1 Kings 2
2
David’s Charge to Solomon
1Ch 29:26–28
1#Ge 47:29; Dt 31:14Now it was coming close to the day of David’s death, and he gave his son Solomon a charge, saying:
2#Jos 23:14; 1:6–7“I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself to be a man. 3#Dt 29:9; 17:18–20And 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#2Sa 7:25; 1Ki 8:25that 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#2Sa 3:27; 20:10“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#1Ki 2:9Do the right thing according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray head go down to the grave in peace.
7#2Sa 9:7; 9:10“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#2Sa 16:5–8“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#1Ki 2:6; Ge 42:38Now 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#Ac 2:29; 13:36So David slept with his fathers and was buried in the City of David.
11#2Sa 5:4–5; 1Ch 29:26–27David reigned over Israel forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 12#2Ch 1:1So Solomon sat upon the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was firmly established.
The Throne of Solomon Established
13Then 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.” 14Then he said, “I have something to say to you.”
And she said, “Speak.”
15#1Ki 1:5; 1:25He 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. 16And now I ask one petition of you; do not deny me.”
She said to him, “Keep speaking.”
17And 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.”
18Bathsheba said, “Very well, I will speak to the king on your behalf.”
19#Ps 45:9So 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.
20Then 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.”
21She said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given as a wife to Adonijah your brother.”
22#1Ch 3:2King 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#Ru 1:17Then 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#1Ch 22:10Now 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#2Sa 8:18So King Solomon dispatched Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he executed him.
26#Jos 21:18; 1Sa 22:20–23The 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#1Sa 2:27–36So 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#1Ki 1:7; 1:50Then 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#1Ki 2:25; Ex 21:14King 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.”
30So 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#Nu 35:33; Dt 21:8–9The 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#Jdg 9:24; 2Ch 21:13The 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#1Ki 2:32Therefore 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#Jos 15:61; 1Ki 2:25So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and attacked and killed him, and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. 35#1Ki 2:27; 4:4The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in place of Joab and put Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar.
36The 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#2Sa 1:16; 15:23For 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.”
38Shimei 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.
39It 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.” 40Shimei arose, saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish to look for his servants. And Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath.
41Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned. 42The 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.’ 43Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord and the commandment that I gave you?”
44#2Sa 16:5–13; 1Sa 25:39The 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#Pr 25:5But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever.”
46#1Ki 2:12; 2Ch 1:1So 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.
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Military Bible Association
1 Kings 2
2
King David Dies
1The time came for David to die, so he gave these commands to Solomon, 2“I am about to die, like all men must. But you are growing stronger and becoming a man. 3Now, carefully obey all the commands of the Lord your God. Carefully obey all his laws, commands, decisions, and agreements. Obey everything that is written in the Law of Moses. If you do this, you will be successful at whatever you do and wherever you go. 4And if you obey the Lord, he will keep his promise about me. He said, ‘If your sons carefully live the way I tell them, sincerely, with all their heart, the king of Israel will always be a man from your family.’”
5David also said, “You remember what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me. He killed two of the commanders of Israel’s army, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. Remember, it was during a time of peace when he spilled the blood that splattered onto his sword belt and army boots. I should have punished him then. 6Use your wisdom, but don’t let him die peacefully of old age.
7“Also, be kind to the children of Barzillai from Gilead. Be friends with them, and let them eat at your table, because they helped me when I ran away from your brother Absalom.
8“And remember, Shimei son of Gera is still around. He is the Benjamite from Bahurim who cursed me when I ran away to Mahanaim. But when he came down to meet me at the Jordan River, I made a promise to him before the Lord that I would not kill him. 9Now, don’t leave him unpunished. You are a wise man. You will know what you must do, but don’t let him die peacefully of old age.”
10Then David died and was buried in the City of David. 11David ruled Israel 40 years. He ruled seven years in Hebron and 33 years in Jerusalem.
Solomon and Adonijah
12Now Solomon was king. He sat on the throne of his father David and was in complete control of his kingdom.
13One day Adonijah, the son of Haggith, went to Solomon’s mother, Bathsheba. She asked him, “Do you come in peace?”
Adonijah answered, “Yes, this is a peaceful visit. 14I have something to ask you.”
Bathsheba said, “Then speak.”
15Adonijah said, “You know that at one time the kingdom was mine. All the people of Israel wanted me to be their king. But things have changed, and now my brother is the king. The Lord chose him to be king. 16But now I have one thing to ask you. Please don’t refuse me.”
Bathsheba answered, “What do you want?”
17Adonijah said, “I know that King Solomon will do whatever you ask. So please ask him to let me marry Abishag, the woman from Shunem.”
18Then Bathsheba said, “Very well, I will speak to the king for you.”
19So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to talk with him. When the king saw her, he stood up, bowed before her, and then sat back down. He told some servants to bring another throne for his mother, and she sat down at his right side.
20Bathsheba said to him, “I have one small thing to ask you. Please don’t refuse me.”
The king answered, “Ask whatever you want, mother. I will not refuse you.”
21So Bathsheba said, “Let your brother Adonijah marry Abishag, the woman from Shunem.”
22King Solomon answered his mother, “Why are you asking me to give Abishag to Adonijah? Why don’t you just ask me to give him the whole kingdom! After all, he is my older brother, and both Abiathar the priest and Joab support him!”
23Then Solomon said, “By the Lord, I swear I’ll make Adonijah pay for this with his life! 24The Lord made me the king of Israel. He gave me the throne of my father David. The Lord kept his promise and gave the kingdom to me and my family. Now, as surely as the Lord lives, I swear Adonijah will die today!”
25King Solomon gave the command to Benaiah, and Benaiah went out and killed Adonijah.
26Then King Solomon said to Abiathar the priest, “I should kill you, but I will let you go back to your home in Anathoth. I will not kill you now because you helped carry the Holy Box of the Lord GOD while marching with my father David. And I know that you shared in the hard times with my father.” 27So Solomon told Abiathar that he could not continue to serve as a priest of the Lord. This happened as the Lord said it would when he told Eli the priest what would happen to him and his family.#2:27 This … family See 1 Sam. 2:27-36.
28Joab had supported Adonijah, but not Absalom. But when Joab heard what happened to Abiathar, he was frightened and ran to the tent of the Lord to hold onto the horns of the altar. 29Someone told King Solomon that Joab was at the altar in the Lord’s Tent. So Solomon ordered Benaiah to go and kill him.
30Benaiah went into the Lord’s Tent and said to Joab, “The king says, ‘Come out!’”
But Joab answered, “No, I will die here.”
Benaiah went back to the king and told him what Joab had said. 31The king commanded Benaiah, “Do as he says! Kill him there and take him out to bury him. Then my family and I will be free of Joab’s guilt from killing innocent people. 32Joab killed two men who were much better than he was. He killed Abner son of Ner, the commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa son of Jether, the commander of the army of Judah. He did this without my father’s knowledge. But now the Lord will punish Joab for the men he killed. 33He and his family will always be guilty for their deaths. But the Lord will bring peace to David, his descendants, his family of kings, and his kingdom forever.”
34So Benaiah son of Jehoiada killed Joab, and he was buried near his home in the desert. 35Solomon then made Benaiah son of Jehoiada the commander of the army in Joab’s place. Solomon also made Zadok the new high priest in Abiathar’s place. 36Next, the king sent for Shimei and said to him, “Build yourself a house here in Jerusalem to live in and don’t leave the city. 37If you leave the city and go any further than Kidron Brook, you will be killed, and it will be your own fault.”
38Shimei answered, “Yes, my king. I will obey you.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time. 39But three years later, two of Shimei’s slaves ran away. They went to King Achish of Gath, who was the son of Maacah. Shimei heard that his slaves were in Gath, 40so he saddled his donkey and went to King Achish at Gath to find them. He found them there and brought them back home.
41But someone told Solomon that Shimei had left Jerusalem and gone to Gath and back. 42So Solomon sent for him and said, “I made you promise in the Lord’s name not to leave Jerusalem. And I warned you that if you went anywhere, you would die. And you agreed to what I said. You said that you would obey me. 43So why didn’t you obey me? Why did you break your promise to the Lord? 44You know all the bad things you did to my father David. Now the Lord will punish you for it. 45But the Lord will bless me and keep David’s throne before him forever.”
46Then the king ordered Benaiah to kill Shimei, and he did. So Solomon had full control of his kingdom.
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