1 ¶ Now as David’s time to die drew near; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,

2 I go the way of all the earth: therefore be strong, and show yourself a man;

3 And keep the charge of the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do, and wherever you turn:

4 That the LORD may fulfill the promise that he spoke concerning me, saying, If your children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.

5 You also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two commanders of the army of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he murdered, avenging blood shed in war in time of peace, and putting the blood of war on the belt around his waist, and on his shoes that were on his feet.

6 Therefore do what you know to be wise, and do not let his aged head go down to the grave in peace.

7 But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table: for they came to me when I fled because of Absalom your brother.

8 And you have with you Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse on the day that I went to Mahanaim: but he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the LORD, saying, I will not put you to death with the sword.

9 So do not regard him as innocent: for you are a wise man, and know what you should do to him; bring his gray head down to the grave with blood.

10 So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.

11 And David reigned over Israel for forty years: he reigned for seven years in Hebron, and reigned for thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

12 ¶ Then Solomon sat upon the throne of his father David; and his kingdom was firmly established.

13 And Adonijah the son of Haggith went to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, Have you come peaceably? And he said, Peaceably.

14 He also said, I have something to say to you. And she said, Say on.

15 And he said, You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel looked to me, to reign: however the kingdom has turned around, and has become my brother’s: for it was his from the LORD.

16 And now I make one request of you, do not refuse me. And she said to him, Say on.

17 And he said, Speak, I pray you, to Solomon the king, (for he will not say no to you,) asking him to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.

18 And Bathsheba said, Well; I will speak to the king for you.

19 So Bathsheba went to king Solomon, to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. And the king rose to meet her, and bowed to her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a seat for her, the king’s mother, to be placed at his right hand.

20 Then she said, I desire one small thing from you; please do not say no to me. And the king said to her, Ask on, my mother: for I will not refuse you.

21 And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as his wife.

22 Then king Solomon responded by saying to his mother, And why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him to also be made king; for he is my elder brother; and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the son of Zeruiah are on his side.

23 Then king Solomon swore by the LORD, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life.

24 Now therefore, as the LORD lives, who has established me, and placed me on the throne of my father David, and has made me a dynasty, as he promised, Adonijah will be put to death today.

25 So king Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; who struck him down so that he died.

26 ¶ Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, Go to your own fields in Anathoth; for you deserve death: but I will not put you to death at this time, because you carried the ark of the Lord GOD before David my father, and because you suffered through all that my father suffered.

27 So Solomon expelled Abiathar from being a priest of the LORD; fulfilling the word of the LORD, which he spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

28 When Joab heard the news: since Joab had followed Adonijah, although he had not followed Absalom. Joab fled to the tabernacle of the LORD, and caught hold of the horns of the altar.

29 And king Solomon was told that Joab had fled to the tabernacle of the LORD; and was by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, strike him down.

30 So Benaiah went to the tabernacle of the LORD, and said to Joab, The king says, Come out. But he said, No; I would rather die here. Then Benaiah reported back to the king, saying, This is what Joab said, and this is how he answered me.

31 Then the king said to him, Do as he has said, and strike him down, and bury him; that you may take away from me and from my father’s house, the innocent blood that Joab shed.

32 And the LORD will return his bloody deeds upon his own head, for he fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, without my father David being aware of it, Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah.

33 Their blood will return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his descendants forever: but upon David, and upon his seed, and upon his house, and upon his throne, there will be peace forever from the LORD.

34 So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell upon him, and killed him: and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.

35 ¶ Then the king placed Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in Joab’s place: and made Zadok the priest in place of Abiathar.

36 And the king sent for Shimei, and said to him, Build yourself a house in Jerusalem, and live there, and do not leave there.

37 For on the day you leave, and cross over the brook Kidron, you can be certain that you will die: your blood will be upon your own head.

38 And Shimei said to the king, The sentence is fair: your servant will do, as my lord the king has said. And Shimei remained in Jerusalem for many days.

39 But it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away to Achish son of Maachah king of Gath. And Shimei, was told, Behold, your servants are in Gath.

40 So Shimei arose, and saddled his donkey, and went to Achish in Gath to find his servants: and Shimei brought his servants back from Gath.

41 And Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had returned.

42 So the king sent for Shimei, and said to him, Did I not make you swear by the LORD, and warn you, saying, Know for certain, on the day you leave, and go anyplace outside, you will surely die? and you said to me, The word that I have heard is good.

43 Why then have you not kept the oath of the LORD, and the commandment that I gave you?

44 The king also said to Shimei, You know in your own heart all the wickedness that you did to David my father: therefore the LORD will return your wickedness upon your own head;

45 And king Solomon will be blessed, and the throne of David will be established before the LORD forever.

46 So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; who went out, and fell upon him, killing him. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.