The First Book of Kings (WEB)
2:1 Now the days of David drew near that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,
2:2I am going the way of all the earth: be you strong therefore, and show yourself a man; 2:3and keep
the charge of Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments,
and his ordinances, and his testimonies, according to that which is written in the law of Moses,
that you may prosper in all that you do, and wherever you turn yourself. 2:4That Yahweh may
establish his word which he spoke concerning me, saying, If your 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 you (said
he) a man on the throne of Israel. 2:5Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to
me, even what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to
Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of
war on his sash that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet. 2:6Do therefore
according to your wisdom, and don't let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace. 2:7But show
kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those who eat at your table; for
so they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother. 2:8Behold, there is with you Shimei
the son of Gera, the Benjamite, 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 the Jordan, and I swore to him by Yahweh,
saying, I will not put you to death with the sword. 2:9Now therefore don't hold him guiltless, for
you are a wise man; and you will know what you ought to do to him, and you shall bring his gray
head down to Sheol with blood. 2:10David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of
David. 2:11The days that David reigned over Israel were forty years; seven years reigned he in
Hebron, and thirty-three years reigned he in Jerusalem. 2:12Solomon sat on the throne of David his
father; and his kingdom was established greatly. 2:13Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to
Bath-sheba the mother of Solomon. She said, Come you peaceably? He said, Peaceably. 2:14He said
moreover, I have somewhat to tell you. She said, Say on. 2:15He said, You know that the kingdom
was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign: however the kingdom is
turned about, and is become my brother's; for it was his from Yahweh. 2:16Now I ask one petition
of you; don't deny me. She said to him, Say on. 2:17He said, Please speak to Solomon the king (for
he will not tell you 'no'), that he give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife. 2:18Bath-sheba said,
Well; I will speak for you to the king. 2:19Bath-sheba therefore went to king Solomon, to speak to
him for Adonijah. The king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself to her, and sat down on his
throne, and caused a throne to be set for the king's mother; and she sat on his right hand. 2:20Then
she said, I ask one small petition of you; don't deny me. The king said to her, Ask on, my mother;
for I will not deny you. 2:21She said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your
brother as wife. 2:22King Solomon answered his mother, Why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite
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. 2:23Then king Solomon swore by Yahweh,
saying, God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life.
2:24Now therefore as Yahweh 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, surely Adonijah shall be put to death this
day. 2:25King Solomon sent by Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell on him, so that he died.
2:26To Abiathar the priest said the king, Get you 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 bear the ark of the Lord Yahweh
before David my father, and because you were afflicted in all in which my father was afflicted.
2:27So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest to Yahweh, that he might fulfill the word of
Yahweh, which he spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh. 2:28The news came to Joab; for
Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he didn't turn after Absalom. Joab fled to the Tent of
Yahweh, and caught hold on the horns of the altar. 2:29It was told king Solomon, Joab is fled to the
Tent of Yahweh, and, behold, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada,
saying, Go, fall on him. 2:30Benaiah came to the Tent of Yahweh, and said to him, Thus says the
king, Come forth. He said, No; but I will die here. Benaiah brought the king word again, saying,
Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me. 2:31The king said to him, Do as he has said, and fall on
him, and bury him; that you may take away the blood, which Joab shed without cause, from me
and from my father's house. 2:32Yahweh will return his blood on his own head, because he fell on
two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword, and my father David
didn't know 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. 2:33So shall their blood return on the head of Joab, and on the
head of his seed forever: but to David, and to his seed, and to his house, and to his throne, shall
there be peace for ever from Yahweh. 2:34Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell on
him, and killed him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. 2:35The king put
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host; and Zadok the priest did the king put in the
room of Abiathar. 2:36The king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, Build yourself a house
in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and don't go forth from there any where. 2:37For on the day you go
out, and pass over the brook Kidron, know you for certain that you shall surely die: your blood
shall be on your own head. 2:38Shimei said to the king, The saying is good: as my lord the king has
said, so will your servant do. Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days. 2:39It happened at the end of
three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath.
They told Shimei, saying, Behold, your servants are in Gath. 2:40Shimei arose, and saddled his
donkey, and went to Gath to Achish, to seek his servants; and Shimei went, and brought his
servants from Gath. 2:41It was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and was
come again. 2:42The king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, Didn't I adjure you by
Yahweh, and protest to you, saying, Know for certain, that on the day you go out, and walk abroad
any where, you shall surely die? and you said to me, The saying that I have heard is good. 2:43Why
then have you not kept the oath of Yahweh, and the commandment that I have charged you with?
2:44The king said moreover to Shimei, You know all the wickedness which your heart is privy to,
that you did to David my father: therefore Yahweh shall return your wickedness on your own
head. 2:45But king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before
Yahweh forever. 2:46So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out, and fell
on him, so that he died. The kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.
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