The Daily Audio Bible

David's Instructions to Solomon

2 ^(A)When David's time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying, ^2 (B)“I am about to go the way of all the earth. ^(C)Be strong, and show yourself a man, ³ and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, ^(D)that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, ⁴ that the Lord may ^(E)establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, ^(F)‘If your sons pay close attention to their way, ^(G)to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, ^(H)you shall not lack^[a] a man on the throne of Israel.’

⁵ “Moreover, you also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah ^(I)did to me, how he dealt with the two commanders of the armies of Israel, ^(J)Abner the son of Ner, ^(K)and Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed, avenging^[b] in time of peace for blood that had been shed in war, and putting the blood of war^[c] on the belt around his^[d] waist and on the sandals on his feet. ⁶ Act therefore ^(L)according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace. ⁷ But deal loyally with the sons of ^(M)Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be ^(N)among those who eat at your table, ^(O)for with such loyalty^[e] they met me when I fled from Absalom your brother. ⁸ And there is also with you ^(P)Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse on the day ^(Q)when I went to Mahanaim. ^(R)But when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ ⁹ Now therefore do not hold him guiltless, ^(S)for you are a wise man. You will know what you ought to do to him, and you shall ^(T)bring his gray head down with blood to Sheol.”

The Death of David

^10 (U)Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in ^(V)the city of David. ¹¹ And the time that David reigned over Israel was ^(W)forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. ^12 (X)So Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established.

Solomon's Reign Established

¹³ Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, ^(Y)“Do you come peacefully?” He said, “Peacefully.” ¹⁴ Then he said, “I have something to say to you.” She said, “Speak.” ¹⁵ He said, “You know that ^(Z)the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel fully expected me to reign. However, the kingdom has turned about and become my brother's, ^(AA)for it was his from the Lord. ¹⁶ And now I have one request to make of you; do not refuse me.” She said to him, “Speak.” ¹⁷ And he said, “Please ask King Solomon—he will not refuse you—to give me ^(AB)Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.” ¹⁸ Bathsheba said, “Very well; I will speak for you to the king.”

¹⁹ So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. And the king rose to meet her and bowed down to her. Then he sat on his throne and had a seat brought for the king's mother, ^(AC)and she sat on his right. ²⁰ Then she said, “I have one small request to make of you; do not refuse me.” And the king said to her, “Make your request, my mother, for I will not refuse you.” ²¹ She said, “Let ^(AD)Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as his wife.” ²² King Solomon answered his mother, “And why do you ask ^(AE)Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also, ^(AF)for he is my older brother, and on his side ^(AG)are Abiathar^[f] the priest and Joab the son of Zeruiah.” ²³ Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, ^(AH)“God do so to me and more also if this word does not cost Adonijah his life! ²⁴ Now therefore ^(AI)as the Lord lives, who has established me and placed me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, ^(AJ)as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today.” ²⁵ So King Solomon sent ^(AK)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he struck him down, and he died.

²⁶ And to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to ^(AL)Anathoth, to your estate, for you deserve death. But I will not at this time put you to death, ^(AM)because you carried the ark of the Lord God before David my father, ^(AN)and because you shared in all my father's affliction.” ^27 (AO)So Solomon expelled Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, thus fulfilling ^(AP)the word of the Lord that he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

²⁸ When the news came to Joab—for Joab ^(AQ)had supported Adonijah although ^(AR)he had not supported Absalom—Joab fled to the tent of the Lord and caught hold of the ^(AS)horns of the altar. ²⁹ And when it was told King Solomon, “Joab has fled to the tent of the Lord, and behold, he is beside the altar,” Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, strike him down.” ³⁰ So Benaiah came to the tent of the Lord and said to him, “The king commands, ‘Come out.’” But he said, “No, I will die here.” Then Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, “Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.” ³¹ The king replied to him, ^(AT)“Do as he has said, strike him down and bury him, ^(AU)and thus take away from me and from my father's house the guilt for the blood that Joab shed without cause. ³² The Lord will ^(AV)bring back his bloody deeds on his own head, because, without the knowledge of my father David, he attacked and killed with the sword two men ^(AW)more righteous and better than himself, ^(AX)Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and ^(AY)Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. ^33 (AZ)So shall their blood come back on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever. But for David and for his descendants and for his house and for his throne there shall be peace from the Lord forevermore.” ³⁴ Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and struck him down and put him to death. And he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. ^35 (BA)The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in place of Joab, and the king put ^(BB)Zadok the priest ^(BC)in the place of Abiathar.

³⁶ Then the king sent and summoned ^(BD)Shimei and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there to any place whatever. ³⁷ For on the day you go out and cross ^(BE)the brook Kidron, know for certain that you shall die. ^(BF)Your blood shall be on your own head.” ³⁸ And Shimei said to the king, “What you say is good; as my lord the king has said, so will your servant do.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.

³⁹ But it happened at the end of three years that two of Shimei's servants ran away to ^(BG)Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. And when it was told Shimei, “Behold, your servants are in Gath,” ⁴⁰ Shimei arose and saddled a donkey and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants. Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath. ⁴¹ And when Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and returned, ⁴² the king sent 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 go out and go to any place whatever, you shall die’? And you said to me, ‘What you say is good; I will obey.’ ⁴³ Why then have you not kept your oath to the Lord and the commandment with which I commanded you?” ⁴⁴ The king also said to Shimei, “You know in your own heart ^(BH)all the harm that you did to David my father. So the Lord will ^(BI)bring back your harm on your own head. ⁴⁵ But King Solomon shall be blessed, ^(BJ)and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever.” ⁴⁶ Then the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck him down, and he died.

^(BK)So the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.

Solomon's Prayer for Wisdom

3 ^(BL)Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her into ^(BM)the city of David until he had finished ^(BN)building his own house ^(BO)and the house of the Lord ^(BP)and the wall around Jerusalem. ^2 (BQ)The people were sacrificing at the high places, however, because no house had yet been built for the name of the Lord.

Ananias and Sapphira

5 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, ² and with his wife's knowledge ^(A)he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and ^(B)laid it at the apostles' feet. ³ But Peter said, “Ananias, why has ^(C)Satan filled your heart to lie ^(D)to the Holy Spirit and ^(E)to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? ⁴ While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but ^(F)to God.” ⁵ When Ananias heard these words, he ^(G)fell down and breathed his last. And ^(H)great fear came upon all who heard of it. ⁶ The young men rose and ^(I)wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

⁷ After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸ And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you^[a] sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” ⁹ But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together ^(J)to test ^(K)the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” ¹⁰ Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹ And ^(L)great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

Many Signs and Wonders Done

¹² Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people ^(M)by the hands of the apostles. And they were all ^(N)together in ^(O)Solomon's Portico. ¹³ None of the rest dared join them, but ^(P)the people held them in high esteem. ¹⁴ And ^(Q)more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, ^15 (R)so that they even ^(S)carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by ^(T)at least his shadow might fall on some of them. ¹⁶ The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, ^(U)bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

The Apostles Arrested and Freed

¹⁷ But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of ^(V)the Sadducees), and filled with ^(W)jealousy ¹⁸ they arrested the apostles and ^(X)put them in the public prison. ¹⁹ But during the night ^(Y)an angel of the Lord ^(Z)opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, ²⁰ “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all ^(AA)the words of ^(AB)this ^(AC)Life.” ²¹ And when they heard this, ^(AD)they entered the temple ^(AE)at daybreak and began to teach.

Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. ²² But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, ²³ “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” ²⁴ Now when ^(AF)the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. ²⁵ And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison ^(AG)are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” ²⁶ Then ^(AH)the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for ^(AI)they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

²⁷ And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, ²⁸ saying, ^(AJ)“We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you ^(AK)intend to bring this man's blood upon us.” ²⁹ But Peter and the apostles answered, ^(AL)“We must obey God rather than men. ^30 (AM)The God of our fathers ^(AN)raised Jesus, ^(AO)whom you killed by hanging him on ^(AP)a tree. ³¹ God exalted ^(AQ)him at his right hand as ^(AR)Leader and ^(AS)Savior, ^(AT)to give ^(AU)repentance to Israel and ^(AV)forgiveness of sins. ³² And ^(AW)we are witnesses to these things, and ^(AX)so is the Holy Spirit, ^(AY)whom God has given to those who obey him.”

³³ When they heard this, they ^(AZ)were enraged and wanted to kill them. ³⁴ But a Pharisee in the council named ^(BA)Gamaliel, ^(BB)a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. ³⁵ And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. ³⁶ For ^(BC)before these days Theudas rose up, ^(BD)claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. ³⁷ After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of ^(BE)the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. ³⁸ So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for ^(BF)if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; ³⁹ but ^(BG)if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You ^(BH)might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice, ⁴⁰ and ^(BI)when they had called in the apostles, ^(BJ)they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. ⁴¹ Then they left the presence of the council, ^(BK)rejoicing that they were counted worthy ^(BL)to suffer dishonor for ^(BM)the name. ⁴² And every day, ^(BN)in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and ^(BO)preaching ^(BP)that the Christ is Jesus.

The Lord Surrounds His People

A Song of ^(A)Ascents.