1 Kings 2:1–18

David’s Command to Solomon

¹Then David’s ^1atime to die drew near, so he commanded Solomon his son, saying,

²“^aI am going the way of all the earth. ^bSo you shall be strong, and be a man.

³“And you shall keep the responsibility given by Yahweh your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, ^aaccording to what is written in the Law of Moses, that ^byou may be prosperous in all that you do and wherever you turn,

⁴so that ^aYahweh may establish His promise which He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘^bIf your sons keep their way, ^cto walk before Me in ¹truth with all their heart and with all their soul, He said, ^2dyou shall not have a man cut off from the throne of Israel.’

⁵“Now you also know what Joab the ^ason of Zeruiah did to me, what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to ^bAbner the son of Ner, and to ^cAmasa the son of Jether, whom he killed; he also ¹shed the blood of war in peace. And he put the blood of war on his belt ²about his ³waist, and on his sandals ⁴on his feet.

⁶“^aSo act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down to Sheol in peace.

⁷“But ^ashow lovingkindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and ^blet them be among those who eat at your table; ^cfor they ¹assisted me when I fled from Absalom your brother.

⁸“Behold, ^athere is with you Shimei the son of Gera the Benjamite, of Bahurim; now it was he who cursed me with a ¹violent curse on the day I went to Mahanaim. But when ^bhe came down to me at the Jordan, I swore to him by Yahweh, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’

⁹“So now, do not let him go unpunished, ^afor you are a wise man; and you will know what you ought to do to him, and you will bring his gray hair down to Sheol with blood.”

The Death of David

¹⁰Then ^aDavid slept with his fathers and was buried in ^bthe city of David.

^11aAnd the ¹time which David reigned over Israel was forty years; in Hebron he reigned ^bseven years and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years.

¹²And ^aSolomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established.

Adonijah’s Request

¹³Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, “^aDo you come peacefully?” And he said, “Peacefully.”

¹⁴Then he said, “I have something to say to you.” And she said, “Speak.”

¹⁵So he said, “You know that ^athe kingdom was mine and ^bthat all Israel ¹expected me to be king; ^chowever, the kingdom has turned about and become my brother’s, ^dfor it was his from Yahweh.

¹⁶“So now, I am making one request of you; do not ¹turn me away.” And she said to him, “Speak.”

¹⁷Then he said, “Please speak to Solomon the king, for he will not ¹turn you away, that he may give me ^aAbishag the Shunammite as a wife.”

¹⁸And Bathsheba said, “Very well; I will speak to the king for you.”