1 Kings 2:13–25

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.”

Adonijah Put to Death

¹⁹So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king arose to meet her, bowed before her, and sat on his throne; then he ^ahad a throne set for the king’s mother, and ^bshe sat on his right.

²⁰Then she said, “I am making one small request of you; ^ado not turn ¹me away.” And the king said to her, “Ask, my mother, for I will not turn ²you away.”

²¹So she said, “^aLet Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as a wife.”

²²Then King Solomon answered and said to his mother, “And why are you asking Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ^aAsk for him also the kingdom—^bfor he is my older brother—even for him, for ^cAbiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah!”

²³Then King Solomon swore by Yahweh, saying, “May God do so to me and more also, if Adonijah has ^anot spoken this word against his own ¹life.

²⁴“So now, as Yahweh lives, who has established me and set me on the throne of David my father and ^awho has made me a house as He promised, surely Adonijah shall be put to death today.”

²⁵So King Solomon ^asent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him so that he died.