1Kings:1-4
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*
Now King David was old ,
advanced in years ;
and they put covers on him ,
but he could not get warm .
*
Therefore his servants said to him , "
Let a young woman ,
a virgin ,
be sought for our lord the king ,
and let her stand before the king ,
and let her care for him ;
and let her lie in your bosom ,
that our lord the king may be warm ."
*
So they sought for a lovely young woman throughout all the territory of Israel ,
and found Abishag the Shunammite ,
and brought her to the king .
*
The young woman was very lovely ;
and she cared for the king ,
and served him ;
but the king did not know her .
*
Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself ,
saying , "
I will be king ";
and he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen ,
and fifty men to run before him .
* (
And his father had not rebuked him at any time by saying , "
Why have you done so ?"
He was also very good-looking .
His mother had borne him after Absalom .)
*
Then he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest ,
and they followed and helped Adonijah .
*
But Zadok the priest ,
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada ,
Nathan the prophet ,
Shimei ,
Rei ,
and the mighty men who belonged to David were not with Adonijah .
*
And Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fattened cattle by the stone of Zoheleth ,
which is by En Rogel ;
he also invited all his brothers ,
the king '
s sons ,
and all the men of Judah ,
the king '
s servants .
*
But he did not invite Nathan the prophet ,
Benaiah ,
the mighty men ,
or Solomon his brother .
*
So Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon ,
saying , "
Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king ,
and David our lord does not know it ?
*
Come ,
please ,
let me now give you advice ,
that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon .
*
Go immediately to King David and say to him , "
Did you not ,
my lord ,
O king ,
swear to your maidservant ,
saying , "
Assuredly your son Solomon shall reign after me ,
and he shall sit on my throne "?
Why then has Adonijah become king ?'
*
Then ,
while you are still talking there with the king ,
I also will come in after you and confirm your words ."
*
So Bathsheba went into the chamber to the king . (
Now the king was very old ,
and Abishag the Shunammite was serving the king .)
*
And Bathsheba bowed and did homage to the king .
Then the king said , "
What is your wish ?"
*
Then she said to him , "
My lord ,
you swore by the LORD your God to your maidservant ,
saying , "
Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me ,
and he shall sit on my throne .'
*
So now ,
look !
Adonijah has become king ;
and now ,
my lord the king ,
you do not know about it .
*
He has sacrificed oxen and fattened cattle and sheep in abundance ,
and has invited all the sons of the king ,
Abiathar the priest ,
and Joab the commander of the army ;
but Solomon your servant he has not invited .
*
And as for you ,
my lord ,
O king ,
the eyes of all Israel are on you ,
that you should tell them who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him .
*
Otherwise it will happen ,
when my lord the king rests with his fathers ,
that I and my son Solomon will be counted as offenders ."
*
And just then ,
while she was still talking with the king ,
Nathan the prophet also came in .
*
So they told the king ,
saying , "
Here is Nathan the prophet ."
And when he came in before the king ,
he bowed down before the king with his face to the ground .
*
And Nathan said , "
My lord ,
O king ,
have you said , "
Adonijah shall reign after me ,
and he shall sit on my throne '?
*
For he has gone down today ,
and has sacrificed oxen and fattened cattle and sheep in abundance ,
and has invited all the king '
s sons ,
and the commanders of the army ,
and Abiathar the priest ;
and look !
They are eating and drinking before him ;
and they say , "
Long live King Adonijah !'
*
But he has not invited me--me your servant--nor Zadok the priest ,
nor Benaiah the son of Jehoiada ,
nor your servant Solomon .
*
Has this thing been done by my lord the king ,
and you have not told your servant who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him ?"
*
Then King David answered and said , "
Call Bathsheba to me ."
So she came into the king '
s presence and stood before the king .
*
And the king took an oath and said , "
As the LORD lives ,
who has redeemed my life from every distress ,
*
just as I swore to you by the LORD God of Israel ,
saying , "
Assuredly Solomon your son shall be king after me ,
and he shall sit on my throne in my place ,'
so I certainly will do this day ."
*
Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth ,
and paid homage to the king ,
and said , "
Let my lord King David live forever !"
*
And King David said , "
Call to me Zadok the priest ,
Nathan the prophet ,
and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada ."
So they came before the king .
*
The king also said to them , "
Take with you the servants of your lord ,
and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule ,
and take him down to Gihon .
*
There let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel ;
and blow the horn ,
and say , "
Long live King Solomon !'
*
Then you shall come up after him ,
and he shall come and sit on my throne ,
and he shall be king in my place .
For I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah ."
*
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said , "
Amen !
May the LORD God of my lord the king say so too .
*
As the LORD has been with my lord the king ,
even so may He be with Solomon ,
and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David ."
*
So Zadok the priest ,
Nathan the prophet ,
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada ,
the Cherethites ,
and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David '
s mule ,
and took him to Gihon .
*
Then Zadok the priest took a horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon .
And they blew the horn ,
and all the people said , "
Long live King Solomon !"
*
And all the people went up after him ;
and the people played the flutes and rejoiced with great joy ,
so that the earth seemed to split with their sound .
*
Now Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished eating .
And when Joab heard the sound of the horn ,
he said , "
Why is the city in such a noisy uproar ?"
*
While he was still speaking ,
there came Jonathan ,
the son of Abiathar the priest .
And Adonijah said to him , "
Come in ,
for you are a prominent man ,
and bring good news ."
*
Then Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah , "
No !
Our lord King David has made Solomon king .
*
The king has sent with him Zadok the priest ,
Nathan the prophet ,
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada ,
the Cherethites ,
and the Pelethites ;
and they have made him ride on the king '
s mule .
*
So Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon ;
and they have gone up from there rejoicing ,
so that the city is in an uproar .
This is the noise that you have heard .
*
Also Solomon sits on the throne of the kingdom .
*
And moreover the king '
s servants have gone to bless our lord King David ,
saying , "
May God make the name of Solomon better than your name ,
and may He make his throne greater than your throne .'
Then the king bowed himself on the bed .
*
Also the king said thus , "
Blessed be the LORD God of Israel ,
who has given one to sit on my throne this day ,
while my eyes see it !"'
*
So all the guests who were with Adonijah were afraid ,
and arose ,
and each one went his way .
*
Now Adonijah was afraid of Solomon ;
so he arose ,
and went and took hold of the horns of the altar .
*
And it was told Solomon ,
saying , "
Indeed Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon ;
for look ,
he has taken hold of the horns of the altar ,
saying , "
Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword ."'
*
Then Solomon said , "
If he proves himself a worthy man ,
not one hair of him shall fall to the earth ;
but if wickedness is found in him ,
he shall die ."
*
So King Solomon sent them to bring him down from the altar .
And he came and fell down before King Solomon ;
and Solomon said to him , "
Go to your 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 strong ,
therefore ,
and prove yourself a man .
*
And 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 prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn ;
*
that the LORD may fulfill His word which He spoke concerning me ,
saying , "
If your sons take heed to their way ,
to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul ,'
He said , "
you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel .'
* "
Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me ,
and what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel ,
to Abner the son of Ner and Amasa 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 .
*
Therefore do according to your wisdom ,
and do not let his gray hair go down to the grave in peace .
* "
But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite ,
and let them be among those who eat at your table ,
for so they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother .
* "
And see ,
you have with you Shimei the son of Gera ,
a Benjamite from Bahurim ,
who cursed me with a malicious 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 you to death with the sword .'
*
Now therefore ,
do not hold him guiltless ,
for you are a wise man and know what you ought to do to him ;
but bring his gray hair down to the grave with blood ."
*
So David rested with his fathers ,
and was buried in the City of David .
*
The period that David reigned over Israel was forty years ;
seven years he reigned in Hebron ,
and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years .
*
Then Solomon sat on the throne of his father David ;
and his kingdom was firmly established .
*
Now Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon .
So she said , "
Do you come peaceably ?"
And he said , "
Peaceably ."
*
Moreover he said , "
I have something to say to you ."
And she said , "
Say it ."
*
Then he said , "
You know that the kingdom was mine ,
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 it was his from the LORD .
*
Now I ask one petition of you ;
do not deny me ."
And she said to him , "
Say it ."
*
Then he said , "
Please speak to King Solomon ,
for he will not refuse you ,
that he may give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife ."
*
So Bathsheba said , "
Very well ,
I will speak for you to the king ."
*
Bathsheba therefore went to King Solomon ,
to speak to him for Adonijah .
And the king rose up to meet her and bowed down to her ,
and sat down on his throne and had a throne set for the king '
s mother ;
so she sat at his right hand .
*
Then 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 ."
*
So she said , "
Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as wife ."
*
And 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 older brother--for him ,
and for Abiathar the priest ,
and for Joab the son of Zeruiah ."
*
Then King Solomon swore by the LORD ,
saying , "
May 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 established a house for me ,
as He promised ,
Adonijah shall be put to death today !"
*
So King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada ;
and he struck him down ,
and he died .
*
And to Abiathar the priest the king said , "
Go to Anathoth ,
to your own fields ,
for you are deserving of death ;
but I will not put you to death at this time ,
because you carried the ark of the Lord GOD before my father David ,
and because you were afflicted every time my father was afflicted ."
*
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 at Shiloh .
*
Then news came to Joab ,
for Joab had defected to Adonijah ,
though he had not defected to Absalom .
So Joab fled to the tabernacle of the LORD ,
and took hold of the horns of the altar .
*
And 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 ,
strike him down ."
*
So Benaiah went to the tabernacle of the LORD ,
and said to him , "
Thus says the king , "
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 ."
*
Then the king said to him , "
Do as he has said ,
and strike him down and bury him ,
that you may take away from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood which Joab shed .
*
So the LORD will return his blood on his head ,
because he struck down two men more righteous and better than he ,
and killed them with the sword--Abner the son of Ner ,
the commander of the army of Israel ,
and Amasa the son of Jether ,
the commander of the army of Judah--though my father David did not know it .
*
Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab and upon the head of his descendants forever .
But upon David and his descendants ,
upon his house and his throne ,
there shall be peace forever from the LORD ."
*
So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and struck and killed him ;
and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness .
*
The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army ,
and the king put Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar .
*
Then the king sent and called for Shimei ,
and said to him , "
Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there ,
and do not go out from there anywhere .
*
For it shall be ,
on the day you go out and cross the Brook Kidron ,
know for certain you shall surely die ;
your blood shall be on your own head ."
*
And 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 .
*
Now it happened at the end of three years ,
that two slaves of Shimei ran away to Achish the son of Maachah ,
king of Gath .
And they told Shimei ,
saying , "
Look ,
your slaves are in Gath !"
*
So Shimei arose ,
saddled his donkey ,
and went to Achish at Gath to seek his slaves .
And Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath .
*
And Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had come back .
*
Then 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 .'
*
Why then have you not kept the oath of the LORD and the commandment that I gave you ?"
*
The king said moreover to Shimei , "
You know ,
as your heart acknowledges ,
all the wickedness that you did to my father David ;
therefore the LORD will return your wickedness on your own head .
*
But King Solomon shall be blessed ,
and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD forever ."
*
So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada ;
and he went out and struck him down ,
and he died .
Thus the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon .
*
Now Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt ,
and married Pharaoh '
s daughter ;
then he brought her to the City of David until he had finished building his own house ,
and the house of the LORD ,
and the wall all around Jerusalem .
*
Meanwhile the people sacrificed at the high places ,
because there was no house built for the name of the LORD until those days .
*
And Solomon loved the LORD ,
walking in the statutes of his father David ,
except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places .
*
Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there ,
for that was the great high place :
Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar .
*
At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night ;
and God said , "
Ask !
What shall I give you ?"
*
And Solomon said : "
You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father ,
because he walked before You in truth ,
in righteousness ,
and in uprightness of heart with You ;
You have continued this great kindness for him ,
and You have given him a son to sit on his throne ,
as it is this day .
*
Now ,
O LORD my God ,
You have made Your servant king instead of my father David ,
but I am a little child ;
I do not know how to go out or come in .
*
And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen ,
a great people ,
too numerous to be numbered or counted .
*
Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people ,
that I may discern between good and evil .
For who is able to judge this great people of Yours ?"
*
The speech pleased the LORD ,
that Solomon had asked this thing .
*
Then God said to him : "
Because you have asked this thing ,
and have not asked long life for yourself ,
nor have asked riches for yourself ,
nor have asked the life of your enemies ,
but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice ,
*
behold ,
I have done according to your words ;
see ,
I have given you a wise and understanding heart ,
so that there has not been anyone like you before you ,
nor shall any like you arise after you .
*
And I have also given you what you have not asked :
both riches and honor ,
so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days .
*
So if you walk in My ways ,
to keep My statutes and My commandments ,
as your father David walked ,
then I will lengthen your days ."
*
Then Solomon awoke ;
and indeed it had been a dream .
And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD ,
offered up burnt offerings ,
offered peace offerings ,
and made a feast for all his servants .
*
Now two women who were harlots came to the king ,
and stood before him .
*
And one woman said , "
O my lord ,
this woman and I dwell in the same house ;
and I gave birth while she was in the house .
*
Then it happened ,
the third day after I had given birth ,
that this woman also gave birth .
And we were together ;
no one was with us in the house ,
except the two of us in the house .
*
And this woman '
s son died in the night ,
because she lay on him .
*
So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from my side ,
while your maidservant slept ,
and laid him in her bosom ,
and laid her dead child in my bosom .
*
And when I rose in the morning to nurse my son ,
there he was ,
dead .
But when I had examined him in the morning ,
indeed ,
he was not my son whom I had borne ."
*
Then the other woman said , "
No !
But the living one is my son ,
and the dead one is your son ."
And the first woman said , "
No !
But the dead one is your son ,
and the living one is my son ."
Thus they spoke before the king .
*
And the king said , "
The one says , "
This is my son ,
who lives ,
and your son is the dead one ';
and the other says , "
No !
But your son is the dead one ,
and my son is the living one .'
*
Then the king said , "
Bring me a sword ."
So they brought a sword before the king .
*
And the king said , "
Divide the living child in two ,
and give half to one ,
and half to the other ."
*
Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king ,
for she yearned with compassion for her son ;
and she said , "
O my lord ,
give her the living child ,
and by no means kill him !"
But the other said , "
Let him be neither mine nor yours ,
but divide him ."
*
So the king answered and said , "
Give the first woman the living child ,
and by no means kill him ;
she is his mother ."
*
And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered ;
and they feared the king ,
for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice .
*
So King Solomon was king over all Israel .
*
And these were his officials :
Azariah the son of Zadok ,
the priest ;
*
Elihoreph and Ahijah ,
the sons of Shisha ,
scribes ;
Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud ,
the recorder ;
*
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada ,
over the army ;
Zadok and Abiathar ,
the priests ;
*
Azariah the son of Nathan ,
over the officers ;
Zabud the son of Nathan ,
a priest and the king '
s friend ;
*
Ahishar ,
over the household ;
and Adoniram the son of Abda ,
over the labor force .
*
And Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel ,
who provided food for the king and his household ;
each one made provision for one month of the year .
*
These are their names :
Ben-Hur ,
in the mountains of Ephraim ;
*
Ben-Deker ,
in Makaz ,
Shaalbim ,
Beth Shemesh ,
and Elon Beth Hanan ;
*
Ben-Hesed ,
in Arubboth ;
to him belonged Sochoh and all the land of Hepher ;
*
Ben-Abinadab ,
in all the regions of Dor ;
he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as wife ;
*
Baana the son of Ahilud ,
in Taanach ,
Megiddo ,
and all Beth Shean ,
which is beside Zaretan below Jezreel ,
from Beth Shean to Abel Meholah ,
as far as the other side of Jokneam ;
*
Ben-Geber ,
in Ramoth Gilead ;
to him belonged the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh ,
in Gilead ;
to him also belonged the region of Argob in Bashan--sixty large cities with walls and bronze gate-bars ;
*
Ahinadab the son of Iddo ,
in Mahanaim ;
*
Ahimaaz ,
in Naphtali ;
he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon as wife ;
*
Baanah the son of Hushai ,
in Asher and Aloth ;
*
Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah ,
in Issachar ;
*
Shimei the son of Elah ,
in Benjamin ;
*
Geber the son of Uri ,
in the land of Gilead ,
in the country of Sihon king of the Amorites ,
and of Og king of Bashan .
He was the only governor who was in the land .
*
Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea in multitude ,
eating and drinking and rejoicing .
*
So Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines ,
as far as the border of Egypt .
They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life .
*
Now Solomon '
s provision for one day was thirty kors of fine flour ,
sixty kors of meal ,
*
ten fatted oxen ,
twenty oxen from the pastures ,
and one hundred sheep ,
besides deer ,
gazelles ,
roebucks ,
and fatted fowl .
*
For he had dominion over all the region on this side of the River from Tiphsah even to Gaza ,
namely over all the kings on this side of the River ;
and he had peace on every side all around him .
*
And Judah and Israel dwelt safely ,
each man under his vine and his fig tree ,
from Dan as far as Beersheba ,
all the days of Solomon .
*
Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots ,
and twelve thousand horsemen .
*
And these governors ,
each man in his month ,
provided food for King Solomon and for all who came to King Solomon '
s table .
There was no lack in their supply .
*
They also brought barley and straw to the proper place ,
for the horses and steeds ,
each man according to his charge .
*
And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding ,
and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore .
*
Thus Solomon '
s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt .
*
For he was wiser than all men--than Ethan the Ezrahite ,
and Heman ,
Chalcol ,
and Darda ,
the sons of Mahol ;
and his fame was in all the surrounding nations .
*
He spoke three thousand proverbs ,
and his songs were one thousand and five .
*
Also he spoke of trees ,
from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall ;
he spoke also of animals ,
of birds ,
of creeping things ,
and of fish .
*
And men of all nations ,
from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom ,
came to hear the wisdom of Solomon .
*
Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon ,
because he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father ,
for Hiram had always loved David .
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