1 Kings 2
2
David Gives Orders to Solomon
1The time came near for David to die. So he gave orders to his son Solomon.
2He said, “I’m about to die, just as everyone else on earth does. So be strong. Show how brave you are. 3Do everything the Lord your God requires. Live the way he wants you to. Obey his orders and commands. Keep his laws and rules. Do everything written in the Law of Moses. Then you will have success in everything you do. You will succeed everywhere you go. 4The Lord will keep the promise he made to me. He said, ‘Your sons must be careful about how they live. They must be faithful to me with all their heart and soul. Then you will always have a son from your family line to sit on the throne of Israel.’
5“You yourself know what Joab, the son of Zeruiah, did to me. You know that he killed Abner, the son of Ner, and Amasa, the son of Jether. They were the two commanders of Israel’s armies. He killed them in a time of peace. It wasn’t a time of war. Joab spilled the blood of Abner and Amasa. With that blood he stained the belt around his waist. He also stained the sandals on his feet. 6You are wise. So I leave him in your hands. Just don’t let him live to become an old man. Don’t let him die peacefully.
7“But be kind to the sons of Barzillai from Gilead. Provide what they need. They were faithful to me when I had to run away from your brother Absalom.
8“Don’t forget that Shimei, the son of Gera, is still around. He’s from Bahurim in the territory of Benjamin. Shimei cursed me bitterly. He did it on the day I went to Mahanaim. Later, he came down to welcome me at the Jordan River. At that time I made a promise in the name of the Lord. I promised Shimei, ‘I won’t put you to death with my sword.’ 9But now I want you to think of him as guilty. You are wise. You will know what to do to him. Don’t let him live to become an old man. Put him to death.”
10David joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried in the City of David. 11He had ruled over Israel for 40 years. He ruled for seven years in Hebron. Then he ruled for 33 years in Jerusalem. 12So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David. His position as king was made secure.
Solomon’s Kingdom Is Made Secure
13Adonijah was the son of David’s wife Haggith. He went to Bathsheba. She was Solomon’s mother. She asked Adonijah, “Have you come in peace?”
He answered, “Yes. I’ve come in peace.” 14He continued, “I want to ask you something.”
“Go ahead,” she replied.
15He said, “As you know, the kingdom belonged to me. The whole nation of Israel thought of me as their king. But now things have changed. The kingdom belongs to my brother. The Lord has given it to him. 16But I have a favor to ask of you. Don’t say no to me.”
“Go ahead,” she said.
17So he continued, “Please ask King Solomon for a favor. He won’t say no to you. Ask him to give me Abishag from Shunem to be my wife.”
18“All right,” Bathsheba replied. “I’ll speak to the king for you.”
19So Bathsheba went to King Solomon. She went to him to speak for Adonijah. The king stood up to greet her. He bowed down to her. Then he sat down on his throne. He had a throne brought for his mother. She sat down at his right side.
20“I have one small favor to ask of you,” she said. “Don’t say no to me.”
The king replied, “Mother, go ahead and ask. I won’t say no to you.”
21She said, “Let your brother Adonijah marry Abishag, the Shunammite.”
22King Solomon answered his mother, “Why are you asking me to give Abishag, the Shunammite, to Adonijah? You might as well ask me to give him the whole kingdom! After all, he’s my older brother. And he doesn’t want the kingdom only for himself. He also wants it for Abiathar the priest and for Joab, the son of Zeruiah.”
23Then King Solomon made a promise in the name of the Lord. He said, “Adonijah will pay with his life because of what he has asked for. If he doesn’t, may God punish me greatly. 24The Lord has made my position as king secure. I’m sitting on the throne of my father David. The Lord has built a royal house for me, just as he promised. You can be sure that the Lord lives. And you can be just as sure that Adonijah will be put to death today.” 25So King Solomon gave the order to Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada. Benaiah struck down Adonijah, and he died.
26The king spoke to Abiathar the priest. He said, “Go back to your fields in Anathoth. You should really be put to death. But I won’t have it done now. That’s because you carried the ark of the Lord and King. You did it for my father David. You shared all of his hard times.” 27So Solomon wouldn’t let Abiathar serve as a priest of the Lord anymore. That’s how the message the Lord had spoken at Shiloh came true. He had spoken it about the family of Eli.
28News of what Solomon had done reached Joab. Joab had never made evil plans along with Absalom. But he had joined Adonijah. So he ran to the tent of the Lord. He grabbed the horns that stuck out from the upper corners of the altar for burnt offerings. 29King Solomon was told that Joab had run to the tent. He was also told that Joab was by the altar. Then Solomon gave the order to Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada. He told him, “Go! Strike him down!”
30So Benaiah entered the tent of the Lord. He said to Joab, “The king says, ‘Come on out!’ ”
But Joab answered, “No. I’d rather die here.”
Benaiah told the king what Joab had said to him.
31Then the king commanded Benaiah, “Do what he says. Strike him down and bury him. Then I and my family line won’t be held accountable for the blood Joab spilled. He killed people who weren’t guilty of doing anything wrong. 32The Lord will pay him back for the blood he spilled. Joab attacked two men. He killed them with his sword. And my father David didn’t even know anything about it. Joab killed Abner, the son of Ner. Abner was the commander of Israel’s army. Joab also killed Amasa, the son of Jether. Amasa was the commander of Judah’s army. Abner and Amasa were better men than Joab is. They were more honest than he is. 33May Joab and his children after him be held forever accountable for spilling the blood of Abner and Amasa. But may David and his children after him enjoy the Lord’s peace and rest forever. May the Lord also give his peace to David’s royal house and kingdom forever.”
34So Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, went up to the Lord’s tent. There he struck down Joab. And he killed him. Joab was buried at his home out in the country. 35The king put Benaiah in charge of the army. Benaiah took Joab’s place. The king also put Zadok the priest in Abiathar’s place.
36Then the king sent for Shimei. He said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem. Live there. Don’t go anywhere else. 37You must not leave the city and go across the Kidron Valley. If you do, you can be sure you will die. And it will be your own fault.”
38Shimei replied to the king, “You are my king and master. What you say is good. I’ll do it.” Shimei stayed in Jerusalem for a long time.
39Three years after Solomon had talked with Shimei, two of Shimei’s slaves ran off. They went to Achish, the king of Gath. He was the son of Maakah. Shimei was told, “Your slaves are in Gath.” 40When Shimei heard that, he put a saddle on his donkey. Then he went to Achish at Gath to look for his slaves. Shimei found them and brought them back from Gath.
41Solomon was told that Shimei had left Jerusalem. He was told he had gone to Gath and had returned. 42So the king sent for Shimei. He said to him, “Didn’t I force you to make a promise in the name of the Lord? Didn’t I warn you? I said, ‘You must not leave the city and go somewhere else. If you do, you can be sure you will die.’ At that time you said to me, ‘What you say is good. I’ll obey your command.’ 43So why didn’t you keep your promise to the Lord? Why didn’t you obey the command I gave you?”
44The king continued, “You know all the wrong things you did to my father David. In your heart you know them. Now the Lord will pay you back for what you did. 45But I will be blessed. The Lord will make David’s kingdom secure forever.”
46Then the king gave the order to Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada. Benaiah left the palace and struck down Shimei. And he died.
So the kingdom was now made secure in Solomon’s hands.
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1 Kings 2: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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3 Kings 2
2
1And the days of David drew nigh that he should die, and he charged his son Solomon, saying:
2I am going the way of all flesh. Take thou courage, and shew thyself a man.
3And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and observe his ceremonies, and his precepts, and judgments, and testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses: that thou mayest understand all thou dost, and whithersoever thou shalt turn thyself.
4That the Lord may confirm his words, which he hath spoken of me, saying: If thy children shall take heed to their ways, and shall walk before me in truth, with all their heart, and with all their soul, there shall not be taken away from thee a man on the throne of Israel.
5Thou knowest also what Joab the son of Sarvia hath done to me, what he did to the two captains of the army of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether: whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war on his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet.
6Do therefore according to thy wisdom: and let not his hoary head go down to hell in peace.
7But shew kindness to the sons of Berzellai the Galaadite, and let them eat at thy table: for they met me when I fled from the face of Absalom thy brother.
8Thou hast also with thee Semei the son of Gera the son of Jemini of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse, when I went to the camp; but because he came down to meet me when I passed over the Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying: I will not kill thee with a sword.
9Do not thou hold him guiltless. But thou art a wise man, and knowest what to do with him: and thou shalt bring down his grey hairs with blood to hell.
10So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.
11And the days that David reigned in Israel, were forty years. In Hebron he reigned seven years, in Jerusalem thirty-three.
12And Solomon sat upon the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was strengthened exceedingly.
13And Adonias the son of Haggith came to Bethsabee the mother of Solomon. And she said to him: Is thy coming peaceable? he answered: Peaceable.
14And he added: I have a word to speak with thee. She said to him: Speak. And he said:
15Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel had preferred me to be their king: but the kingdom is transferred, and is become my brother's; for it was appointed him by the Lord.
16Now therefore I ask one petition of thee: turn not away my face. And she said to him: Say on.
17And he said: I pray thee speak to king Solomon (for he cannot deny thee any thing) to give me Abisag the Sunamitess to wife.
18And Bethsabee said: Well, I will speak for thee to the king.
19Then Bethsabee came to king Solomon, to speak to him for Adonias: and the king arose to meet her, and bowed to her, and sat down upon his throne. And a throne was set for the king's mother: and she sat on his right hand.
20And she said to him: I desire one small petition of thee; do not put me to confusion. And the king said to her: My mother, ask; for I must not turn away thy face.
21And she said: Let Abisag the Sunamitess be given to Adonias thy brother to wife.
22And king Solomon answered, and said to his mother: Why dost thou ask Abisag the Sunamitess for Adonias? Ask for him also the kingdom: for he is my elder brother, and hath Abiathar the priest and Joab the son of Sarvia.
23Then king Solomon swore by the Lord, saying: So and so may God do to me, and add more, if Adonias hath not spoken this word against his own life.
24And now, as the Lord liveth, who hath established me, and placed me upon the throne of David my father, and who hath made me a house, as he promised, Adonias shall be put to death this day.
25And king Solomon sent by the hand of Banaias the son of Joiada, who slew him: and he died.
26And the king said also to Abiathar the priest: Go to Anathoth to thy lands, for indeed thou art worthy of death. But I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou didst carry the ark of the Lord God before David my father, and hast endured trouble in all the troubles my father endured.
27So Solomon cast out Abiathar from being the priest of the Lord, that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he spoke concerning the house of Heli in Silo.
28And the news came to Joab, because Joab had turned after Adonias, and had not turned after Solomon. And Joab fled into the tabernacle of the Lord and laid hold on the horn of the altar.
29And it was told king Solomon, that Joab was fled into the tabernacle of the Lord, and was by the altar. And Solomon sent Banaias the son of Joiada, saying: Go, kill him.
30And Banaias came to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him: Thus saith the king: Come forth. And he said: I will not come forth, but here I will die. Banaias brought word back to the king, saying: Thus saith Joab, and thus he answered me.
31And the king said to him: Do as he hath said: and kill him, and bury him. And thou shalt remove the innocent blood which hath been shed by Joab, from me, and from the house of my father.
32And the Lord shall return his blood upon his own head, because he murdered two men, just and better than himself; and slew them with the sword, my father David not knowing it: Abner the son of Ner, general of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, general of the army of Juda.
33And their blood shall return the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever. But to David and his seed and his house, and to his throne be peace for ever from the Lord.
34So Banaias the son of Joiada went up, and setting upon him slew him: and he was buried in his house in the desert.
35And the king appointed Banaias the son of Joiada in his room over the army: and Sadoc the priest he put in the place of Abiathar.
36The king also sent, and called for Semei, and said to him: Build thee a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there; and go not out from thence any whither.
37For on what day soever thou shalt go out and shalt pass over the brook Cedron, know that thou shalt be put to death. Thy blood shall be upon thy own head.
38And Semei said to the king: The saying is good. As my lord the king hath said, so will thy servant do. And Semei dwelt in Jerusalem, many days.
39And it came to pass after three years, that the servants of Semei ran away to Achis the son of Maacha the king of Geth: and it was told Semei that his servants were gone to Geth.
40And Semei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Achis to Geth to seek his servants: and he brought them out of Geth.
41And it was told Solomon that Semei had gone from Jerusalem to Geth, and was come back.
42And sending he called for him, and said to him: Did I not protest to thee by the Lord, and tell thee before: On what day soever thou shalt go out and walk abroad any whither, know that thou shalt die? And thou answeredst me: The word that I have heard is good.
43Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the Lord, and the commandment that I laid upon thee?
44And the king said to Semei: Thou knowest all the evil, of which thy heart is conscious, which thou didst to David my father. The Lord hath returned thy wickedness upon thy own head.
45And king Solomon shall be blessed: and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord for ever.
46So the king commanded Banaias the son of Joiada. And he went out and struck him, and he died.
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