- Kings III
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1 And the days of David drew near that he should die: and he addressed his son Solomon, saying, I go the way of all the earth: 2 but be thou strong, and show thyself a man; 3 and keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep the commandments and the ordinances and the judgments which are written in the law of Moses; that thou mayest understand what thou shalt do in all things that I command thee: 4 that the Lord may confirm his word which he spoke, saying, If thy children shall take heed to their way to walk before me in truth with all their heart, I promise thee, saying, there shall not fail thee a man on the throne of Israel. 5 Moreover thou knowest all that Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, what he did to the two captains of the forces of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, that he slew them, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put innocent blood on his girdle that was about his loins, and on his sandal that was on his foot. 6 Therefore thou shalt deal with him according to thy wisdom, and thou shalt not bring down his gray hairs in peace to the grave. 7 But thou shalt deal kindly with the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and they shall be among those that eat at thy table; for thus they drew nigh to me when I fled from the face of thy brother Absalom. 8 And, behold, there is with thee Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjaminite of Bahurim: and he cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went into the camp; and he came down to Jordan to meet me, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword. 9 But thou shalt by no means hold him guiltless, for thou art a wise man, and wilt know what thou shalt do to him, and shalt bring down his gray hairs with blood to the grave.
10 And David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. 11 And the days which David reigned over Israel were forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
12 And Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was established greatly. 13 And Adonijah the son of Haggith came in to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, and did obeisance to her: and she said, Dost thou enter peaceably? and he said, Peaceably: 14 I have business with thee. And she said to him, Say on. 15 And he said to her, Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel turned their face toward me for a king; but the kingdom was turned from me and became my brother’s: for it was appointed to him from the Lord. 16 And now I make one request of thee, do not turn away thy face. And Bathsheba said to him, Speak on. 17 And he said to her, Speak, I pray thee, to King Solomon, for he will not turn away his face from thee, and let him give me Abishag the Shunammite for a wife. 18 And Bathsheba said, Well; I will speak for thee to the king.
19 And Bathsheba went in to King Solomon to speak to him concerning Adonijah; and the king rose up to meet her, and kissed her, and sat on the throne, and a throne was set for the mother of the king, and she sat on his right hand. 20 And she said to him, I ask of thee one little request; turn not away my face from thee. And the king said to her, Ask, my mother, and I will not reject thee. 21 And she said, Let, I pray thee, Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother to wife. 22 And King Solomon answered and said to his mother, And why hast thou asked Abishag for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also; for he is my elder brother, and he has for his companion Abiathar the priest, and Joab the son of Zeruiah the commander-in-chief. 23 And King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if it be not that Adonijah has spoken this word against his own life. 24 And now as the Lord lives who has established me, and set me on the throne of my father David, and he has made me a house, as the Lord spoke, this day shall Adonijah be put to death. 25 So King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he slew him, and Adonijah died in that day.
26 And the king said to Abiathar the priest, Depart thou quickly to Anathoth to thy farm, for thou art worthy of death this day; but I will not slay thee, because thou hast borne the ark of the covenant of the Lord before my father, and because thou wast afflicted in all things wherein my father was afflicted. 27 And Solomon removed Abiathar from being a priest of the Lord, that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.
28 And the report came to Joab son of Zeruiah; for Joab had turned after Adonijah, and he went not after Solomon: and Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and caught hold of the horns of the altar. 29 And it was told Solomon, saying, Joab has fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and lo! he has hold of the horns of the altar. And King Solomon sent to Joab, saying, What ails thee, that thou hast fled to the altar? and Joab said, Because I was afraid of thee, and fled for refuge to the Lord. And Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying, Go and slay him, and bury him.
30 And Benaiah son of Jehoiada came to Joab to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him, Thus says the king, Come forth. And Joab said, I will not come forth, for I will die here. And Benaiah son of Jehoiada returned and spoke to the king, saying, Thus has Joab spoken, and thus has he answered me. 31 And the king said to him, Go, and do to him as he has spoken, and kill him: and thou shalt bury him, and thou shalt remove this day the blood which he shed without cause, from me and from the house of my father. 32 And the Lord has returned upon his own head the blood of his unrighteousness, inasmuch as he attacked two men more righteous and better than himself, and slew them with the sword, and my father David knew not of their blood, even Abner the son of Ner the commander-in-chief of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether the commander-in-chief of Judah. 33 And their blood is returned upon his head, and upon the head of his seed forever: but to David, and his seed, and his house, and his throne, may there be peace forever from the Lord. 34 So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up, and attacked him, and slew him, and buried him in his house in the wilderness.
35 And the king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada in his place over the host; and the kingdom was established in Jerusalem; and as for Zadok the priest, the king appointed him to be high priest in the room of Abiathar. And Solomon son of David reigned over Israel and Judah in Jerusalem: 35a and the Lord gave understanding to Solomon, and very much wisdom, and largeness of heart, as the sand by the seashore.
35b And the wisdom of Solomon abounded exceedingly beyond the wisdom of all the ancients, and beyond all the wise men of Egypt; 35c and he took the daughter of Pharaoh, and brought her into the city of David, until he had finished building his own house, and the house of the Lord first, and the wall of Jerusalem round about. In seven years he made and finished them.
35d And Solomon had seventy thousand bearers of burdens, and eighty thousand hewers of stone in the mountain: 35e and Solomon made the sea, and the bases, and the great lavers, and the pillars, and the fountain of the court, and the brazen sea—and he built the citadel as a defense above it, he made a breach in the wall of the city of David; 35f thus the daughter of Pharaoh went up out of the city of David to her house which he built for her. Then he built the citadel; 35g and Solomon offered up three whole burnt offerings in the year, and peace offerings on the altar which he built to the Lord, and he burned incense before the Lord, and finished the house. 35h And these are the chief persons who presided over the works of Solomon; three thousand and six hundred masters of the people that wrought the works. 35i And he built Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer, and upper Beth-horon, and Baalath: 35k only after he had built the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about, afterward he built these cities.
35l And when David was yet living, he charged Solomon, saying, Behold, there is with thee Shimei the son of Gera, of the seed of Benjamin out of Hebron: 35m he cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went into the camp; 35n and he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying, He shall not be slain with the sword. 35o But now do not thou hold him guiltless, for thou art a man of understanding, and thou wilt know what thou shalt do to him, and thou shalt bring down his gray hairs with blood to the grave.
36 And the king called Shimei, and said to him, Build thee a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and thou shalt not go out thence any whither. 37 And it shall come to pass in the day that thou shalt go forth and cross over the brook Kidron, know assuredly that thou shalt certainly die: thy blood shall be upon thy head. And the king caused him to swear in that day. 38 And Shimei said to the king, Good is the word that thou hast spoken, my lord O king: thus will thy servant do. And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem three years.
39 And it came to pass after the three years, that two servants of Shimei ran away to Achish son of Maacah king of Gath: and it was told Shimei, saying, Behold, thy servants are in Gath. 40 And Shimei rose up, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish to seek out his servants: and Shimei went, and brought his servants out of Gath. 41 And it was told Solomon, saying, Shimei is gone out of Jerusalem to Gath, and has brought back his servants. 42 And the king sent and called Shimei, and said to him, Did I not adjure thee by the Lord, and testify to thee, saying, In whatsoever day thou shalt go out of Jerusalem, and go to the right or left, know certainly that thou shalt assuredly die? 43 And why hast thou not kept the oath of the Lord, and the commandment which I commanded thee?
44 And the king said to Shimei, Thou knowest all thy mischief which thy heart knows, which thou didst to David my father: and the Lord has recompensed thy mischief on thine own head. 45 And King Solomon is blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever. 46 And Solomon commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went forth and slew him.
46a And King Solomon was very prudent and wise: and Judah and Israel were very many, as the sand which is by the sea for multitude, eating, and drinking, and rejoicing: 46b and Solomon was chief in all the kingdoms, and they brought gifts, and served Solomon all the days of his life. 46c And Solomon began to open the domains of Lebanon, 46d and he built Thermae in the wilderness. 46e And this was the daily provision of Solomon, thirty measures of fine flour, and sixty measures of ground meal, ten choice calves, and twenty oxen from the pastures, and a hundred sheep, besides stags, and does, and choice fed birds. 46f For he ruled in all the country on this side the river, from Raphi unto Gaza, over all the kings on this side the river: 46g and he was at peace on all sides round about; and Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every one under his vine and under his fig tree, eating and drinking, and feasting, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.
46h And these were the princes of Solomon; Azariah son of Zadok the priest, and Orniu son of Nathan chief of the officers, and he went to his house; and Subas the scribe, and Basa son of Achithalam recorder, and Abi son of Joab commander-in-chief, and Achire son of Edrai was over the levies, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada over the household and over the brickwork, and Cachur the son of Nathan was counselor.
46i And Solomon had forty thousand brood mares for his chariots, and twelve thousand horses. 46k And he reigned over all the kings from the river and to the land of the Philistines, and to the borders of Egypt: 46l so Solomon the son of David reigned over Israel and Judah in Jerusalem.

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