David Affirms Solomon as King

²⁸ “Call Bathsheba for me,” King David replied. So she came in and stood in front of the king. ²⁹ “As the Lord lives,” the king said with an oath, “who has redeemed me from all sorts of troubles, ³⁰ I certainly did tell you in the name of^[a] the Lord God of Israel, ‘Your son Solomon will be king after me and will sit on my throne in my place.’ I’m certainly going to make this happen today!”

³¹ “King David,” Bathsheba said as she bowed low in front of the king with her face to the ground, “your majesty, may you live forever.”

³² “Get me Zadok the priest,” King David said, “along with Nathan the prophet, and Jehoiada’s son Benaiah.” So they were ushered into the king’s presence ³³ and David addressed them. “Take your lord’s servants, have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and take him down to Gihon. ³⁴ Have Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there as king over Israel. Then sound a trumpet and declare ‘Long live King Solomon!’ ³⁵ After this, you are to follow him back here, and he is to come and sit on my throne and take my place as king, because I’ve appointed him to be Commander-in-Chief^[b] over Israel and Judah.”

³⁶ “Amen!” replied Jehoiada’s son Benaiah to the king. “May the Lord God of your majesty make this happen! ³⁷ As the Lord has been with your majesty the king, so may he be with Solomon. May he make his throne greater than the throne of your majesty, King David.”

Solomon is Anointed King

³⁸ So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Jehoiada’s son Benaiah, and the special forces^[c] and mercenaries^[d] went out and had Solomon ride the king’s mule all the way to Gihon. ³⁹ Zadok the priest brought from his tent a horn filled with oil and anointed Solomon, a trumpet was sounded, and everybody yelled out, “Long live King Solomon!” ⁴⁰ All the people followed after him, playing on wind pipes and so full of joy that the earth shook because of all the noise!