1 Kings 2

¹ And draw near do the days of David to die, and he charges Solomon his son, saying, ² "I am going in the way of all the earth, and you have been strong, and become a man, ³ and kept the charge of Yahweh your Elohim, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commands, and His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, so that you do wisely all that you do, and whithersoever you turn, ⁴ so that Yahweh does establish His word which He spoke unto me, saying, If your sons observe their way to walk before Me in truth, with all their heart, and with all their soul; saying, There is not cut off a man of your from the throne of Israel. ⁵ And also, you have known that which he did to me - Joab son of Zeruiah - that which he did to two heads of the hosts of Israel, to Abner son of Ner, and to Amasa son of Jether - that he slays them, and makes the blood of war in peace, and puts the blood of war in his girdle, that [is] on his loins, and in his sandals that [are] on his feet; ⁶ and you have done according to your wisdom, and do not let his old age go down in peace to Sheol. ⁷ And to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite you do do kindness, and they have been among those eating at your table, for so they drew near unto me in my fleeing from the face of Absalom your brother. ⁸ And lo, with you [is] Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite of Bahurim, and he reviled me - a grievous reviling - in the day of my going to Mahanaim; and he has come down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swear to him by Yahweh, saying, I do not put you to death by the sword; ⁹ and now, acquit him not, for a wise man you [are], and you have known that which you do to him, and have brought down his old age with blood to Sheol." ¹⁰ And David lies down with his fathers, and is buried in the city of David, ¹¹ and the days that David has reigned over Israel [are] forty years, in Hebron he has reigned seven years, and in Jerusalem he has reigned thirty and three years. ¹² And Solomon has sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom is established greatly, ¹³ and Adonijah son of Haggith comes in unto Bath-Sheba, mother of Solomon, and she said, "Is your coming peace?" and he said, "Peace." ¹⁴ And he said, "I have a word unto you", and she said, "Speak." ¹⁵ And he said, "You have known that the kingdom was mine, and towards me set their faces had all Israel for reigning, and the kingdom is turned round about, and is my brother's, for from Yahweh it was his; ¹⁶ and now, one petition I am asking of you - turn not back my face"; and she said unto him, "Speak." ¹⁷ And he said, "Speak, I pray you, to Solomon the king, for he does not turn back your face, and he does give to me Abishag the Shunammite for a wife." ¹⁸ And Bath-Sheba said, "Good; I do speak for you unto the king." ¹⁹ And Bath-Sheba comes in unto king Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, and the king rises to meet her, and bows himself to her, and sits on his throne, and places a throne for the mother of the king, and she sits at his right hand. ²⁰ And she said, "One small petition I ask of you, turn not back my face"; and the king said to her, "Ask, my mother, for I do not turn back your face." ²¹ And she said, "Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother for a wife." ²² And king Solomon answers and said to his mother, "And why are you asking Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? also ask for him the kingdom - for he [is] mine elder brother - even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab son of Zeruiah." ²³ And king Solomon swears by Yahweh, saying, "Thus does Elohim to me, and thus He does add - surely against his soul has Adonijah spoken this word; ²⁴ and now, Yahweh lives, who has established me, and causes me to sit on the throne of David my father, and who has made for me an house as He spoke - surely to-day is Adonijah put to death." ²⁵ And king Solomon sends by the hand of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he falls upon him, and he dies. ²⁶ And to Abiathar the priest said the king, "To Anathoth go, unto your fields; for a man of death you [are], but in this day I do not put you to death, because you have borne the ark of the Lord Yahweh before David my father, and because you wast afflicted in all that my father was afflicted in." ²⁷ And Solomon casts out Abiathar from being priest to Yahweh, to fulfil the word of Yahweh which He spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh. ²⁸ And the report has come unto Joab - for Joab has turned aside after Adonijah, though after Absalom he did not turn aside - and Joab flees unto the tent of Yahweh, and lays hold on the horns of the altar. ²⁹ And it is declared to king Solomon that Joab has fled unto the tent of Yahweh, and lo, near the altar; and Solomon sends Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying, "Go, fall upon him." ³⁰ And Benaiah comes in unto the tent of Yahweh, and said unto him, "Thus said the king, Come out"; and he said, "Nay, but here I die". And Benaiah brings back the king word, saying, "Thus spoke Joab, yea, thus he answered me." ³¹ And the king said to him, "Do as he has spoken, and fall upon him, and you have buried him, and turned aside the causeless blood which Joab shed, from off me, and from off the house of my father; ³² and Yahweh has turned back his blood on his own head, who has fallen on two men more righteous and better than he, and slays them with the sword, and my father David knew not - Abner son of Ner, head of the host of Israel, and Amasa son of Jether, head of the host of Judah; ³³ yea, turned back has their blood on the head of Joab, and on the head of his seed to the eon; and for David, and for his seed, and for his house, and for his throne, there is peace unto the eon, from Yahweh." ³⁴ And Benaiah son of Jehoiada goes up and falls upon him, and puts him to death, and he is buried in his own house in the wilderness, ³⁵ and the king puts Benaiah son of Jehoiada in his stead over the host, and Zadok the priest has the king put in the stead of Abiathar. ³⁶ And the king sends and calls for Shimei, and said to him, "Build for you a house in Jerusalem, and you have dwelt there, and do not go out thence any where"; ³⁷ and it has been, in the day of your going out, and you have passed over the brook Kidron, you do certainly know that you do surely die - your blood is on your head." ³⁸ And Shimei said to the king, "The word [is] good; as my lord the king has spoken so does your servant do"; and Shimei dwells in Jerusalem many days. ³⁹ And it comes to pass, at the end of three years, that flee do two of the servants of Shimei unto Achish son of Maachah, king of Gath, and they declare to Shimei, saying, "Lo, your servants [are] in Gath"; ⁴⁰ and Shimei rises, and saddles his ass, and goes to Gath, unto Achish, to seek his servants, and Shimei goes and brings his servants from Gath. ⁴¹ And it is declared to Solomon that Shimei has gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and does return, ⁴² and the king sends and calls for Shimei, and said unto him, "Have I not caused you to swear by Yahweh - and I testify against you, saying, In the day of your going out, and you have gone anywhere, you do certainly know that you do surely die; and you say unto me, The word I have heard [is] good? ⁴³ and wherefore have you not kept the oath of Yahweh, and the charge that I charged upon you?" ⁴⁴ And the king said unto Shimei, "You have known all the evil that your heart has known, which you did to David my father, and Yahweh has turned back your evil on your head, ⁴⁵ and king Solomon [is] blessed, and the throne of David is established before Yahweh unto the eon." ⁴⁶ And the king charges Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he goes out and falls on him, and he dies, and the kingdom is established in the hand of Solomon.