12 aThen sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly. 13 *And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bath-sheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, bComest thou peaceably? And he said, Peaceably. 14 He said moreover, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And she said, Say on. 15 And he said, Thou knowest that the kingdom was cmine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign: howbeit the kingdom is turned about, and is become my brother’s: for dit was his from the Lord. 16 And now I ask one petition of thee, †deny me not. And she said unto him, Say on. 17 And he said, Speak, I pray thee, unto Solomon the king, (for he will not say thee nay,) that he give me eAbishag the fShunammite to wife. 18 And Bath-sheba said, Well; I will speak for thee unto the king. 19 Bath-sheba therefore went unto king Solomon, to speak unto him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a seat to be set for the king’s mother; gand she sat on his right hand. 20 Then she said, I desire one small petition of thee; I pray thee, say me not nay. And the king said unto her, Ask on, my mother: for I will not say thee nay. 21 And she said, Let eAbishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother to wife. 22 And king Solomon answered and said unto his mother, And why dost thou ask eAbishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also; hfor he is mine elder brother; even for him, and for iAbiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah. 23 Then king Solomon sware by the Lord, saying, jGod do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah have not spoken this word against his own life. 24 Now therefore, kas the Lord liveth, which hath established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, and who hath made me an house, las he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death this day. 25 And king Solomon sent by the hand of mBenaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him that he died.

26 And unto Abiathar the priest said the king, Get thee to nAnathoth, unto thine own fields; for thou art †worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because othou barest the ark of the Lord God before David my father, and because pthou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted. 27 So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the Lord; that he might qfulfil the word of the Lord, which he spake concerning the house of Eli in rShiloh.

28 Then tidings came to Joab: for Joab shad turned after Adonijah, though the turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled uunto the tabernacle of the Lord, and vcaught hold on the horns of the altar. 29 And it was told king Solomon that Joab was fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord; and, behold, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him. 30 And Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said unto him, Thus saith the king, Come forth. And he said, Nay; but I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me. 31 And the king said unto him, wDo as he hath said, and fall upon him, and bury him; xthat thou mayest take away the innocent blood, which Joab shed, from me, and from the house of my father. 32 And the Lord yshall return his blood upon his own head, who fell upon two men more righteous and zbetter than he, and slew them with the sword, my father David not knowing thereof, to wit, aAbner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and bAmasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah. 33 Their blood shall therefore return cupon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever: but upon David, and upon his seed, and upon his house, and upon his throne, shall there be peace for ever from the Lord. 34 So dBenaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell upon him, and slew him: and he was buried ein his own house in the wilderness. 35 And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host: and fZadok the priest did the king put in the room of gAbiathar.

36 And the king sent and called for hShimei, and said unto him, Build thee an house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and go not forth thence any whither. 37 For it shall be, that on the day thou goest out, and passest over ithe brook Kidron, thou shalt know for certain that thou shalt surely die: jthy blood shall be upon thine own head. 38 And Shimei said unto the king, The saying is good: as my lord the king hath said, so will thy servant do. And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days. 39 *And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away unto kAchish son of Maachah king of lGath. And they told Shimei, saying, Behold, thy servants be in Gath. 40 And Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants: and Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath. 41 And it was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and was come again. 42 And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him, Did I not make thee to swear by the Lord, and protested unto thee, saying, Know for a certain, on the day thou goest out, and walkest abroad any whither, that thou shalt surely die? and thou saidst unto me, The word that I have heard is good. 43 Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the Lord, and the commandment that I have charged thee with? 44 The king said moreover to Shimei, Thou knowest mall the wickedness which thine heart is privy to, that thou didst to David my father: therefore the Lord shall nreturn thy wickedness upon thine own head; 45 And king Solomon shall be blessed, and othe throne of David shall be established before the Lord for ever. 46 So the king commanded dBenaiah the son of Jehoiada; which went out, and fell upon him, that he died. And the pkingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.

3 *And aSolomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the bcity of David, until he had made an end of building his cown house, and dthe house of the Lord, and ethe wall of Jerusalem round about. 2 Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the Lord, until those days. 3 And Solomon floved the Lord, gwalking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places. 4 And the king went to hGibeon to sacrifice there; ifor that was the great jhigh place: a kthousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.

5 lIn Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon min a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. 6 And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great ||mercy, according as he nwalked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou ohast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7 And now, O Lord my God, pthou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but qa little child: I know not how rto go out or come in. 8 And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou shast chosen, a great people, tthat cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. 9 uGive therefore thy servant an †understanding heart xto judge thy people, that I may ydiscern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people? 10 And the speech zpleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. 11 And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself †long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding †to discern judgment; 12 aBehold, I have done according to thy words: blo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. 13 And I have also cgiven thee that which thou hast not asked, both driches, and honour: so that there ||shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days. 14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, eas thy father David did walk, then I will flengthen thy days. 15 And Solomon gawoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before hthe ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and imade a feast to all his servants.

16 Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and kstood before him. 17 And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. 18 And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. 19 And this woman’s child died in the night; because she overlaid it. 20 And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. 21 And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear. 22 And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king. 23 Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. 24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. 25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. 26 Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels †yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, …