³⁶The king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem, and stay there. Don’t leave ⸤the city⸥ to go anywhere else. ³⁷But the day you leave and cross the brook in the Kidron Valley, you can be certain that you will die. You will be responsible for your own death.”

³⁸“Very well,” Shimei answered. “I’ll do just what Your Majesty said.”

So Shimei stayed in Jerusalem for a long time. ³⁹But after three years, two of Shimei’s slaves fled to Gath’s King Achish, son of Maacah. Shimei was told that his slaves were in Gath, ⁴⁰so he saddled his donkey and went to Achish in Gath to search for his slaves. Shimei went to Gath and got his slaves.

⁴¹After Solomon heard that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and back, ⁴²he summoned Shimei. Solomon asked him, “Didn’t I make you take an oath by the Lord? Didn’t I warn you that if you left ⸤the city⸥ to go anywhere, you could be certain that you would die? Didn’t you say to me, ‘Very well. I’ll do just what you said’? ⁴³Why didn’t you keep your oath to the Lord and obey the command I gave you? ⁴⁴Shimei, you know in your heart all the evil that you did to my father David. The Lord is going to pay you back for the evil you have done. ⁴⁵But King Solomon is blessed, and David’s dynasty will always be firmly established by the Lord.”

⁴⁶Then the king gave orders to Benaiah, son of Jehoiada. He went to attack and kill Shimei.

Solomon’s power as king was now firmly established.

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