1 Kings 1–2

Chapter 1

David in Old Age

¹Now King David was old, advanced in age; and they covered him with clothes, but he could not keep warm.

²So his servants said to him, “Let them seek a young virgin for my lord the king, and let her ¹attend the king and become his nurse; and let her lie in your bosom, that my lord the king may keep warm.”

³So they searched for a beautiful girl throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the ^aShunammite, and brought her to the king.

⁴The girl was very beautiful; and she became the king’s nurse and served him, but the king did not ¹cohabit with her.

⁵Now ^aAdonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” So ^bhe prepared for himself chariots and horsemen with fifty men to run before him.

⁶His father had never ¹crossed him at any time by asking, “Why have you done so?” And he was also a very handsome man, and ^2ahe was born after Absalom.

⁷¹He had conferred with ^aJoab the son of Zeruiah and with ^bAbiathar the priest; and following ^cAdonijah they helped him.

⁸But ^aZadok the priest, ^bBenaiah the son of Jehoiada, ^cNathan the prophet, ^dShimei, Rei, and ^ethe mighty men who belonged to David, were not with Adonijah.

⁹Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fatlings by the ¹stone of Zoheleth, which is beside ^aEn-rogel; and he invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the king’s servants.

¹⁰But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the mighty men, and ^aSolomon his brother.

Nathan and Bathsheba

¹¹Then Nathan spoke to ^aBathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, and David our lord does not know it?

¹²“So now come, please let me ^agive you counsel and save your life and the life of your son Solomon.

¹³“Go ¹at once to King David and say to him, ‘Have you not, my lord, O king, sworn to your maidservant, saying, “^aSurely Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’

¹⁴“Behold, while you are still there speaking with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words.”

¹⁵So Bathsheba went in to the king in the bedroom. Now ^athe king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was ministering to the king.

¹⁶Then Bathsheba bowed and prostrated herself ¹before the king. And the king said, “What ²do you wish?”

¹⁷She said to him, “My lord, you swore to your maidservant by the Lord your God, saying, ‘^aSurely your son Solomon shall be king after me and he shall sit on my throne.’

¹⁸“Now, behold, Adonijah is king; and now, my lord the king, you do not know it.

¹⁹“^aHe has sacrificed oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the king and Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army, but he has not invited Solomon your servant.

²⁰“As for you now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.

²¹“Otherwise it will come about, ^aas soon as my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be considered ¹offenders.”

²²Behold, while she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in.

²³They told the king, saying, “Here is Nathan the prophet.” And when he came in before the king, he prostrated himself ¹before the king with his face to the ground.

²⁴Then Nathan said, “My lord the king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne’?

²⁵“^aFor he has gone down today and has sacrificed oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s sons and the commanders of the army and Abiathar the priest, and behold, they are eating and drinking before him; and they say, ‘^bLong live King Adonijah!’

²⁶“^aBut me, even me your servant, and Zadok the priest and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and your servant Solomon, he has not invited.

²⁷“Has this thing been done by my lord the king, and you have not shown to your ¹servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”

²⁸Then King David said, “Call Bathsheba to me.” And she came into the king’s presence and stood before the king.

²⁹The king vowed and said, “^aAs the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress,

³⁰surely as ^aI vowed to you by the Lord the God of Israel, saying, ‘Your son Solomon shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place’; I will indeed do so this day.”

³¹Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground, and prostrated herself ¹before the king and said, “^aMay my lord King David live forever.”

³²Then King David said, “Call to me ^aZadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” And they came into the king’s presence.

³³The king said to them, “Take with you ^athe servants of your lord, and have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and bring him down to ^bGihon.

³⁴“Let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet ^aanoint him there as king over Israel, and ^bblow the trumpet and say, ‘^cLong live King Solomon!’

³⁵“Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne and be king in my place; for I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah.”

³⁶Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, “Amen! Thus may the Lord, the God of my lord the king, say.

³⁷“^aAs the Lord has been with my lord the king, so may He be with Solomon, and ^bmake his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David!”

Solomon Anointed King

³⁸So ^aZadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, ^bthe Cherethites, and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule, and brought him to ^cGihon.

³⁹Zadok the priest then ^atook the horn of oil from the tent and ^banointed Solomon. Then they ^cblew the trumpet, and all the people said, “^dLong live King Solomon!”

⁴⁰All the people went up after him, and the people ¹were playing on flutes and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth ²shook at their noise.

⁴¹Now Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished eating. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, “Why ¹is the city making such an uproar?”

⁴²While he was still speaking, behold, ^aJonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came. Then Adonijah said, “Come in, for ^byou are a valiant man and bring good news.”

⁴³But Jonathan replied to Adonijah, “No! Our lord King David has made Solomon king.

⁴⁴“The king has also sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites; and they have made him ride on the king’s mule.

⁴⁵“Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon, and they have come up from there rejoicing, ^aso that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise which you have heard.

⁴⁶“Besides, ^aSolomon has even taken his seat on the throne of the kingdom.

⁴⁷“Moreover, the king’s servants came to bless our lord King David, saying, ‘May ^ayour God make the name of Solomon better than your name and his throne greater than your throne!’ And ^bthe king bowed himself on the bed.

⁴⁸“The king has also said thus, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who ^ahas granted one to sit on my throne today while my own eyes see it.’ ”

⁴⁹Then all the guests of Adonijah were terrified; and they arose and each went on his way.

⁵⁰And Adonijah was afraid of Solomon, and he arose, went and ^atook hold of the horns of the altar.

⁵¹Now it was told Solomon, saying, “Behold, Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon, for behold, he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.’ ”

⁵²Solomon said, “If he is a worthy man, ^anot one of his hairs will fall to the ground; but if wickedness is found in him, he will die.”

⁵³So King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and prostrated himself ¹before King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.”

Chapter 2

David’s Charge to Solomon

¹As David’s ^1atime to die drew near, he charged Solomon his son, saying,

²“^aI am going the way of all the earth. ^bBe strong, therefore, and ¹show yourself a man.

³“Keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, ^aaccording to what is written in the Law of Moses, that ^byou may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn,

⁴so that ^athe Lord may carry out His promise which He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘^bIf your sons are careful of their way, ^cto walk before Me in ¹truth with all their heart and with all their soul, ^2dyou shall not lack a man on 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 waist, and on his sandals ³on his feet.

⁶“^aSo act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down to ¹Sheol in peace.

⁷“But ^ashow kindness 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 the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’

⁹“Now therefore, 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 ¹Sheol with blood.”

Death of David

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

^11aThe days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: ^bseven years he reigned in Hebron and thirty-three years he reigned in Jerusalem.

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