2:1 Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he
charged Solomon his son, saying,
2:2 I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and
show thyself a man;
2:3 And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his
ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his
judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of
Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and
whithersoever thou turnest thyself.
2:4 That the LORD may continue his word which he spoke
concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way,
to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all
their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the
throne of Israel.
2:5 Moreover, thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did
to me, [and] what he did to the two captains of the armies 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 upon his girdle that [was] about his
loins, and in his shoes that [were] on his feet.
2:6 Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoary
head go down to the grave in peace.
2:7 But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite,
and let them be of those that eat at thy table: for so they
came to me when I fled because of Absalom thy brother.
2:8 And behold, [thou hast] with thee Shimei the son of Gera, a
Benjaminite of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse in
the day when I went to Mahanaim: but he came down to meet me at
Jordan, and I swore to him by the LORD, saying, I will not put
thee to death with the sword.
2:9 Now therefore hold him not guiltless: for thou [art] a wise
man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do to him; but his hoary
head do thou bring down to the grave with blood.
2:10 So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city
of David.
2:11 And the days that David reigned over Israel [were] forty
years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three
years reigned he in Jerusalem.
2:12 Then Solomon was seated upon the throne of David his
father; and his kingdom was established greatly.
2:13 And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bath-sheba the
mother of Solomon. And she said, Comest thou peaceably? and he
said, Peaceably.
2:14 He said moreover, I have somewhat to say to thee. And she
said, Say on.
2:15 And he said, Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and
[that] all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign:
but the kingdom is turned about, and hath become my brother's:
for it was his from the LORD.
2:16 And now I ask one petition of thee, deny me not. And she
said to him, Say on.
2:17 And he said, Speak, I pray thee, to Solomon the king, (for
he will not say to thee no,) that he give me Abishag the
Shunamite for a wife.
2:18 And Bath-sheba said, Well; I will speak for thee to the
king.
2:19 Bath-sheba therefore went to king Solomon, to speak to him
for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed
himself to her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a seat
to be set for the king's mother; and she sat on his right hand.
2:20 Then she said, I desire one small petition of thee; [I pray
thee], deny me not. And the king said to her, Ask on, my
mother: for I will not deny thee.
2:21 And she said, Let Abishag the Shunamite be given to
Adonijah thy brother for a wife.
2:22 And king Solomon answered and said to his mother, And why
dost thou ask Abishag the Shunamite for Adonijah? ask for him
the kingdom also; for he [is] my elder brother; even for him,
and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.
2:23 Then king Solomon swore by the LORD, saying, God do so to
me, and more also, if Adonijah hath not spoken this word
against his own life.
2:24 Now therefore, [as] the LORD liveth, who hath established
me, and set me on the throne of David my father, and who hath
made me a house, as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death
this day.
2:25 And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of
Jehoiada; and he fell upon him that he died.
2:26 And to Abiathar the priest said the king, Depart to
Anathoth, to thy own fields; for thou [art] worthy of death:
but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou
didst bear the ark of the LORD God before David my father, and
because thou hast been afflicted in all in which my father was
afflicted.
2:27 So Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest to the LORD;
that he might fulfill the word of the LORD, which he spoke
concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.
2:28 Then tidings came to Joab: for Joab had turned after
Adonijah, though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled to
the tabernacle of the LORD, and caught hold on the horns of the
altar.
2:29 And it was told to king Solomon that Joab had fled to the
tabernacle of the LORD; and behold, [he is] by the altar. Then
Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon
him.
2:30 And Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the LORD, and said to
him, Thus saith the king, Come forth. And he said, No; but I
will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying,
Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.
2:31 And the king said to him, Do as he hath said, and fall upon
him, and bury him; that thou mayest take away the innocent
blood which Joab shed, from me, and from the house of my
father.
2:32 And the LORD shall return his blood upon his own head, who
fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew
them with the sword, my father David not knowing [of it], [to
wit], Abner the son of Ner captain of the host of Israel, and
Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah.
2:33 Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab,
and upon the head of his seed for ever: but upon David, and
upon his seed, and upon his house, and upon his throne, shall
there be peace forever from the LORD.
2:34 So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went, and fell upon him, and
slew him: and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.
2:35 And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room
over the army: and Zadok the priest the king put in the room of
Abiathar.
2:36 And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him,
Build thee a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and go not
forth thence to any place whatever.
2:37 For it shall be, [that] on the day thou shalt go out, and
pass over the brook Kidron, thou shalt know for certain that
thou shalt surely die: thy blood shall be upon thy own head.
2:38 And Shimei said to the king, The saying [is] good: as my
lord the king hath said, so will thy servant do. And Shimei
dwelt in Jerusalem many days.
2:39 And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of
the servants of Shimei ran away to Achish son of Maachah king
of Gath: and they told Shimei, saying, behold, thy servants are
in Gath.
2:40 And Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to
Achish to seek his servants: and Shimei went and brought his
servants from Gath.
2:41 And it was told to Solomon that Shimei had gone from
Jerusalem to Gath, and had returned.
2:42 And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him,
Did I not make thee to swear by the LORD, and protest to thee,
saying, Know for a certain, on the day thou goest out, and
walkest any where abroad, that thou shalt surely die? and thou
saidst to me, The word [that] I have heard [is] good.
2:43 Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the LORD, and the
commandment that I have charged thee with?
2:44 The king said moreover to Shimei, Thou knowest all the
wickedness which thy heart is privy to, that thou didst to
David my father: therefore the LORD will return thy wickedness
upon thy own head;
2:45 And king Solomon [shall be] blessed, and the throne of
David shall be established before the LORD for ever.
2:46 So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; who went
out, and fell upon him, that he died. And the kingdom was
established in the hand of Solomon.
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