with his fathers, and was buried in ^(W)the City of David. ¹¹ The period that David ^(X)reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years he reigned in Hebron, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years. ^12 (Y)Then Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and his kingdom was ^(Z)firmly established.

Solomon Executes Adonijah

¹³ Now Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. So she said, ^(AA)“Do you come peaceably?”

And he said, “Peaceably.” ¹⁴ Moreover he said, “I have something to say to you.”

And she said, “Say it.”

¹⁵ Then he said, “You know that the kingdom was ^(AB)mine, and all Israel had set their expectations on me, that I should reign. However, the kingdom has been turned over, and has become my brother’s; for ^(AC)it was his from the Lord. ¹⁶ Now I ask one petition of you; do not ^[c]deny me.”

And she said to him, “Say it.”

¹⁷ Then he said, “Please speak to King Solomon, for he will not refuse you, that he may give me ^(AD)Abishag the Shunammite as wife.”

¹⁸ So Bathsheba said, “Very well, I will speak for you to the king.”

¹⁹ Bathsheba therefore went to King Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her and ^(AE)bowed down to her, and sat down on his throne and had a throne set for the king’s mother; ^(AF)so she sat at his right hand. ²⁰ Then she said, “I desire one small petition of you; do not ^[d]refuse me.”

And the king said to her, “Ask it, my mother, for I will not refuse you.”

²¹ So she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as wife.”

²² And King Solomon answered and said to his mother, “Now why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also—for he is my ^(AG)older brother—for him, and for ^(AH)Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.” ²³ Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, ^(AI)“May God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life! ²⁴ Now therefore, as the Lord lives, who has confirmed me and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has established a ^[e]house for me, as He ^(AJ)promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today!”

²⁵ So King Solomon sent by the hand of ^(AK)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he struck him down, and he died.

Abiathar Exiled, Joab Executed

²⁶ And to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to ^(AL)Anathoth, to your own fields, for ^[f]you are deserving of death; but I will not put you to death at this time, ^(AM)because you carried the ark of the Lord God before my father David, and because you were afflicted every time my father was afflicted.” ²⁷ So Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, that he might ^(AN)fulfill the word of the Lord which He spoke concerning the house of Eli at Shiloh.

²⁸ Then news came to Joab, for Joab ^(AO)had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom. So Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and ^(AP)took hold of the horns of the altar. ²⁹ And King Solomon was told, “Joab has fled to the tabernacle of the Lord; there he is, by the altar.” Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, ^(AQ)strike him down.” ³⁰ So Benaiah went to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him, “Thus says the king, ^(AR)‘Come out!’ ”

And he said, “No, but I will die here.” And Benaiah brought back word to the king, saying, “Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.”

³¹ Then the king said to him, ^(AS)“Do as he has said, and strike him down and bury him, ^(AT)that you may take away from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood which Joab shed. ³² So the Lord ^(AU)will return his ^[g]blood on his head, because he struck down two men more righteous ^(AV)and better than he, and killed them with the sword—^(AW)Abner the son of Ner, the commander of the army of Israel, and ^(AX)Amasa the son of Jether, the commander of the army of Judah—though my father David did not know it. ³³ Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab and ^(AY)upon the head of his descendants forever. ^(AZ)But upon David and his descendants, upon his house and his throne, there shall be peace forever from the Lord.”

³⁴ So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and struck and killed him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. ³⁵ The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army, and the king put ^(BA)Zadok the priest in the place of ^(BB)Abiathar.

Shimei Executed

³⁶ Then the king sent and called for ^(BC)Shimei, and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there anywhere. ³⁷ For it shall be, on the day you go out and cross ^(BD)the Brook Kidron, know for certain you shall surely die; ^(BE)your ^[h]blood shall be on your own head.”

³⁸ And Shimei said to the king, “The saying is good. As my lord the king has said, so your servant will do.” So Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.

³⁹ Now it happened at the end of three years, that two slaves of Shimei ran away to ^(BF)Achish the son of Maachah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, “Look, your slaves are in Gath!” ⁴⁰ So Shimei arose, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to seek his slaves. And Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath. ⁴¹ And Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had come back. ⁴² Then the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord, and warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you go out and travel anywhere, you shall surely 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 commandment that I gave you?” ⁴⁴ The king said moreover to Shimei, “You know, as your heart acknowledges, ^(BG)all the wickedness that you did to my father David; therefore the Lord will ^(BH)return your wickedness on your own head. ⁴⁵ But King Solomon shall be blessed, and ^(BI)the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever.”

⁴⁶ So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out and struck him down, and he died. Thus the ^(BJ)kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.

Solomon Requests Wisdom^(BK)

3 Now ^(BL)Solomon made ^[i]a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and married Pharaoh’s daughter; then he brought her ^(BM)to the City of David until he had finished building his ^(BN)own house, and ^(BO)the house of the Lord, and ^(BP)the wall all around Jerusalem. ^2 (BQ)Meanwhile the people sacrificed at the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days.

Lying to the Holy Spirit

5 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. ² And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. ^3 (A)But Peter said, “Ananias, why has ^(B)Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? ⁴ While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”

⁵ Then Ananias, hearing these words, ^(C)fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. ⁶ And the young men arose and ^(D)wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him.

⁷ Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸ And Peter answered her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?”

She said, “Yes, for so much.”

⁹ Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together ^(E)to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” ^10 (F)Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband. ^11 (G)So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.

Continuing Power in the Church

¹² And ^(H)through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. ^(I)And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch. ¹³ Yet ^(J)none of the rest dared join them, ^(K)but the people esteemed them highly. ¹⁴ And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, ¹⁵ so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, ^(L)that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. ¹⁶ Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing ^(M)sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

Imprisoned Apostles Freed

^17 (N)Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with ^[a]indignation, ^18 (O)and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. ¹⁹ But at night ^(P)an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, ²⁰ “Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people ^(Q)all the words of this life.”

²¹ And when they heard that, they entered the temple early in the morning and taught. ^(R)But the high priest and those with him came and called the ^[b]council together, with all the ^[c]elders of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

Apostles on Trial Again

²² But when the officers came and did not find them in the prison, they returned and reported, ²³ saying, “Indeed we found the prison shut securely, and the guards standing ^[d]outside before the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside!” ²⁴ Now when ^[e]the high priest, ^(S)the captain of the temple, and the chief priests heard these things, they wondered what the outcome would be. ²⁵ So one came and told them, ^[f]saying, “Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!”

²⁶ Then the captain went with the officers and brought them without violence, ^(T)for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned. ²⁷ And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, ²⁸ saying, ^(U)“Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, ^(V)and intend to bring this Man’s ^(W)blood on us!”

²⁹ But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: ^(X)“We ought to obey God rather than men. ^30 (Y)The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by ^(Z)hanging on a tree. ^31 (AA)Him God has exalted to His right hand to be ^(AB)Prince and ^(AC)Savior, ^(AD)to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. ³² And ^(AE)we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit ^(AF)whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

Gamaliel’s Advice

³³ When they heard this, they were ^(AG)furious^[g] and plotted to kill them. ³⁴ Then one in the council stood up, a Pharisee named ^(AH)Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in respect by all the people, and commanded them to put the apostles outside for a little while. ³⁵ And he said to them: “Men of Israel, ^[h]take heed to yourselves what you intend to do regarding these men. ³⁶ For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody. A number of men, about four hundred, ^[i]joined him. He was slain, and all who obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing. ³⁷ After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census, and drew away many people after him. He also perished, and all who obeyed him were dispersed. ³⁸ And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; ^39 (AI)but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found ^(AJ)to fight against God.”

⁴⁰ And they agreed with him, and when they had ^(AK)called for the apostles ^(AL)and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. ⁴¹ So they departed from the presence of the council, ^(AM)rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for ^[j]His name. ⁴² And daily ^(AN)in the temple, and in every house, ^(AO)they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

The Lord the Strength of His People

A Song of Ascents.