1Kings:1-2
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*
Now king David was old [
and ]
stricken in years ,
and they covered him with clothes ,
but he did not become warm .
*
Therefore ,
his servants said unto him ,
Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin ,
and let her stand before the king and let her warm him and let her lie in thy bosom ,
and she shall warm my lord the king .
*
So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the borders of Israel and found Abishag ,
a Shunammite and brought her to the king .
*
And the damsel [
was ]
very fair and warmed the king and ministered to him ,
but the king knew her not .
*
Then Adonijah ,
the son of Haggith ,
exalted himself ,
saying ,
I will reign ,
and he prepared chariots and horsemen for himself and fifty men to run before him .
*
And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying ,
Why hast thou done so ?
and he also was very handsome ;
and he had begotten him after Absalom .
*
And he conferred with Joab ,
the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar ,
the priest who helped Adonijah .
*
But Zadok the priest ,
and Benaiah ,
the son of Jehoiada ,
and Nathan ,
the prophet ,
and Shimei and Rei and the mighty men of David did not follow Adonijah .
*
And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone of Zoheleth ,
which [
is ]
by Enrogel ,
and called all his brethren ,
the king '
s sons ,
and all the men of Judah ,
the king '
s servants ;
*
but he did not invite Nathan ,
the prophet ,
nor Benaiah nor the mighty men nor Solomon his brother .
*
And Nathan spoke unto Bathsheba ,
the mother of Solomon ,
saying ,
Hast thou not heard that Adonijah ,
the son of Haggith ,
reigns without David our lord knowing of it ?
*
Now ,
therefore ,
come ,
let me ,
I pray thee ,
give thee counsel that thou may deliver thine own life and the life of thy son Solomon .
*
Go and enter in unto King David and say unto him ,
Didst not thou ,
my lord ,
O king ,
swear unto thy handmaid ,
saying ,
Assuredly Solomon ,
thy son ,
shall reign after me ,
and he shall sit upon my throne ?
Why then does Adonijah reign ?
*
And while thou art yet speaking there with the king ,
I also will come in after thee and finish thy words .
*
And Bathsheba went in unto the king into the chamber ;
and the king was very old ;
and Abishag ,
the Shunammite ,
ministered unto the king .
*
And Bathsheba bowed and worshipped the king .
And the king said ,
What dost thou desire ?
*
And she said unto him ,
My lord ,
thou didst sware by the LORD thy God unto thy handmaid , [
saying ],
Assuredly Solomon ,
thy son ,
shall reign after me ,
and he shall sit upon my throne ;
*
and now ,
behold ,
Adonijah reigns ;
and now ,
my lord the king ,
thou dost not know [
it ].
*
He has slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance and has called all the sons of the king and Abiathar ,
the priest ,
and Joab ,
the captain of the host ;
but he has not invited Solomon ,
thy servant .
*
And thou ,
my lord ,
O king ,
the eyes of all Israel [
are ]
upon thee that thou should tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him .
*
Otherwise ,
it shall come to pass ,
when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers that I and my son Solomon shall be counted as sinners .
*
And while she yet spoke with the king ,
Nathan ,
the prophet ,
also came in .
*
And they told the king ,
saying ,
Behold Nathan ,
the prophet .
And when he was come in before the king ,
he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground .
*
And Nathan said ,
My lord ,
O king ,
hast thou said ,
Adonijah shall reign after me ,
and he shall sit upon my throne ?
*
For today he has gone down and has slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance and has called all the king '
s sons and the captains of the host and Abiathar ,
the priest ;
and ,
behold ,
they eat and drink before him and say , [
Long ]
live King Adonijah .
*
But he did not invite me ,
thy servant ,
nor Zadok ,
the priest ,
nor Benaiah ,
the son of Jehoiada ,
nor thy servant Solomon .
*
Is this thing done by my lord the king ,
and thou hast not declared unto thy servant who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him ?
*
Then King David answered and said ,
Call me Bathsheba .
And she came into the king '
s presence and stood before the king .
*
And the king swore and said ,
As the LORD lives ,
who has ransomed my soul out of all distress ,
*
even as I swore unto thee by the LORD God of Israel ,
saying ,
Assuredly Solomon ,
thy son ,
shall reign after me ,
and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead ;
even so will I certainly do this day .
*
Then Bathsheba bowed with [
her ]
face to the earth and did reverence to the king and said ,
Let my lord King David live for ever .
*
And King David said ,
Call me Zadok ,
the priest ,
and Nathan ,
the prophet ,
and Benaiah ,
the son of Jehoiada .
And they entered into the presence of the king .
*
And the king said unto them ,
Take with you the servants of your lord and cause Solomon my son to ride upon my own mule and bring him down to Gihon .
*
And let Zadok ,
the priest ,
and Nathan ,
the prophet ,
anoint him there king over Israel ;
and ye shall blow the shofar and say , [
Long ]
live king Solomon .
* [
Afterward ]
ye shall come up after him that he may come and sit upon my throne ,
for he shall reign in my stead ,
for I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah .
*
Then Benaiah ,
the son of Jehoiada ,
answered the king and said ,
Amen .
Let the LORD God of my lord the king say so [
too ].
*
As the LORD has been with my lord the king ,
even so let him be with Solomon and let him make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David .
*
So Zadok ,
the priest ,
and Nathan ,
the prophet ,
and Benaiah ,
the son of Jehoiada ,
and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and caused Solomon to ride upon King David '
s mule and brought him to Gihon .
*
And Zadok ,
the priest ,
took the horn of the oil of the tabernacle and anointed Solomon .
And they blew the shofar ,
and all the people said , [
Long ]
live king Solomon .
* [
Afterward ]
all the people came up following him ,
and the people sang with flutes and rejoiced with great joy so [
that it seemed ]
the earth rent with the sound of them .
*
And Adonijah and all the guests that [
were ]
with him heard [
it ]
when they had finished eating .
And when Joab heard the sound of the shofar ,
he said ,
Why [
is this ]
noise of the city being in an uproar ?
*
And while he yet spoke ,
behold ,
Jonathan ,
the son of Abiathar ,
the priest ,
came ;
and Adonijah said unto him ,
Come in ,
for thou [
art ]
a valiant man and bringest good tidings .
*
And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah ,
Verily our lord King David has made Solomon king .
*
And the king has sent with him Zadok the priest ,
and Nathan ,
the prophet ,
and Benaiah ,
the son of Jehoiada ,
and the Cherethites and the Pelethites ,
and they have caused him to ride upon the king '
s mule ;
*
and Zadok ,
the priest ,
and Nathan ,
the prophet ,
have anointed him king in Gihon ;
and they are come up from there rejoicing ,
so that the city rang again .
This [
is ]
the noise that ye have heard .
*
And also Solomon has been seated on the throne of the kingdom .
*
And moreover ,
the king '
s servants came to bless our lord King David ,
saying ,
God make the name of Solomon better than thy name and make his throne greater than thy throne .
And the king worshipped upon the bed .
*
And also thus said the king ,
Blessed [
be ]
the LORD God of Israel ,
who has given [
one ]
to sit on my throne today ,
mine eyes even seeing [
it ].
*
And all the guests that [
were ]
with Adonijah were afraid and rose up and went each one his way .
*
And Adonijah ,
fearing the presence of Solomon ,
arose and went and caught hold on the horns of the altar .
*
And it was told Solomon ,
saying ,
Behold ,
Adonijah fears King Solomon ,
for he has caught hold on the horns of the altar ,
saying ,
Let King Solomon swear unto me today that he will not slay his servant with the sword .
*
And Solomon said ,
If he will show himself virtuous ,
there shall not one hair of him fall to the ground ,
but if wickedness shall be found in him ,
he shall die .
*
So King Solomon sent ,
and they brought him down from the altar .
And he came and bowed himself to King Solomon .
And Solomon said unto him ,
Go to thy house .:
*
Now the days of David drew near that he should die ;
and he charged Solomon ,
his son ,
saying ,
*
I go the way of all the earth ;
be thou strong therefore and show thyself a man .
*
Keep the charge of the LORD thy God ,
walking in his ways ,
keeping his statutes and his commandments and his rights and his testimonies ,
as it is written in the law of Moses ,
that thou may have understanding in all that thou doest and in everything that thou dost undertake ,
*
that the LORD may confirm the word which he spoke concerning me ,
saying ,
If thy sons take heed to their way ,
walking 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 .
*
Moreover thou knowest also what Joab ,
the son of Zeruiah ,
did to me [
and ]
what he did to the two captains of the host of Israel ,
unto Abner ,
the son of Ner and unto Amasa ,
the son of Jether ,
whom he slew ,
shedding the blood of war in peace and putting the blood of war upon his girdle that [
was ]
about his loins and in his shoes that [
were ]
on his feet .
*
Do ,
therefore ,
according to thy wisdom and let not his hoar head go down to Sheol in peace .
*
But show mercy unto the sons of Barzillai ,
the Gileadite ,
and let them be of those that eat at thy table ,
for they came thus unto me when I fled because of Absalom ,
thy brother .
*
And ,
behold , [
thou hast ]
with thee Shimei ,
the son of Gera ,
a 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 the LORD ,
saying ,
I will not put thee to death with the sword .
*
Now therefore do not hold him guiltless ,
for thou [
art ]
a wise man and knowest what thou should do with him ,
but thou shalt bring his hoar head down to Sheol with blood .
*
And David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David .
*
The days that David reigned over Israel [
were ]
forty years ;
he reigned seven years in Hebron ,
and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem .
*
Then Solomon sat upon the throne of David his father ,
and his kingdom was established greatly .
*
Then Adonijah ,
the son of Haggith ,
came to Bathsheba ,
the mother of Solomon .
And she said ,
Comest thou peaceably ?
And he said ,
Peaceably .
*
He said moreover ,
I have a word to say unto thee .
And she said ,
Say on .
*
And he said ,
Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine and [
that ]
all Israel had set their faces on me that I should reign ,
but the kingdom is turned about and is become my brother '
s ,
for by the LORD it was his .
*
And now I ask one petition of thee ,
do not deny me .
And she said unto him ,
Say on .
*
Then he said ,
Speak ,
I pray thee ,
unto Solomon the king (
for he will not deny thee )
that he give me Abishag ,
the Shunammite to wife .
*
And Bathsheba said ,
Well ,
I will speak for thee unto the king .
*
Bathsheba ,
therefore ,
went unto King Solomon ,
to speak unto him for Adonijah .
And the king rose up to meet her and bowed himself unto 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 .
*
Then she said ,
I desire one small petition of thee ; [
I pray thee ],
do not deny me .
And the king said unto her ,
Ask on ,
my mother ,
for I will not deny thee .
*
And she said ,
Let Abishag ,
the Shunammite ,
be given to Adonijah ,
thy brother ,
to wife .
*
And King Solomon answered and said unto his mother ,
And why dost thou ask Abishag ,
the Shunammite ,
for Adonijah ?
Ask for him the kingdom also ,
for he [
is ]
my elder brother and he also has Abiathar ,
the priest ,
and Joab ,
the son of Zeruiah .
*
Then King Solomon swore by the LORD ,
saying ,
God do so to me and more also ,
if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life .
*
Now ,
therefore , [
as ]
the LORD lives ,
who has confirmed 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 today .
*
Then King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah ,
the son of Jehoiada ;
and he fell upon him that he died .
*
And unto Abiathar ,
the priest ,
the king said ,
Go to Anathoth ,
unto thine own inheritance ,
for thou [
art ]
worthy of death ;
but I will not put thee to death today because thou didst bare the ark of the Lord GOD before David ,
my father ,
and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted .
*
So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the LORD that he might fulfil the word of the LORD ,
which he spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh .
*
And the news came to Joab ,
for Joab had turned after Adonijah ,
though he had not turned after Absalom .
And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD and caught hold on the horns of the altar .
*
And it was told King Solomon that Joab had fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD and that he was by the altar .
Then Solomon sent Benaiah ,
the son of Jehoiada ,
saying ,
Go ,
fall upon him .
*
And Benaiah entered into the tabernacle of the LORD and said unto 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 .
*
And the king said unto him ,
Do as he has said and fall upon him and bury him that thou may take away from me and from the house of my father the blood which Joab shed without a cause .
*
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 without my father David knowing of it :
Abner ,
the son of Ner ,
captain of the host of Israel ,
and Amasa ,
the son of Jether ,
captain of the host of Judah .
*
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 for ever from the LORD .
*
So Benaiah ,
the son of Jehoiada ,
went up and fell upon him and slew him ,
and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness .
*
And the king put Benaiah ,
the son of Jehoiada ,
in his place over the host ;
and Zadok ,
the priest ,
the king put in the place of Abiathar .
* [
Afterward ]
the king sent and called for Shimei and said unto him ,
Build thee a house in Jerusalem and dwell there ,
and do not go forth from there anywhere .
*
For it shall be [
that ]
on the day thou goest out and passest over the brook Kidron ,
thou shalt know for certain that thou shalt surely die ;
thy blood shall be upon thine own head .
*
And Shimei said unto the king ,
The word [
is ]
good as my lord the king has said ,
so will thy servant do .
And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days .
*
But it came to pass at the end of three years that two of the servants of Shimei ran away unto Achish ,
son of Maachah ,
king of Gath .
And they told Shimei ,
saying ,
Behold ,
thy servants [
are ]
in Gath .
*
And Shimei arose and saddled his ass and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants .
Shimei went ,
therefore ,
and brought his servants from Gath .
*
And it was told Solomon how Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had come again .
*
Then the king sent and called for Shimei and said unto him ,
Did I not make thee to swear by the LORD and protested unto thee ,
saying ,
Know for certain ,
on the day thou goest out and walkest abroad anywhere that thou shalt surely die ?
And thou didst say unto me ,
The word [
that ]
I have heard [
is ]
good .
*
Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the LORD and the commandment that I have charged thee with ?
*
The king said moreover to Shimei ,
Thou knowest all the wickedness which thy heart knoweth well that thou didst to David my father ;
therefore ,
the LORD has turned thy wickedness upon thine own head ;
*
and King Solomon [
shall be ]
blessed ,
and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD for ever .
*
Then the king commanded Benaiah ,
the son of Jehoiada ,
who went out and fell upon him that he died .
And the kingdom was confirmed in the hand of Solomon .:
*
And Solomon became a relative of Pharaoh ,
king of Egypt ,
for he took Pharaoh '
s daughter [
to wife ]
and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own house ,
and the house of the LORD and the wall of Jerusalem round about .