1 Kings 1:11-27

International Standard Version

Nathan and Bathsheba Confer about Adonijah

¹¹ “Haven’t you heard?” Nathan asked Solomon’s mother Bathsheba. “Haggith’s son Adonijah has become king and David, our true king,^[a] isn’t aware of it. ¹² If you listen to me, you’ll save your life and the life of your son Solomon. ¹³ Go right now to King David and ask him, ‘Your majesty, you promised your servant that “Your son Solomon will certainly become king after me and will sit on my throne,” didn’t you? So why has Adonijah become king?’ ¹⁴ Then, while you are still talking to the king, I’ll come in after you and verify your statement.”

¹⁵ So Bathsheba went to the king in his private room. Now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was attending to him.^{[b] 16} Bathsheba knelt and bowed down to the king, and the king asked her, “What do you wish?”

¹⁷ “Your majesty,” she replied, “you promised your servant in the name of^[c] the Lord your God, ‘Your son Solomon will certainly become king after me and will sit on my throne.’ ¹⁸ Now look, Adonijah has become king, and your majesty is not aware of it. ¹⁹ Adonijah^[d] has sacrificed myriads of oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep, and he has invited all of the king’s sons, Abiathar the priest, and Joab the commander of the army, but he has not invited your servant Solomon. ²⁰ And as for you, your majesty, everyone in Israel is looking to you to tell them who will sit on your majesty’s throne after you.^{[e] 21} Otherwise, as soon as your majesty is laid to rest with his ancestors, my son Solomon and I will be branded as traitors.”^[f]

²² While she was still talking to the king, Nathan the prophet arrived. ²³ They informed the king, “Nathan the prophet is here.”

When he had been ushered into the presence of the king, Nathan bowed low in front of the king with his face to the ground ²⁴ and asked, “Your majesty, did you say ‘Adonijah will be king after me and will sit on my throne’? ²⁵ Well now, he went down today and sacrificed lots of oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep, and has invited all the king’s sons, the army commanders, and Abiathar the priest. They’re having a party together and saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ ²⁶ Of course, he never invited me, Zadok the priest, Jehoiada’s son Benaiah, nor your servant Solomon. ²⁷ Were you behind this, your majesty, without letting your servants know who would sit on your majesty’s throne after him?”