| 2:1 | When David was close to death,* he told* Solomon his son: |
| 2:2 | “I am about to die.* Be strong and become a man! |
| 2:3 | Do the job the Lord your God has assigned you* by following his instructions* and obeying* his rules, commandments, regulations, and laws as written in the law of Moses. Then you will succeed in all you do and seek to accomplish,* |
| 2:4 | and the Lord will fulfill his promise to me,* ‘If your descendants watch their step* and live faithfully in my presence* with all their heart and being,* then,’ he promised,* ‘you will not fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’* |
| 2:5 | “You know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me – how he murdered two commanders of the Israelite armies, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether.* During peacetime he struck them down like he would in battle;* when he shed their blood as if in battle, he stained his own belt and the sandals on his feet.* |
| 2:6 | Do to him what you think is appropriate,* but don’t let him live long and die a peaceful death.* |
| 2:7 | “Treat fairly* the sons of Barzillai of Gilead and provide for their needs,* because they helped me* when I had to flee from your brother Absalom. |
| 2:8 | “Note well, you still have to contend with Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim,* who tried to call down upon me a horrible judgment when I went to Mahanaim.* He came down and met me at the Jordan, and I solemnly promised* him by the Lord, ‘I will not strike you down* with the sword.’ |
| 2:9 | But now* don’t treat him as if he were innocent. You are a wise man and you know how to handle him;* make sure he has a bloody death.”* |
| 2:10 | Then David passed away* and was buried in the city of David.* |
| 2:11 | David reigned over Israel forty years; he reigned in Hebron seven years, and in Jerusalem* thirty-three years. |
| 2:12 | Solomon sat on his father David’s throne, and his royal authority* was firmly solidified. |
| 2:13 | Haggith’s son Adonijah visited Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. She asked, “Do you come in peace?” He answered, “Yes.”* |
| 2:14 | He added,* “I have something to say to you.” She replied, “Speak.” |
| 2:15 | He said, “You know that the kingdom* was mine and all Israel considered me king.* But then the kingdom was given to my brother, for the Lord decided it should be his.* |
| 2:16 | Now I’d like to ask you for just one thing. Please don’t refuse me.”* She said, “Go ahead and ask.”* |
| 2:17 | He said, “Please ask King Solomon if he would give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife, for he won’t refuse you.”* |
| 2:18 | Bathsheba replied, “That’s fine,* I’ll speak to the king on your behalf.” |
| 2:19 | So Bathsheba visited King Solomon to speak to him on Adonijah’s behalf. The king got up to greet* her, bowed to her, and then sat on his throne. He ordered a throne to be brought for the king’s mother,* and she sat at his right hand. |
| 2:20 | She said, “I would like to ask you for just one small favor.* Please don’t refuse me.”* He said,* “Go ahead and ask, my mother, for I would not refuse you.” |
| 2:21 | She said, “Allow Abishag the Shunammite to be given to your brother Adonijah as a wife.” |
| 2:22 | King Solomon answered his mother, “Why just request Abishag the Shunammite for him?* Since he is my older brother, you should also request the kingdom for him, for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab son of Zeruiah!” |
| 2:23 | King Solomon then swore an oath by the Lord, “May God judge me severely,* if Adonijah does not pay for this request with his life!* |
| 2:24 | Now, as certainly as the Lord lives (he who made me secure, allowed me to sit on my father David’s throne, and established a dynasty* for me as he promised), Adonijah will be executed today!” |
| 2:25 | King Solomon then sent* Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he killed Adonijah.* |
| 2:26 | The king then told Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your property* in Anathoth. You deserve to die,* but today I will not kill you because you did carry the ark of the sovereign Lord before my father David and you suffered with my father through all his difficult times.”* |
| 2:27 | Solomon dismissed Abiathar from his position as priest of the Lord,* fulfilling the decree of judgment the Lord made in Shiloh against the family of Eli.* |
| 2:28 | When the news reached Joab (for Joab had supported* Adonijah, although he had not supported Absalom), he* ran to the tent of the Lord and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar.* |
| 2:29 | When King Solomon heard* that Joab had run to the tent of the Lord and was right there beside the altar, he ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada,* “Go, strike him down.” |
| 2:30 | When Benaiah arrived at the tent of the Lord, he said to him, “The king says, ‘Come out!’” But he replied, “No, I will die here!” So Benaiah sent word to the king and reported Joab’s reply.* |
| 2:31 | The king told him, “Do as he said! Strike him down and bury him. Take away from me and from my father’s family* the guilt of Joab’s murderous, bloody deeds.* |
| 2:32 | May the Lord punish him for the blood he shed;* behind my father David’s back he struck down and murdered with the sword two men who were more innocent and morally upright than he* – Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army. |
| 2:33 | May Joab and his descendants be perpetually guilty of their shed blood, but may the Lord give perpetual peace to David, his descendants, his family,* and his dynasty.”* |
| 2:34 | So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and executed Joab;* he was buried at his home in the wilderness. |
| 2:35 | The king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada to take his place at the head of* the army, and the king appointed Zadok the priest to take Abiathar’s place.* |
| 2:36 | Next the king summoned* Shimei and told him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem* and live there – but you may not leave there to go anywhere!* |
| 2:37 | If you ever do leave and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will certainly die! You will be responsible for your own death.”* |
| 2:38 | Shimei said to the king, “My master the king’s proposal is acceptable.* Your servant will do as you say.”* So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time.* |
| 2:39 | Three years later two of Shimei’s servants ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, “Look, your servants are in Gath.” |
| 2:40 | So Shimei got up, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to find his servants; Shimei went and brought back his servants from Gath. |
| 2:41 | When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had then returned, |
| 2:42 | the king summoned* Shimei and said to him, “You will recall* that I made you take an oath by the Lord, and I solemnly warned you, ‘If you ever leave and go anywhere,* know for sure that you will certainly die.’ You said to me, ‘The proposal is acceptable; I agree to it.’* |
| 2:43 | Why then have you broken the oath you made before the Lord and disobeyed the order I gave you?”* |
| 2:44 | Then the king said to Shimei, “You are well aware of the way you mistreated my father David.* The Lord will punish you for what you did.* |
| 2:45 | But King Solomon will be empowered* and David’s dynasty* will endure permanently before the Lord.” |
| 2:46 | The king then gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada who went and executed Shimei.* So Solomon took firm control of the kingdom.* |
1 Kings 2 - NET Bible [draft]
