1And when the days of David drew near that he should die, he charged Solomon his son, saying,

2I am going the way of all the earth; but be thou strong, and become a man;

3And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, and his ordinances, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses; in order that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself;

4In order that the Lord may fulfill his word which he hath spoken concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall never fail thee, said he, a man on the throne of Israel.

5And thou also knowest well what Joab the son of Zeruyah hath done to me, what he did to the two captains of the armies of Israel, unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto 'Amassa the son of Yether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and on his shoes that were on his feet.

6Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoary head go down in peace to the grave.

7But unto the sons of Barzillai the Gil'adite show thou kindness, and let them be of those that eat at thy table; for so they came near to me when I fled from before Abshalom thy brother.

8And, behold, thou hast with thee Shim'i the son of Gera, the Benjamite of Bachurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse on the day when I went to Machanayim; but who came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword.

9But now leave him not unpunished; for thou art a wise man; know then what thou oughtest to do unto him, and bring thou down his hoary head with blood to the grave.

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

11And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: in Hebron he reigned seven years, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years.

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

13And Adoniyah the son of Chaggith came to Bath-sheba' the mother of Solomon: and she said, Is thy coming for peace? And he said, For peace.

14He said moreover, I have a word for thee. And she said, Speak.

15And he said, Thou well knowest that mine was the kingdom, and that on me all Israel had set their faces, that I should reign: nevertheless the kingdom was turned about, and became my brother's; for from the Lord was it [made] his.

16And now there is one petition I am going to ask of thee, do not turn me away. And she said unto him, Speak.

17And he said, Speak, I pray thee, unto Solomon the king, [for he will not turn thee away,] that he may give me Abishag the Shunammite for wife.

18And Bath-sheba' said, Well: I will speak for thee unto the king.

19Bath-sheba' thereupon went unto king Solomon, to speak unto him for Adoniyah; and the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and then sat down on his throne, and placed a chair for the king's mother; and she sat on his right hand.

20Then said she, There is one small petition I am going to ask of thee; do not turn me away. And the king said unto her, Ask on, my mother; for I will not turn thee away.

21And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adoniyah thy brother for wife.

22And king Solomon answered and said unto his mother, And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adoniyah? rather ask for him the kingdom; for he is my elder brother;— even for him, and for Ebyathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruyah.

23Then swore king Solomon by the Lord, saying, May God do so to me, and may he thus continue, if Adoniyah have not spoken this word against his own life.

24And now, as the Lord liveth, who hath established me, and seated me on the throne of David my father, and who hath made me a house, as he hath spoken, this very day shall Adoniyah be put to death.

25And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benayahu the son of Yehoyada'; and he fell upon him so that he died.

26And unto Ebyathar the priest said the king, Go to 'Anathoth, unto thy own fields; for thou art a man worthy of death; but on this day will I not put thee to death; because thou hast borne the ark of the Lord Eternal before David my father, and because thou was afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted.

27So Solomon banished Ebyathar that he should not be priest unto the Lord, to fulfill the word of the Lord, which he had spoken concerning the house of 'Eli in Shiloh.

28And the report came to Joab; for Joab had turned after Adoniyah, though he had not turned after Abshalom. And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.

29And it was told to king Solomon that Joab had fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord; and that, behold, he was close by the altar. Then sent Solomon Benayahu the son of Yehoyada,' saying, Go, fall upon him.

30And Benayahu came to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said unto him, Thus hath said the king, Come forth. And he said, No; but here will I die. And Benayahu brought the king word again, saying, Thus hath Joab spoken, and thus hath he answered me.

31Then said the king unto him, Do as he hath spoken, and fall upon him, and bury him; and remove [thus] the innocent blood, which Joab hath shed, from me, and from the house of my father.

32And may the Lord bring back his blood-guiltiness upon his own head, because he fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, while my father David knew it not, Abner the son of Ner, the captain of the army of Israel, and 'Amassa the son of Yether, the captain of the army of Judah.

33And their blood shall return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever; but unto David, and unto his seed, and unto his house, and unto his throne, may there be peace for ever from the Lord.

34So Benayahu the son of Yehoyada' went up, and fell upon him, and slew him: and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.

35And the king appointed Benayahu the son of Yehoyada' in his place over the army; and Zadok the priest did the king appoint in the place of Ebyathar.

36And the king sent and called for Shim'i, and said unto him, Build thee a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and thou shalt not go forth from there hither or thither.

37And it shall be, that on the day thou goest out, and passest over the brook Kidron, thou shalt know for certain that thou shalt surely die: thy blood shall be upon thy own head.

38And Shim'i said unto the king, It is well: as my Lord the king hath spoken, so will thy servant do. And Shim'i dwelt in Jerusalem many days.

39And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two servants of Shim'i ran away unto Achish the son of Ma'achah the king of Gath: and they told unto Shim'i, saying, Behold, thy servants are in Gath.

40And Shim'i arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants; and Shim'i went, and brought his servants from Gath.

41And it was told to Solomon that Shim'i had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had returned.

42And the king sent and called for Shim'i, and said unto him, Did I not make thee swear by the Lord, and warned thee, saying, On that day thou goest out, and walkest abroad hither or thither, know for certain that thou shalt surely die? and thou saidst unto me, It is well, I have heard?

43Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the Lord, and the commandment with which I charged thee?

44The king said moreover to Shim'i, Thou well knowest all the wickedness of which thy heart is conscious, that thou hast done to David my father: and the Lord bringeth back thy wickedness upon thy own head;

45But king Solomon will be blessed, and the throne of David will be established before the Lord for ever.

46So the king commanded Benayahu the son of Yehoyada', who went out, and fell upon him, so that he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.