1Kings:2

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* 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 you strong therefore , and show yourself a man ; * And keep the charge of the LORD your 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 you may prosper in all that you do , and wherever you turn yourself : * That the LORD may continue 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 . * Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me , and 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 slew , and shed the blood of war in peace , and put the blood of war on his girdle that was about his loins , and in his shoes that were on his feet . * Do therefore according to your wisdom , and let not his hoar head go down to the grave in peace . * But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite , and let them be of those that eat at your table : for so they came to me when I fled because of Absalom your brother . * And , behold , you have with you Shimei the son of Gera , a Benjamite of Bahurim , which 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 you to death with the sword . * Now therefore hold him not guiltless : for you are a wise man , and know what you ought to do to him ; but his hoar head bring you down to the grave with blood . * So David slept with his fathers , and was buried in the city of David . * 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 . * Then sat Solomon on the throne of David his father ; and his kingdom was established greatly . * And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon . And she said , Come you peaceably ? And he said , Peaceably . * He said moreover , I have somewhat to say to you . And she said , Say on . * And he 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 ': for it was his from the LORD . * And now I ask one petition of you , deny me not . And she said to him , Say on . * And he said , Speak , I pray you , to Solomon the king , (for he will not say you no ,) that he give me Abishag the Shunammite to wife . * And Bathsheba said , 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 himself to her , and sat down on his throne , and caused a seat to be set for the king ' mother ; and she sat on his right hand . * Then she said , I desire one small petition of you ; I pray you , say me not no . And the king said to her , Ask on , my mother : for I will not say you no . * And she said , Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother to wife . * And king Solomon answered and said to his mother , And 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 . * Then king Solomon swore by the LORD , saying , God do so to me , and more also , if Adonijah have not spoken this word against his own life . * Now therefore , as the LORD lives , which has established me , and set me on the throne of David my father , and who has made me an house , as he promised , Adonijah shall be put to death this day . * And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada ; and he fell on him that he died . * And to 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 bore the ark of the LORD God before David my father , and because you have been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted . * So Solomon thrust out 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 . * 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 . * And it was told king Solomon that Joab was 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 on him . * And Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the LORD , and said to him , Thus said 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 to him , Do as he has said , and fall on him , and bury him ; that you may take away the innocent blood , which Joab shed , from me , and from the house of my father . * And the LORD shall return his blood on his own head , who fell on two men more righteous and better than he , and slew them with the sword , my father David not knowing thereof , 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 . * Their blood shall therefore return on the head of Joab , and on the head of his seed for ever : but on David , and on his seed , and on his house , and on his throne , shall there be peace for ever from the LORD . * So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up , and fell on 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 room over the host : and Zadok the priest did the king put in the room of Abiathar . * And the king sent and called for Shimei , and said to him , Build you an house in Jerusalem , and dwell there , and go not forth there any where . * For it shall be , that on the day you go out , and pass over the brook Kidron , you shall know for certain that 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 will your servant do . And Shimei dwelled in Jerusalem many days . * 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 , your servants be in Gath . * 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 . * And it was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath , and was come again . * And the king sent and called for Shimei , and said to him , Did I not make you to swear by the LORD , and protested to you , saying , Know for a certain , on the day you go out , and walk abroad any where , that you shall surely die ? and you said to me , The word that I have heard is good . * Why then have you not kept the oath of the LORD , and the commandment that I have charged you with ? * The king said moreover to Shimei , You know all the wickedness which your heart is privy to , that you did to David my father : therefore the LORD shall return your wickedness on your own head ; * And king Solomon shall be blessed , and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD for ever . * So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada ; which went out , and fell on him , that he died . And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon .

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