Adonijah Makes Himself King

1 Now King David was old. He had lived many years. They covered him with clothes, but he could not keep warm. ² So his servants said to him, “Let a young woman who has never had a man be found for my lord the king. Let her help the king and become his nurse. And let her lie in your arms, that my lord the king may be warm.” ³ So they looked through all the land of Israel for a beautiful girl, and found Abishag the Shunammite. And they brought her to the king. ⁴ The girl was very beautiful. She became the king’s nurse and helped him. But the king did not have sex with her.

⁵ Now Haggith’s son Adonijah honored himself, saying, “I will be king.” So he made war-wagons and horsemen ready for himself, with fifty men to run in front of him. ⁶ His father had never troubled him at any time by asking, “Why have you done this?” He was a very good-looking man also, and was born next after Absalom. ⁷ He spoke with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the religious leader. And they followed Adonijah and helped him. ⁸ But Zadok the religious leader, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the man of God, Shimei, Rei, and David’s strong men, were not with Adonijah.

⁹ Adonijah killed sheep and cattle and fat animals by the stone of Zoheleth, beside En-rogel. He asked all his brothers, the king’s sons and all the king’s men of Judah to come. ¹⁰ But he did not ask Nathan the man of God, Benaiah, the strong men or his brother Solomon to come.

¹¹ Then Nathan said to Solomon’s mother Bathsheba, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, and our lord David does not know it? ¹² So now come, let me give you words of wisdom and save your life and the life of your son Solomon. ¹³ Go to King David and say to him, ‘My lord, O king, have you not promised your woman servant, saying, “For sure your son Solomon will be king after me. He will sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’ ¹⁴ While you are still there speaking with the king, I will come in after you and tell him your words are true.”

¹⁵ So Bathsheba went to the king in his room. The king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was helping him. ¹⁶ Bathsheba put her face to the ground in front of the king. And the king said, “What do you wish?” ¹⁷ She said to him, “My lord, you promised your woman servant by the Lord your God, saying, ‘For sure your son Solomon will be king after me. He will sit on my throne.’ ¹⁸ Now, see, Adonijah is king. And my lord the king, you do not know it. ¹⁹ He has killed many cattle and sheep and fat animals. He has asked all the king’s sons and Abiathar the religious leader and Joab the captain of the army to come. But he has not asked your servant Solomon to come. ²⁰ Now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you. They are waiting for you to tell them who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. ²¹ Or else as soon as my lord the king is dead, I and my son Solomon will be thought of as wrong-doers.”

²² While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the man of God came in. ²³ They told the king, “Here is Nathan who speaks for God.” When Nathan came in front of the king, he put his face to the ground. ²⁴ Then Nathan said, “My lord the king, have you said, ‘Adonijah will be king after me, and he will sit on my throne’? ²⁵ For he has gone down today and has killed many cattle and sheep and fat animals. He has asked all the king’s sons and the captains of the army and Abiathar the religious leader to come. They are eating and drinking with him, and are saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ ²⁶ But he has not asked me your servant, Zadok the religious leader, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, or your servant Solomon, to come. ²⁷ Has this been done by my lord the king? Have you not shown your servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”

David Makes Solomon King

²⁸ King David said, “Call Bathsheba to me.” And she came and stood in front of the king. ²⁹ The king made a promise and said, “As the Lord lives, Who has saved me from all trouble, ³⁰ I promised you by the Lord the God of Israel, saying, ‘Your son Solomon will be king after me. He will sit on my throne in my place.’ And I will even do so this day.” ³¹ Bathsheba put her face to the ground in front of the king and said, “May my lord King David live forever.”

³² Then King David said, “Call to me Zadok the religious leader, Nathan the man of God, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” And they came to the king. ³³ The king said to them, “Take the servants of your lord with you. Have my son Solomon go on my own horse. And bring him down to Gihon. ³⁴ Let Zadok the religious leader and Nathan the man of God set him apart there as king over Israel. Sound the horn and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ ³⁵ Then come up after him. He will come and sit on my throne and be king in my place. For I have chosen him to be ruler over Israel and Judah.” ³⁶ Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, “Let it be so! May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, say so! ³⁷ May the Lord be with Solomon as He has been with my lord the king. May He make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David!”

³⁸ So Zadok the religious leader, Nathan the man of God, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites went down to Gihon. And they brought Solomon with them, on King David’s horse. ³⁹ There Zadok the religious leader took the horn of oil from the tent and poured it on Solomon. Then they sounded the horn and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!” ⁴⁰ And all the people went up after him. They were playing music and were filled with joy. The earth shook with all the noise.

⁴¹ Adonijah and all who had been asked to be with him heard it as they finished eating. When Joab heard the sound of the horn, he said, “Why is there such a noise in the city?” ⁴² While he was still speaking, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the religious leader came. Adonijah said, “Come in, for you are a man to be trusted, and bring good news.” ⁴³ But Jonathan said to Adonijah, “No! Our lord King David has made Solomon king. ⁴⁴ The king has sent with him Zadok the religious leader, Nathan the man of God, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites and the Pelethites. And they have made him travel on the king’s horse. ⁴⁵ Zadok the religious leader and Nathan the man of God have set him apart as king in Gihon. They have come up from there filled with joy, so there is much noise in the city. This is the noise you have heard. ⁴⁶ Solomon sits upon the throne of the king. ⁴⁷ What is more, the king’s servants came to give honor to our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make the name of Solomon better than your name and his throne greater than your throne!’ And the king put his face down upon the bed. ⁴⁸ The king said, ‘Thanks be to the Lord, the God of Israel. He has given one to sit on my throne today while my own eyes see it.’”

⁴⁹ Then all those with Adonijah were filled with fear. Each of them got up and went his own way. ⁵⁰ And Adonijah was afraid of Solomon. He got up and went and took hold of the horns of the altar. ⁵¹ Solomon was told, “See, Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon. See, he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon promise me today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.’” ⁵² Solomon said, “If he will be a man of worth, not one of his hairs will fall to the ground. But if he is found to be bad, he will die.” ⁵³ So King Solomon sent men to bring him down from the altar. Adonijah came and put his face to the ground in front of King Solomon. And Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.”

David’s Last Words to Solomon

2 When David’s time to die was near, he told his son Solomon, ² “I am going the way of all the earth. So be strong. Show yourself to be a man. ³ Do what the Lord your God tells you. Walk in His ways. Keep all His Laws and His Word, by what is written in the Law of Moses. Then you will do well in all that you do and in every place you go. ⁴ Then the Lord will keep His promise to me. He has said to me, ‘Your sons must be careful of their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and soul. If they do, you will never be without a man on the throne of Israel.’ ⁵ Now you know what Zeruiah’s son Joab did to me. You know what he did to the two captains of the armies of Israel. He killed Abner the son of Ner, and Amasa the son of Jether in the time of peace as if it were in the time of war. He put the blood of war on his belt and on the shoes of his feet. ⁶ So act with wisdom. Do not let his gray hair go down to the grave in peace. ⁷ But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite. Let them be among those who eat at your table. For they helped me when I ran from your brother Absalom. ⁸ See, there is with you Shimei the son of Gera the Benjamite, of Bahurim. It was he who spoke bad words against me on the day I went to Mahanaim. But when he came down to me at the Jordan, I promised him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ ⁹ So do not let him go without being punished. For you are a wise man. You will know what you should do to him. Bring his gray hair down to the grave with blood.”

The Death of David

¹⁰ Then David died and was buried in the city of David. ¹¹ He had ruled over Israel forty years. Seven years he ruled in Hebron. And thirty-three years he ruled in Jerusalem. ¹² Solomon sat on the throne of his father David and things went well for the nation.

Solomon Had Adonijah Killed

¹³ Now Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Solomon’s mother Bathsheba. She said, “Do you come in peace?” And he said, “Yes, in peace.” ¹⁴ Then he said, “I have something to say to you.” And she said, “Speak.” ¹⁵ So he said, “You know that the nation was mine. All Israel thought I would be king. But the nation has become my brother’s, for it was his from the Lord. ¹⁶ Now I have one thing to ask of you. Do not say no to me.” And she said to him, “Speak.” ¹⁷ He said, “I beg you, speak to Solomon the king. For he will not say no to you. Ask him to give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife.” ¹⁸ Bathsheba said, “Very well. I will speak to the king for you.”

¹⁹ So Bathsheba went to speak to King Solomon for Adonijah. The king stood up to meet her, bowed in front of her, then sat on his throne. He had a seat brought in for the king’s mother, and she sat on his right. ²⁰ She said, “I am asking you for one small thing. Do not say no to me.” And the king said to her, “Ask, my mother. I will not say no to you.” ²¹ So she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to your brother Adonijah as his wife.” ²² King Solomon answered his mother, “Why are you asking me to give Abishag the Shunammite to Adonijah? Ask me to give him the nation also! For he is my older brother. And Abiathar the religious leader and Joab the son of Zeruiah are on his side!” ²³ Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, “May God do so to me and more, if Adonijah has not asked for this against his own life. ²⁴ The Lord has given me my place on the throne of my father David. He has made me a house as He promised. And as the Lord lives, for sure Adonijah will be put to death today.” ²⁵ So King Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went to Adonijah and killed him.

Abiathar Sent Away and Joab Is Killed

²⁶ Then the king said to Abiathar the religious leader, “Go to your own fields at Anathoth, for you should be put to death. But I will not have you killed at this time. Because you carried the special box of the Lord God in front of my father David. And you shared in all of my father’s suffering.” ²⁷ So Solomon stopped Abiathar from being religious leader for the Lord any longer. This was done to keep the word of the Lord, which God had spoken about the family of Eli in Shiloh.

²⁸ Now the news came to Joab. For Joab had followed Adonijah, but he had not followed Absalom. And Joab ran to the tent of the Lord and took hold of the horns of the altar. ²⁹ King Solomon was told that Joab had run to the tent of the Lord, and was beside the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go and kill him.” ³⁰ Benaiah came to the tent of the Lord. He said to Joab, “The king says to come out.” But Joab said, “No! I will die here.” So Benaiah returned to the king and said, “This is what Joab said. This is how he answered me.” ³¹ The king said to him, “Do as he has said. Kill him and bury him. In this way you will take away from me and my father’s house the blood of those killed by Joab without a reason. ³² The Lord will return Joab’s acts of killing upon his own head. Because Joab killed two men who were right and good and better than he. He killed them with the sword while my father David did not know it. He killed Abner the son of Ner, captain of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the army of Judah. ³³ So their blood will be on the head of Joab and on the head of his children forever. But may there be peace from the Lord forever to David and his children, his house and his throne.” ³⁴ Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and killed Joab. He was buried at his own house in the desert. ³⁵ The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in Joab’s place. And the king put Zadok the religious leader in the place of Abiathar.

The Death of Shimei

³⁶ Then the king sent for Shimei and said to him, “Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem and live there. Do not leave there. ³⁷ For on the day you go out and cross the river Kidron, you will know for sure that you will die. Your blood will be on your own head.” ³⁸ Shimei said to the king, “What you say is good. Your servant will do as my lord the king has said.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.

³⁹ But at the end of three years, two of Shimei’s servants ran away to Achish the son of Maacah, king of Gath. Shimei was told, “See, your servants are in Gath.” ⁴⁰ Then Shimei got up and made his donkey ready to travel. And he went to Achish in Gath to look for his servants. Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath. ⁴¹ Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned. ⁴² So the king sent for Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you promise by the Lord and tell you of danger, saying, ‘You will know for sure that on the day you leave and go anywhere, you will die’? And you said to me, ‘What you have said is good.’ ⁴³ Then why have you not kept the promise of the Lord? Why have you not done what I told you?” ⁴⁴ And the king said to Shimei, “You know in your heart all the bad things you did to my father David. So the Lord will return your sin upon your own head. ⁴⁵ But good will come to King Solomon. The throne of David will keep its place before the Lord forever.” ⁴⁶ So the king told Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and killed Shimei. The nation was put under the rule of Solomon.