1 Kings 2
2
David's Instructions to Solomon
1Not long before David died, he told Solomon:
2My son, I will soon die, as everyone must. But I want you to be strong and brave. 3Do what the Lord your God commands and follow his teachings. Obey everything written in the Law of Moses. Then you will be a success, no matter what you do or where you go. 4You and your descendants must always faithfully obey the Lord. If you do, he will keep the solemn promise he made to me that someone from our family will always be king of Israel.
5 #
2 S 3.27;
2 S 20.10. Solomon, don't forget what Joab did to me by killing Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether, the two commanders of Israel's army. He killed them as if they were his enemies in a war, but he did it when there was no war.#2.5 war: See 2 Samuel 3.22-27 and 20.7-10. He is guilty, and now it's up to you to punish him 6in the way you think best. Whatever you do, don't let him die peacefully in his old age.
7 #
2 S 17.27-29. The sons of Barzillai from Gilead helped me when I was running from your brother Absalom.#2.7 Absalom: See 2 Samuel 17.27-29. Be kind to them and let them eat at your table.
8 #
2 S 16.5-13; 19.16-23. Be sure to do something about Shimei son of Gera from Bahurim in the territory of Benjamin. He cursed and insulted me the day I went to Mahanaim. But later, when he came to meet me at the Jordan River, I promised that I wouldn't kill him.#2.8 him: See 2 Samuel 16.5-14 and 19.16-23. 9Now you must punish him. He's an old man, but you're wise enough to know that you must have him killed.
David Dies
10-11 #
2 S 5.4,5; 1 Ch 3.1-4. David was king of Israel 40 years. He ruled 7 years from Hebron and 33 years from Jerusalem. Then he died and was buried in Jerusalem.#2.10,11 Jerusalem: Hebrew “the city of David.” 12#1 Ch 29.23. His son Solomon became king and took control of David's kingdom.
Adonijah Is Killed
13One day, Adonijah went to see Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, and she asked, “Is this a friendly visit?”
“Yes. 14I just want to talk with you.”
“All right,” she told him, “go ahead.”
15“You know that I was king for a little while,” Adonijah replied. “And everyone in Israel accepted me as their ruler. But the Lord wanted my brother to be king, so now things have changed. 16Would you do me a favor?”
“What do you want?” Bathsheba asked.
17 #
1 K 1.3,4. “Please ask Solomon to let me marry Abishag. He won't say no to you.”
18“All right,” she said. “I'll ask him.”
19When Bathsheba went to see Solomon, he stood up to meet her, then bowed low. He sat back down and had another throne brought in, so his mother could sit at his right side.#2.19 at his right side: The place of honor. 20Bathsheba sat down and then asked, “Would you do me a small favor?”
Solomon replied, “Mother, just tell me what you want, and I will do it.”
21“Allow your brother Adonijah to marry Abishag,” she answered.
22Solomon said:
What? Let my older brother marry Abishag? You may as well ask me to let him rule the kingdom! And why don't you ask such favors for Abiathar and Joab?#2.22 And why … Joab: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
23I swear in the name of the Lord that Adonijah will die because he asked for this! If he doesn't, I pray that God will severely punish me. 24The Lord made me king in my father's place and promised that the kings of Israel would come from my family. Yes, I swear by the living Lord that Adonijah will die today.
25“Benaiah,” Solomon shouted, “go kill Adonijah.” So Adonijah died.
Abiathar Is Sent Back Home
26 #
2 S 15.24;
1 S 22.20-23. Solomon sent for Abiathar the priest and said:
Abiathar, go back home to Anathoth! You ought to be killed too, but I won't do it now. When my father David was king, you were in charge of the sacred chest, and you went through a lot of hard times with my father. 27#1 S 2.27-36. But I won't let you be a priest of the Lord anymore.
And so the promise that the Lord had made at Shiloh about the family of Eli came true.#2.27 the promise … came true: See 1 Samuel 2.27-34.
Joab Is Killed
28Joab had not helped Absalom try to become king, but he had helped Adonijah. So when Joab learned that Adonijah had been killed, he ran to the sacred tent and grabbed hold of the corners of the altar for protection.#2.28 the corners … for protection: See the note at 1.50. 29When Solomon heard about this, he sent someone to ask Joab, “Why did you run to the altar?”
Joab sent back his answer, “I was afraid of you, and I ran to the Lord for protection.”#2.29 he sent someone … for protection: One ancient translation; these words are not in the Hebrew text.
Then Solomon shouted, “Benaiah, go kill Joab!”
30Benaiah went to the sacred tent and yelled, “Joab, the king orders you to come out!”
“No!” Joab answered. “Kill me right here.”
Benaiah went back and told Solomon what Joab had said.
31-32Solomon replied:
Do what Joab said. Kill him and bury him! Then my family and I won't be responsible for what he did to Abner the commander of Israel's army and to Amasa the commander of Judah's army. He killed those innocent men without my father knowing about it. Both of them were better men than Joab. Now the Lord will make him pay for those murders. 33Joab's family will always suffer because of what he did, but the Lord will always bless David's family and his kingdom with peace.
34Benaiah went back and killed Joab. His body was taken away and buried near his home in the desert.
35Solomon put Benaiah in Joab's place as army commander, and he put Zadok in Abiathar's place as priest.
Shimei Is Killed
36Solomon sent for Shimei and said, “Build a house here in Jerusalem and live in it. But whatever you do, don't leave the city! 37If you ever cross Kidron Valley and leave Jerusalem, you will be killed. And it will be your own fault.”
38“That's fair, Your Majesty,” Shimei answered. “I'll do that.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem from then on.
39About three years later, two of Shimei's servants ran off to King Achish in Gath. When Shimei found out where they were, 40he saddled his donkey and went after them. He found them and brought them back to Jerusalem.
41Someone told Solomon that Shimei had gone to Gath and was back. 42Solomon sent for him and said:
Shimei, you promised in the name of the Lord that you would never leave Jerusalem. I warned you that you would die if you did. You agreed that this was fair, didn't you? 43You have disobeyed me and have broken the promise you made to the Lord.
44I know you remember all the cruel things you did to my father David. Now the Lord is going to punish you for what you did. 45But the Lord will bless me and make my father's kingdom strong forever.
46“Benaiah,” Solomon shouted, “kill Shimei.” So Shimei died.
Solomon was now in complete control of his kingdom.
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1 Kings 2: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
I Kings 2
2
David’s Instructions to Solomon
1Now #Gen. 47:29; Deut. 31:14the days of David drew near that he should die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying: 2#Josh. 23:14“I go the way of all the earth; #Deut. 31:7, 23; 1 Chr. 22:13be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man. 3And keep the charge of the Lord your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may #(Deut. 29:9; Josh. 1:7); 1 Chr. 22:12, 13prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn; 4that the Lord may #2 Sam. 7:25fulfill His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, #(Ps. 132:12)‘If your sons take heed to their way, to #2 Kin. 20:3walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul,’ He said, #2 Sam. 7:12, 13; 1 Kin. 8:25‘you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’
5“Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah #2 Sam. 3:39; 18:5, 12, 14did to me, and what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to #2 Sam. 3:27; 1 Kin. 2:32Abner the son of Ner and #2 Sam. 20:10Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed. And he shed the blood of war in peacetime, and put the blood of war on his belt that was around his waist, and on his sandals that were on his feet. 6Therefore do #1 Kin. 2:9; Prov. 20:26according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down to the grave in peace.
7“But show kindness to the sons of #2 Sam. 19:31–39Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who #2 Sam. 9:7, 10; 19:28eat at your table, for so #2 Sam. 17:17–29they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother.
8“And see, you have with you #2 Sam. 16:5–13Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a malicious curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim. But #2 Sam. 19:18he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and #2 Sam. 19:23I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ 9Now therefore, #Ex. 20:7; Job 9:28do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man and know what you ought to do to him; but #Gen. 42:38; 44:31bring his gray hair down to the grave with blood.”
Death of David
10So #1 Kin. 1:21; Acts 2:29; 13:36David rested with his fathers, and was buried in #2 Sam. 5:7; 1 Kin. 3:1the City of David. 11The period that David #2 Sam. 5:4, 5; 1 Chr. 3:4; 29:26, 27reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years he reigned in Hebron, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years. 12#1 Kin. 1:46; 1 Chr. 29:23Then Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and his kingdom was #1 Kin. 2:46; 2 Chr. 1:1firmly established.
Solomon Executes Adonijah
13Now Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. So she said, #1 Sam. 16:4, 5“Do you come peaceably?”
And he said, “Peaceably.” 14Moreover he said, “I have something to say to you.”
And she said, “Say it.”
15Then he said, “You know that the kingdom was #1 Kin. 1:11, 18mine, and all Israel had set their expectations on me, that I should reign. However, the kingdom has been turned over, and has become my brother’s; for #1 Chr. 22:9, 10; 28:5–7; (Dan. 2:21)it was his from the Lord. 16Now I ask one petition of you; do not deny me.”
And she said to him, “Say it.”
17Then he said, “Please speak to King Solomon, for he will not refuse you, that he may give me #1 Kin. 1:3, 4Abishag the Shunammite as wife.”
18So Bathsheba said, “Very well, I will speak for you to the king.”
19Bathsheba therefore went to King Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her and #(Ex. 20:12)bowed down to her, and sat down on his throne and had a throne set for the king’s mother; #Ps. 45:9so she sat at his right hand. 20Then she said, “I desire one small petition of you; do not refuse me.”
And the king said to her, “Ask it, my mother, for I will not refuse you.”
21So she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as wife.”
22And King Solomon answered and said to his mother, “Now why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also—for he is my #1 Kin. 1:6; 2:15; 1 Chr. 3:2, 5older brother—for him, and for #1 Kin. 1:7Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.” 23Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, #Ruth 1:17“May God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life! 24Now therefore, as the Lord lives, who has confirmed me and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has established a house for me, as He #2 Sam. 7:11, 13; 1 Chr. 22:10promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today!”
25So King Solomon sent by the hand of #2 Sam. 8:18; 1 Kin. 4:4Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he struck him down, and he died.
Abiathar Exiled, Joab Executed
26And to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to #Josh. 21:18; Jer. 1:1Anathoth, to your own fields, for you are deserving of death; but I will not put you to death at this time, #1 Sam. 22:23; 23:6; 2 Sam. 15:14, 29because you carried the ark of the Lord God before my father David, and because you were afflicted every time my father was afflicted.” 27So Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, that he might #1 Sam. 2:31–35fulfill the word of the Lord which He spoke concerning the house of Eli at Shiloh.
28Then news came to Joab, for Joab #1 Kin. 1:7had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom. So Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and #1 Kin. 1:50took hold of the horns of the altar. 29And King Solomon was told, “Joab has fled to the tabernacle of the Lord; there he is, by the altar.” Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, #1 Kin. 2:5, 6strike him down.” 30So Benaiah went to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him, “Thus says the king, #(Ex. 21:14)‘Come out!’ ”
And he said, “No, but I will die here.” And Benaiah brought back word to the king, saying, “Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.”
31Then the king said to him, #(Ex. 21:14)“Do as he has said, and strike him down and bury him, #(Num. 35:33; Deut. 19:13; 21:8, 9)that you may take away from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood which Joab shed. 32So the Lord #(Gen. 9:6); Judg. 9:24, 57will return his blood on his head, because he struck down two men more righteous #2 Chr. 21:13, 14and better than he, and killed them with the sword—#2 Sam. 3:27Abner the son of Ner, the commander of the army of Israel, and #2 Sam. 20:9, 10Amasa the son of Jether, the commander of the army of Judah—though my father David did not know it. 33Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab and #2 Sam. 3:29upon the head of his descendants forever. #(Prov. 25:5)But upon David and his descendants, upon his house and his throne, there shall be peace forever from the Lord.”
34So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and struck and killed him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. 35The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army, and the king put #1 Sam. 2:35; 1 Kin. 4:4; 1 Chr. 6:53; 24:3; 29:22Zadok the priest in the place of #1 Kin. 2:27Abiathar.
Shimei Executed
36Then the king sent and called for #2 Sam. 16:5–13; 1 Kin. 2:8Shimei, and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there anywhere. 37For it shall be, on the day you go out and cross #2 Sam. 15:23; 2 Kin. 23:6; John 18:1the Brook Kidron, know for certain you shall surely die; #Lev. 20:9; Josh. 2:19; 2 Sam. 1:16; Ezek. 18:13your blood shall be on your own head.”
38And Shimei said to the king, “The saying is good. As my lord the king has said, so your servant will do.” So Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.
39Now it happened at the end of three years, that two slaves of Shimei ran away to #1 Sam. 27:2Achish the son of Maachah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, “Look, your slaves are in Gath!” 40So Shimei arose, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to seek his slaves. And Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath. 41And Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had come back. 42Then the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord, and warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you go out and travel anywhere, you shall surely die’? And you said to me, ‘The word I have heard is good.’ 43Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord and the commandment that I gave you?” 44The king said moreover to Shimei, “You know, as your heart acknowledges, #2 Sam. 16:5–13all the wickedness that you did to my father David; therefore the Lord will #1 Sam. 25:39; 2 Kin. 11:1, 12–16; Ps. 7:16; Ezek. 17:19return your wickedness on your own head. 45But King Solomon shall be blessed, and #2 Sam. 7:13; (Prov. 25:5)the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever.”
46So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out and struck him down, and he died. Thus the #1 Kin. 2:12; 2 Chr. 1:1kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.