The First Book of the Kings

⭑ Literal Standard Version 2020 ⭑

- Chapter 2 -

(Psalm 37:1–40)

And the days of David to die draw near, and he charges his son Solomon, saying,

“I am going in the way of all the earth, and you have been strong, and become a man,

and you have kept the charge of your God YHWH, 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 [in] all that you do, and wherever you turn,

so that YHWH establishes His word which He spoke to me, saying, If your sons observe their way to walk before Me in truth, with all their heart, and with all their soul; saying, A man of yours is never cut off from the throne of Israel.

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;

and you have done according to your wisdom, and do not let his old age go down in peace to Sheol.

And you do kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and they have been among those eating at your table, for so they drew near to me in my fleeing from the face of your brother Absalom.

And behold, Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite of Bahurim, [is] with you, 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 YHWH, saying, I do not put you to death by the sword;

and now, do not acquit him, for you [are] a wise man, and you have known that which you do to him, and have brought down his old age with blood to Sheol.”

David’s Reign and Death

(1 Chronicles 29:26–30)

And David lies down with his fathers, and is buried in the City of David,

and the days that David has reigned over Israel [are] forty years; he has reigned seven years in Hebron, and he has reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

And Solomon has sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingdom is established greatly,

The Execution of Adonijah

and Adonijah son of Haggith comes to Bathsheba, mother of Solomon, and she says, “Is your coming peace?” And he says, “Peace.”

And he says, “I have a word for you,” and she says, “Speak.”

And he says, “You have known that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel had set their faces toward me for reigning, and the kingdom is turned around, and is my brother’s, for it was his from YHWH;

and now, I am asking one petition of you—do not turn back my face”; and she says to him, “Speak.”

And he says, “Please speak to Solomon the king, for he does not turn back your face, and he gives Abishag the Shunammite to me for a wife.”

And Bathsheba says, “Good; I speak to the king for you.”

And Bathsheba comes to 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.

And she says, “I ask one small petition of you, do not turn back my face”; and the king says to her, “Ask, my mother, for I do not turn back your face.”

And she says, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to your brother Adonijah for a wife.”

And King Solomon answers and says to his mother, “And why are you asking [for] Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Also ask [for] the kingdom for him—for he [is] my elder brother—even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab son of Zeruiah.”

And King Solomon swears by YHWH, saying, “Thus God does to me, and thus He adds—surely Adonijah has spoken this word against his [own] soul;

and now, YHWH lives, who has established me, and causes me to sit on the throne of my father David, and who has made a house for me as He spoke—surely Adonijah is put to death today.”

And King Solomon sends by the hand of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he falls on him, and he dies.

And the king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go to Anathoth, to your fields; for you [are] a man of death, but I do not put you to death in this day, because you have carried the Ark of Lord YHWH before my father David, and because you were afflicted in all that my father was afflicted in.”

And Solomon casts out Abiathar from being priest of YHWH, to fulfill the word of YHWH which He spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

The Execution of Joab

And the report has come to Joab—for Joab has turned aside after Adonijah, though he did not turn aside after Absalom—and Joab flees to the tent of YHWH, and lays hold on the horns of the altar.

And it is declared to King Solomon that Joab has fled to the tent of YHWH, and behold, [is] near the altar; and Solomon sends Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, fall on him.”

And Benaiah comes into the tent of YHWH and says to him, “Thus said the king: Come out”; and he says, “No, but I die here.” And Benaiah brings back word [to] the king, saying, “Thus spoke Joab, indeed, thus he answered me.”

And the king says to him, “Do as he has spoken, and fall on 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;

and YHWH has turned back his blood on his own head, [on him] who has fallen on two men more righteous and better than he, and slays them with the sword—and my father David did not know—Abner son of Ner, head of the host of Israel, and Amasa son of Jether, head of the host of Judah;

indeed, their blood has turned back on the head of Joab, and on the head of his seed for all time; and for David, and for his seed, and for his house, and for his throne, there is peace for all time, from YHWH.”

And Benaiah son of Jehoiada goes up and falls on him, and puts him to death, and he is buried in his own house in the wilderness,

and the king puts Benaiah son of Jehoiada over the host in his stead, and the king has put Zadok the priest in the stead of Abiathar.

The Execution of Shimei

And the king sends and calls for Shimei, and says to him, “Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem, and you have dwelt there, and do not go out [from] there anywhere;

and it has been, in the day of your going out, and you have passed over the Brook of Kidron, you certainly know that you surely die—your blood is on your head.”

And Shimei says to the king, “The word [is] good; as my lord the king has spoken so your servant does”; and Shimei dwells in Jerusalem many days.

And it comes to pass, at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei flee to Achish son of Maachah, king of Gath, and they declare to Shimei, saying, “Behold, your servants [are] in Gath”;

and Shimei rises, and saddles his donkey, and goes to Gath, to Achish, to seek his servants, and Shimei goes and brings his servants from Gath.

And it is declared to Solomon that Shimei has gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and returns,

and the king sends and calls for Shimei, and says to him, “Have I not caused you to swear by YHWH—and I testify against you, saying, In the day of your going out, and you have gone anywhere, you certainly know that you surely die; and you say to me, The word I have heard [is] good?

And why have you not kept the oath of YHWH, and the charge that I charged on you?”

And the king says to Shimei, “You have known all the evil that your heart has known, which you did to my father David, and YHWH has turned back your evil on your head,

and King Solomon [is] blessed, and the throne of David is established before YHWH for all time.”

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.