The Daily Audio Bible

David’s Charge to Solomon^(A)

2 Now it was coming close to the day of David’s death, and he gave his son Solomon a charge, saying:

² “I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself to be a man. ³ And keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in His ways, keeping His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, ⁴ that the Lord may carry out His word that He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your children take heed to their way, to walk before Me in faithfulness with all their hearts and with all their souls, you shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’

⁵ “Moreover, you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, what he did to the two commanders of the army of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed, shedding the blood of war in a time of peace. He spilled their blood on the belt that was around his waist and on the shoes of his feet. ⁶ Do the right thing according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray head go down to the grave in peace.

⁷ “But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them eat at your table, for with such loyalty they supported me when I fled from your brother Absalom.

⁸ “There is also with you Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim. 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, for you are a wise man and know what you ought to do to him. Bring his gray head down to the grave with blood.”

¹⁰ So David slept with his fathers and was buried in the City of David.

¹¹ David reigned over Israel forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. ¹² So Solomon sat upon the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was firmly established.

The Throne of Solomon Established

¹³ Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, “Do you come in peace?”

And he said, “I come peaceably.” ¹⁴ Then he said, “I have something to say to you.”

And she said, “Speak.”

¹⁵ He said, “You know that the kingdom was mine and that all Israel viewed me as the king. However, the kingdom has become my brother’s, for it was given to him by the Lord. ¹⁶ And now I ask one petition of you; do not deny me.”

She said to him, “Keep speaking.”

¹⁷ And 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.”

¹⁸ Bathsheba said, “Very well, I will speak to the king on your behalf.”

¹⁹ So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. The king rose up to meet her and bowed to her. Then he sat down on his throne and had a seat placed at his right hand for her to sit upon.

²⁰ Then she said, “I desire one small petition of you. Please do not deny me.”

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

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

²² King Solomon answered his mother, “Now why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also, for he is my elder brother. Ask not only for him, but also for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.”

²³ Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, “May God do so to me and more also if this word does not cost Adonijah his life. ²⁴ Now therefore as the Lord lives, who has established me and set me on the throne of David my father and who has made me a house as He promised, Adonijah shall be put to death this day.” ²⁵ So King Solomon dispatched Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he executed him.

²⁶ The king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go to Anathoth, to your own fields, for you are worthy of death. But I will not at this time put you to death, because you bore the ark of the Lord God before David my father and because you shared in all the hardships my father endured.” ²⁷ So Solomon expelled Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, thus fulfilling the word of the Lord that He had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

²⁸ Then word came to Joab, for Joab had followed Adonijah, though he did not support Absalom. And Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord and caught hold of the horns of the altar. ²⁹ King Solomon was told that Joab had fled to the tabernacle of the Lord and was by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go and execute him.”

³⁰ So Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the Lord and said to him, “Thus says the king, ‘Come forth.’ ”

And he said, “No, I will die here.”

And Benaiah told the king all Joab said.

³¹ The king said to him, “Do as he has said, strike him down and bury him, and thus take away from me and my father’s house the guilt for the blood Joab shed without cause. ³² The Lord shall return his blood upon his own head, for he attacked two men more righteous and better than he—Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah—and killed them with the sword when my father David was unaware. ³³ Therefore their blood shall return upon the head of Joab and upon the head of his seed forever, but upon David and upon his seed and upon his house and upon his throne shall the peace of the Lord rest forever.”

³⁴ So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and attacked and killed him, and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. ³⁵ The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in place of Joab and put Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar.

³⁶ The king sent and called for Shimei and said to him, “Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and never leave the city. ³⁷ For on the day you go out and pass over the Kidron Valley, know for certain that you will surely die. Your blood shall be on your own head.”

³⁸ Shimei said to the king, “What you say is good. As my lord the king has said, so will your servant do.” And Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.

³⁹ It came about that at the end of three years, two servants of Shimei ran away to Achish son of Maakah king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, “Your servants are in Gath.” ⁴⁰ Shimei arose, saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish to look for his servants. And Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath.

⁴¹ Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned. ⁴² The king sent and called for Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord and warned you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you go out and walk abroad anywhere, you shall surely die’? And you said to me, ‘What you say is good; I will obey.’ ⁴³ Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord and the commandment that I gave you?”

⁴⁴ The king also said to Shimei, “You know all the wickedness in your heart and what you did to David my father. Therefore the Lord shall return your wickedness on your own head. ⁴⁵ But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever.”

⁴⁶ So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, who went out and attacked him so that he died.

And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.

Solomon Asks for Wisdom^(B)

3 Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He married Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her to the City of David until he finished building his palace, the house of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem. ² The people were sacrificing at the high places, because no house had yet been built for the name of the Lord.

Ananias and Sapphira

5 Now a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property. ² He kept back part of the proceeds with his wife’s knowledge, and brought a part of it and placed it at the apostles’ feet.

³ Then Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to deceive the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the proceeds of the land? ⁴ While it remained unsold, was it not your own? And when it was sold, was it not under your authority? Why have you conceived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to men, but to God.”

⁵ On hearing these words, Ananias fell down and died. And great fear came on all those who heard these things. ⁶ The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

⁷ About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸ Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for this amount?”

She said, “Yes, for that much.”

⁹ Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together 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 At once she fell down at his feet and died. Upon entering, the young men found her dead and carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹ Great fear came on the entire church and on all those who heard these things.

Signs and Wonders

¹² Many signs and wonders were performed among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Porch. ¹³ No one else dared join them, but the people respected them. ¹⁴ Believers were increasingly added to the Lord, crowds of both men and women, ¹⁵ so that they even brought the sick out into the streets and placed them on beds and mats, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might touch some of them. ¹⁶ Crowds also came out of the cities surrounding Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those who were afflicted by evil spirits, and they were all healed.

Persecution of the Apostles

¹⁷ Then the high priest and all those who were with him (that is, the sect of the Sadducees) rose up and were filled with jealousy. ¹⁸ They seized the apostles and put them in the common prison. ¹⁹ But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and led them out, and said, ²⁰ “Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.”

²¹ Having heard this, they entered the temple at dawn and taught.

But the high priest and those who were with him came and called together the Sanhedrin and the senate of all the sons of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought out. ²² But when the officers came and did not find them in the prison, they returned and reported, ²³ “We found the prison securely shut and the guards standing outside before the doors. But when we opened it, we found no one inside.” ²⁴ Now when the high priest, the captain of the temple, and the chief priests heard these things, they were in doubt of what might become of this.

²⁵ Then one came and told them, “Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” ²⁶ Then the captain with his escorts went and brought them, without force lest they should be stoned, for they feared the people.

²⁷ When they had brought them, they stood them before the Sanhedrin. And the high priest questioned them, ²⁸ saying, “Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? Yet now you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring on us this Man’s blood.”

²⁹ Peter and the other apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. ³⁰ The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging on a tree. ³¹ God exalted this Man to His right hand to be a Ruler and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. ³² We are His witnesses to these words, as is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

³³ When they heard this, they were cut to the heart and took counsel to kill them. ³⁴ But a Pharisee in the Sanhedrin named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law honored by all the people, stood and ordered the apostles to be put outside for a little while. ³⁵ Then he said to them, “Men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do concerning these men. ³⁶ For in previous days Theudas rose up, boasting to be somebody, to whom a number of about four hundred men joined themselves. He was killed, and all who obeyed him were dispersed and came to nothing. ³⁷ After Theudas, Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away many people after him. This man also perished, and all who obeyed him were scattered. ³⁸ Now I tell you, keep away from these men and leave them alone, because if this intention or this activity is of men, it will come to nothing. ³⁹ But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them, lest perhaps you be found even fighting against God.”

⁴⁰ They agreed with him. When they had called in the apostles, they beat them, and commanded them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and released them.

⁴¹ Then they departed from the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. ⁴² Daily, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease to teach and preach Jesus Christ.

Psalm 125

A Song of Ascents.