Nathan and Bathsheba

Then Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, and David our lord does not know it?

Behold, while you are still there speaking with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words.”

And behold, while she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in.

While he was still speaking, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came. Then Adonijah said, “Come in, for you are a valiant man and you bring good news.”

so that the Lord may fulfill His promise which He spoke regarding me, saying, ‘If your sons are careful about their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and all their soul, you shall not be deprived of a man to occupy the throne of Israel.’

Then he said, “I have something to say to you.” And she said, “Speak.”

So now I am making one request of you; do not refuse me.” And she said to him, “Speak.”

Then he said, “Please speak to Solomon the king—for he will not refuse you—that he may give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife.”

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

Adonijah Executed

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 had a throne set up for the king’s mother, and she sat on his right.

Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, “May God do so to me and more so, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life!

So Solomon dismissed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, to fulfill the word of the Lord, which He had spoken regarding the house of Eli in Shiloh.

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.”

And the king said to him, “Do just as he has spoken, and execute him and bury him, so that you may remove from me and from my father’s house the blood which Joab shed without justification.

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.

Then the other woman said, “No! For the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.” But the first woman said, “No! For the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.” So they spoke before the king.

But the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for she was deeply stirred over her son, and she said, “Pardon me, my lord! Give her the living child, and by no means kill him!” But the other woman was saying, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; cut him!”

So behold, I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, just as the Lord spoke to David my father, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will put on your throne in your place, he will build the house for My name.’

“As for this house which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes and execute My ordinances and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will fulfill My word with you which I spoke to David your father.

The workmanship of the wheels was like the workmanship of a chariot wheel. Their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast.

He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David, and fulfilled it with His hands, saying,

Now the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for I have risen in place of my father David and I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

You who have kept with Your servant, my father David, that which You promised him; You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.

Now then, God of Israel, let Your words, please, be confirmed, which You have spoken to Your servant, my father David.

For You have singled them out from all the peoples of the earth as Your inheritance, just as You spoke through Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, Lord God.”