Holman Christian Standard Bible (102 page)

51
 It was reported to Solomon: “Look, Adonijah fears King Solomon, and he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon first swear to me that he will not kill his servant with the sword.' ”

52
 Then Solomon said, “If he is a man of character, not a single hair of his will fall to the ground, but if evil is found in him, he dies.” 
53
 So King Solomon sent for him, and they took him down from the altar. He came and paid homage to King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, “Go to your home.”

1 Kings

David's Dying Instructions to Solomon

2
As the time approached for David to die, he instructed his son Solomon,
2
 “As for me, I am going the way of all of the earth. Be strong and be courageous like a man, 
3
 and keep your obligation to the
Lord
your God to walk in His ways and to keep His statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees. This is written in the law of Moses, so that you will have success in everything you do and wherever you turn,
4
 and so that the
Lord
will carry out His promise that He made to me: ‘If your sons are careful to walk faithfully before Me with their whole mind and heart, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.' 

5
 “You also know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me and what he did to the two commanders of Israel's army, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He murdered them in a time of peace to avenge blood shed in war. He spilled that blood on his own waistband and on the sandals of his feet. 
6
 Act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray head descend to
•Sheol
in peace.

7
 “Show loyalty to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite and let them be among those who eat at your table because they supported me when I fled from your brother Absalom. 

8
 “Keep an eye on Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim who is with you. He uttered malicious curses against me the day I went to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at the Jordan River, and I swore to him by the
Lord
: ‘I will never kill you with the sword.' 
9
 So don't let him go unpunished, for you are a wise man. You know how to deal with him to bring his gray head down to Sheol with blood.”

10
 Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. 
11
 The length of time David reigned over Israel was 40 years: he reigned seven years in Hebron and 33 years in Jerusalem. 
12
 Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingship was firmly established. 

Adonijah's Foolish Request

13
 Now Adonijah son of Haggith came to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. She asked, “Do you come peacefully? ”

“Peacefully,” he replied, 
14
 and then asked, “May I talk with you? ” 

“Go ahead,” she answered.

15
 “You know the kingship was mine,” he said. “All Israel expected me to be king, but then the kingship was turned over to my brother, for the
Lord
gave it to him. 
16
 So now I have just one request of you; don't turn me down.” 

She said to him, “Go on.”

17
 He replied, “Please speak to King Solomon since he won't turn you down. Let him give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife.”

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

19
 So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him about Adonijah. The king stood up to greet her, bowed to her, sat down on his throne, and had a throne placed for the king's mother. So she sat down at his right hand. 

20
 Then she said, “I have just one small request of you. Don't turn me down.”

“Go ahead and ask, mother,” the king replied, “for I won't turn you down.”

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

22
 King Solomon answered his mother, “Why are you requesting Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Since he is my elder brother, you might as well ask the kingship for him, for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab son of Zeruiah.”
23
 Then Solomon took an oath by the
Lord
: “May God punish me and do so severely if Adonijah has not made this request at the cost of his life.
24
 And now, as the
Lord
lives, the One who established me, seated me on the throne of my father David, and made me a dynasty as He promised  — I swear Adonijah will be put to death today! ”
25
 Then King Solomon gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who struck down Adonijah, and he died.

Abiathar's Banishment

26
 The king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go to your fields in Anathoth. Even though you deserve to die, I will not put you to death today, since you carried the ark of the Lord
God
in the presence of my father David and you suffered through all that my father suffered.” 
27
 So Solomon banished Abiathar from being the
Lord
's priest, and it fulfilled the
Lord
's prophecy He had spoken at Shiloh against Eli's family. 

Joab's Execution

28
 The news reached Joab. Since he had supported Adonijah but not Absalom, Joab fled to the
Lord
's tabernacle and took hold of the horns of the altar. 

29
 It was reported to King Solomon: “Joab has fled to the
Lord
's tabernacle and is now beside the altar.” Then Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada and told him, “Go and strike him down! ” 

30
 So Benaiah went to the tabernacle and said to Joab, “This is what the king says: ‘Come out! ' ” 

But Joab said, “No, for I will die here.”

So Benaiah took a message back to the king, “This is what Joab said, and this is how he answered me.”

31
 The king said to him, “Do just as he says. Strike him down and bury him in order to remove from me and from my father's house the blood that Joab shed without just cause. 
32
 The
Lord
will bring back his own blood on his head because he struck down two men more righteous and better than he, without my father David's knowledge. With his sword, Joab murdered Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel's army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah's army.
33
 Their blood will come back on Joab's head and on the head of his descendants forever, but for David, his descendants, his dynasty, and his throne, there will be peace from the
Lord
forever.” 

34
 Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up, struck down Joab, and put him to death. He was buried at his house in the wilderness. 
35
 Then the king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada in Joab's place over the army, and he appointed Zadok the priest in Abiathar's place.

Shimei's Banishment and Execution

36
 Then the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem and live there, but don't leave there and go anywhere else.
37
 On the day you do leave and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will certainly die. Your blood will be on your own head.” 

38
 Shimei said to the king, “The sentence is fair; your servant will do as my lord the king has spoken.” And Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time.

39
 But then, at the end of three years, two of Shimei's slaves ran away to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. Shimei was informed, “Look, your slaves are in Gath.”
40
 So Shimei saddled his donkey and set out to Achish at Gath to search for his slaves. He went and brought them back from Gath.

41
 It was reported to Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned.
42
 So the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Didn't I make you swear by the
Lord
and warn you, saying, ‘On the day you leave and go anywhere else, know for sure that you will certainly die'? And you said to me, ‘The sentence is fair; I will obey.'
43
 So why have you not kept the
Lord
's oath and the command that I gave you? ”
44
 The king also said, “You yourself know all the evil that you did to my father David. Therefore, the
Lord
has brought back your evil on your head,
45
 but King Solomon will be blessed, and David's throne will remain established before the
Lord
forever.” 

46
 Then the king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck Shimei down, and he died. So the kingdom was established in Solomon's hand. 

1 Kings

The
Lord
Appears to Solomon

3
Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt by marrying Pharaoh's daughter. Solomon brought her to live in the city of David until he finished building his palace, the
Lord
's temple, and the wall surrounding Jerusalem. 
2
 However, the people were sacrificing on the
•high
places, because until that time a temple for the
Lord
's name had not been built.
3
 Solomon loved the
Lord
 by walking in the statutes of his father David, but he also sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

4
 The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there because it was the most famous high place. He offered 1,000
•burnt
offerings on that altar. 
5
 At Gibeon the
Lord
appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, “Ask. What should I give you? ”

6
 And Solomon replied, “You have shown great and faithful love to Your servant, my father David, because he walked before You in faithfulness, righteousness, and integrity. You have continued this great and faithful love for him by giving him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today. 

7
 “
Lord
my God, You have now made Your servant king in my father David's place. Yet I am just a youth with no experience in leadership.
8
 Your servant is among Your people You have chosen, a people too numerous to be numbered or counted. 
9
 So give Your servant an obedient heart to judge Your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours? ” 

10
 Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had requested this.
11
 So God said to him, “Because you have requested this and did not ask for long life or riches for yourself, or the death of your enemies, but you asked discernment for yourself to understand justice, 
12
 I will therefore do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has never been anyone like you before and never will be again. 
13
 In addition, I will give you what you did not ask for: both riches and honor, so that no man in any kingdom will be your equal during your entire life. 
14
 If you walk in My ways and keep My statutes and commands just as your father David did, I will give you a long life.” 

15
 Then Solomon woke up and realized it had been a dream. He went to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord's covenant, and offered burnt offerings and
•fellowship
offerings. Then he held a feast for all his servants.

Solomon's Wisdom

16
 Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 
17
 One woman said, “Please my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby while she was in the house.
18
 On the third day after I gave birth, she also had a baby and we were alone. No one else was with us in the house; just the two of us were there.
19
 During the night this woman's son died because she lay on him.
20
 She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while your servant was asleep. She laid him at her breast, and she put her dead son in my arms.
21
 When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, I discovered he was dead. That morning, when I looked closely at him I realized that he was not the son I gave birth to.”

22
 “No,” the other woman said. “My son is the living one; your son is the dead one.”

The first woman said, “No, your son is the dead one; my son is the living one.” So they argued before the king.

23
 The king replied, “This woman says, ‘This is my son who is alive, and your son is dead,' but that woman says, ‘No, your son is dead, and my son is alive.' ”
24
 The king continued, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought the sword to the king.
25
 Solomon said, “Cut the living boy in two and give half to one and half to the other.”

26
 The woman whose son was alive spoke to the king because she felt great compassion for her son. “My lord, give her the living baby,” she said, “but please don't have him killed! ”

But the other one said, “He will not be mine or yours. Cut him in two! ”

27
 The king responded, “Give the living baby to the first woman, and don't kill him. She is his mother.”
28
 All Israel heard about the judgment the king had given, and they stood in awe of the king because they saw that God's wisdom was in him to carry out justice.

1 Kings

Solomon's Officials

4
King Solomon ruled over Israel, 
2
 and these were his officials: