¹⁵ Now then, you and the Sanhedrin^(A) petition the commander to bring him before you on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about his case. We are ready to kill him before he gets here.”

¹² I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had prophesied against me^(A) because Tobiah and Sanballat^(B) had hired him. ¹³ He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would commit a sin by doing this, and then they would give me a bad name to discredit me.^(C)

³⁴ There have Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint^(A) him king over Israel. Blow the trumpet^(B) and shout, ‘Long live King Solomon!’

²⁵ Today he has gone down and sacrificed great numbers of cattle, fattened calves, and sheep. He has invited all the king’s sons, the commanders of the army and Abiathar the priest. Right now they are eating and drinking with him and saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’

¹⁸ But now Adonijah has become king, and you, my lord the king, do not know about it.

⁷ Adonijah conferred with Joab^(A) son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar^(B) the priest, and they gave him their support.

¹⁰ Then Absalom sent secret messengers throughout the tribes of Israel to say, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpets,^(A) then say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron.’” ¹¹ Two hundred men from Jerusalem had accompanied Absalom. They had been invited as guests and went quite innocently, knowing nothing about the matter. ¹² While Absalom was offering sacrifices, he also sent for Ahithophel^(B) the Gilonite, David’s counselor,^(C) to come from Giloh,^(D) his hometown. And so the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom’s following kept on increasing.^(E)