Adonijah’s Foolish Request

¹³ Now Adonijah son of Haggith^(A) came to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. She asked, “Do you come peacefully?”

“Peacefully,” he replied,^{(B) 14} and then asked, “May I talk with you?” ^[a]

“Go ahead,” she answered.

¹⁵ “You know the kingship was mine,”^(C) he said. “All Israel expected me to be king, but then the kingship was turned over to my brother,^(D) for the Lord gave it to him.^{(E) 16} So now I have just one request of you; don’t turn me down.”^[b]

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^(F) 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.^(G) So she sat down at his right hand.^(H)

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,^(I) you might as well ask the kingship for him,^(J) for the priest Abiathar, and for Joab son of Zeruiah.”^{[c](K) 23} Then King Solomon took an oath by the Lord: “May God punish me and do so severely^(L) 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^(M)—I swear Adonijah will be put to death today!” ²⁵ Then King Solomon dispatched Benaiah son of Jehoiada,^(N) who struck down Adonijah, and he died.

Abiathar’s Banishment

²⁶ The king said to the priest Abiathar,^(O) “Go to your fields in Anathoth.^(P) 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^(Q) and you suffered through all that my father suffered.”^{(R) 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.^(S)

Joab’s Execution

²⁸ The news reached Joab. Since he had supported Adonijah^(T) but not Absalom,^(U) Joab fled to the Lord’s tabernacle and took hold of the horns of the altar.^(V)

²⁹ It was reported to King Solomon, “Joab has fled to the Lord’s tabernacle and is now beside the altar.”

Then Solomon sent^[d] Benaiah son of Jehoiada^(W) and told him, “Go and strike him down!” ^(X)

³⁰ So Benaiah went to the tabernacle and said to Joab, “This is what the king says: ‘Come out!’” ^(Y)

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 family the blood that Joab shed without just cause.^{(Z) 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^(AA) son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa^(AB) son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army. ³³ The responsibility for their deaths will come back to Joab and to his descendants^[e] forever, but for David, his descendants, his dynasty, and his throne, there will be peace from the Lord forever.”^(AC)

³⁴ Benaiah son of Jehoiada^(AD) went up, struck down Joab, and put him to death. He was buried at his house in the wilderness.^{(AE) 35} Then the king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada in Joab’s place over the army,^(AF) and he appointed the priest Zadok in Abiathar’s place.

Shimei’s Banishment and Execution

³⁶ Then the king summoned Shimei^(AG) 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,^(AH) know for sure that you will certainly die. Your blood will be on your own head.”^(AI)

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^(AJ) son of Maacah, king of Gath.^(AK) 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.^(AL) 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.”^(AM)

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.^(AN)

The Lord Appears to Solomon

3 Solomon made an alliance^[a] with Pharaoh king of Egypt by marrying Pharaoh’s daughter.^(A) Solomon brought her to the city of David^(B) until he finished building his palace,^(C) the Lord’s temple,^(D) and the wall surrounding Jerusalem.^{(E) 2} However, the people were sacrificing on the high places,^(F) because until that time a temple for the Lord’s name^(G) had not been built. ³ Solomon loved the Lord^(H) by walking in the statutes of his father David,^(I) but he also sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

⁴ The king went to Gibeon^(J) to sacrifice there because it was the most famous high place. He offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.^{(K) 5} At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon^(L) in a dream at night.^(M) God said, “Ask.^(N) 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.^[b] You have continued this great and faithful love for him by giving him a son to sit on his throne,^(O) as it is today.^(P)

⁷ “Lord my God, you have now made your servant king in my father David’s place.^(Q) Yet I am just a youth with no experience in leadership.^{[c](R) 8} Your servant is among your people you have chosen,^(S) a people too many to be numbered or counted.^{(T) 9} So give your servant a receptive heart to judge^(U) your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of yours?” ^(V)

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^[d] or riches for yourself,^(W) or the death^[e] of your enemies, but you asked discernment for yourself to administer justice,^{(X) 12} I will therefore do what you have asked.^(Y) I will give you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has never been anyone like you before and never will be again.^{(Z) 13} In addition, I will give you what you did not ask for: both riches and honor,^(AA) so that no king will be your equal during your entire life.^{(AB) 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.”^(AC)

¹⁵ Then Solomon woke up^(AD) and realized it had been a dream.^(AE) He went to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant,^(AF) and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.^(AG) Then he held a feast^(AH) for all his servants.