1 Kings 2
1599 Geneva Bible
2 1 David exhorteth Solomon, and giveth charge concerning Joab, Barzillai, and Shimei. 10 The death of David. 17 Adonijah asketh Abishag to wife. 25 He is slain. 35 Zadok was placed in Abiathar’s room.
1 Then the days of David drew near that he should die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying,
2 I go the [a]way of all the earth: be strong therefore, and show thyself a man,
3 And take heed to the [b]charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that thou mayest (A)[c]prosper in all that thou doest, and in everything whereunto thou turnest thee,
4 That the Lord may confirm his word which he spake unto me, saying, If thy sons take heed to their way, that they walk before me in [d]truth, with all their hearts, and with all their souls, (B)[e]thou shalt not (said he) want one of thy posterity upon the throne of Israel.
5 Thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two captains to the hosts of Israel, unto (C)Abner the son of Ner, and unto (D)Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and [f]shed blood of battle in peace, and [g]put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet.
6 Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let thou not his hoar head go down to the grave in peace.
7 But show kindness unto the sons of (E)Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among them that eat at thy table: [h]for so they came to me when I fled from Absalom thy brother.
8 ¶ And behold, with thee (F)is Shimei the son of Gera, the son of Benjamin, of Bahurim, which cursed me with an horrible curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim: but he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I sware to him by the Lord, saying, (G)I will not slay thee with the sword.
9 But thou shalt not count him innocent: for thou art a wise man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him: therefore thou shalt cause his hoar head to go down to the grave with [i]blood.
10 So (H)David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.
11 And the days which David (I)reigned upon Israel, were forty years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.
12 ¶ (J) Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was established mightily.
13 And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon: and she said, [j]Comest thou peaceably? and he said, Yea.
14 He said moreover, I have a suit unto thee. And she said, Say on.
15 Then he said, Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set [k]their faces on me, that I should reign: howbeit the kingdom is turned away, and is my brother’s: for it came to him by the Lord.
16 Now therefore I ask thee one request, [l]refuse me not. And she said unto him, Say on.
17 And he said, Speak, I pray thee, unto Solomon the King, (for he will not say thee nay) that he give me Abishag the Shunammite to wife.
18 And Bathsheba said, Well, I will speak for thee unto the King.
19 ¶ Bathsheba therefore went unto King Solomon, to speak unto him for Adonijah: and the king rose to meet her, and [m]bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his throne: and he caused a seat to be set for the king’s mother, and she sat at his right hand.
20 Then she said, I desire a small request of thee, say me not nay. Then the King said unto her, Ask on, my mother: for I will not say thee nay.
21 She said then, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother to wife.
22 But king Solomon answered and said unto his mother, And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him the [n]kingdom also: for he is mine elder brother, and hath for him both Abiathar the Priest, and Joab the son of Zeruiah.
23 Then King Solomon sware by the Lord, saying, God do so to me and more also, if Adonijah hath not spoken this word against his own life.
24 Now therefore as the Lord liveth, who hath established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, who hath also made me an house, as he (K)promised, Adonijah shall surely die this day.
25 And King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he [o]smote him that he died.
26 ¶ Then the King said unto Abiathar the Priest, Go to Anathoth unto thine own [p]fields: for thou art [q]worthy of death: but I will not this day kill thee, because thou [r]barest the Ark of the Lord God before David my father, and because thou hast suffered in all, wherein my father hath been afflicted.
27 So Solomon cast out Abiathar from being Priest unto the Lord, that he might (L)fulfill the words of the Lord, which he spake against the house of Eli in Shiloh.
28 ¶ Then tidings came to Joab: (for Joab had [s]turned after Adonijah, but he turned not after Absalom) and Joab fled unto the Tabernacle of the Lord, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
29 And it was told king Solomon, that Joab was fled unto the Tabernacle of the Lord, and behold, he is by the [t]altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him.
30 And Benaiah came to the Tabernacle of the Lord, and said unto him, Thus saith the King, Come out. And he said, Nay, but I will die here. Then Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.
31 And the king said unto him, Do as he hath said, and [u]smite him, and bury him, that thou mayest take away the blood, which Joab shed causeless, from me, and from the house of my father.
32 And the Lord shall bring his blood upon his own head, for he smote two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, and my father David knew not: to wit, (M)Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and (N)Amasa the son of Jether captain of the host of Judah.
33 Their blood shall therefore return upon the [v]head of Joab, and on the head of his seed forever: but upon David, and upon his seed, and upon his house and upon his throne shall there be peace forever from the Lord.
34 So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and smote him and slew him, and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.
35 And the King put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host: and the king set Zadok the [w]Priest in the room of Abiathar.
36 ¶ Afterward the king sent, and called Shimei and said unto him, Build thee an house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and depart not thence any whither.
37 For that day that thou goest out, and passest over the river of Kidron, know assuredly, that thou shalt die the death: thy blood shall be upon thine own head.
38 And Shimei said unto the king, The thing is good: as my lord the king hath said, so will thy servant do. So Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.
39 And after three years two of the [x]servants of Shimei fled away unto Achish son of Maachah king of Gath: and they told Shimei, saying, Behold, thy servants be in Gath.
40 And Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish, to seek his servants: and [y]Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath.
41 And it was told Solomon, that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and was come again.
42 And the King sent and called Shimei, and said unto him, Did I not make thee to swear by the Lord, and protested unto thee, saying, That day that thou goest out, and walkest any whither, know assuredly that thou shalt die the death? And thou saidest unto me, The thing is good, that I have heard.
43 Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the Lord, and the commandment wherewith I charged thee?
44 The King said also to Shimei, [z]Thou knowest all the wickedness whereunto thine heart is privy, that thou didst to David my father: the Lord therefore shall bring thy wickedness upon thine own head.
45 And let king Solomon be blessed, and the throne of David established before the Lord forever.
46 So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada: who went out and smote him that he died. And the (O)kingdom was [aa]established in the hand of Solomon.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 2:2 I am ready to die as all men must.
- 1 Kings 2:3 He showeth how hard a thing it is to govern, and that none can do it well except he obey God.
- 1 Kings 2:3 Or, do wisely.
- 1 Kings 2:4 And without hypocrisy.
- 1 Kings 2:4 Hebrew, a man shall not be cut off to thee from off the throne.
- 1 Kings 2:5 He shed his blood in time of peace, as if there had been war.
- 1 Kings 2:5 He put the bloody sword into his sheath.
- 1 Kings 2:7 That is, they dealt mercifully with me.
- 1 Kings 2:9 Let him be punished with death, see 1 Kings 2:46.
- 1 Kings 2:13 For she feared lest he would work treason against the king.
- 1 Kings 2:15 In sign of their favor and consent.
- 1 Kings 2:16 Hebrew, cause not my face to turn away.
- 1 Kings 2:19 In token of reverence, and that others by his example might have her in greater honor.
- 1 Kings 2:22 Meaning, that if he should have granted Abishag, which was so dear to his father, he would afterward have aspired to the kingdom.
- 1 Kings 2:25 Or, fell upon him.
- 1 Kings 2:26 Or, possessions.
- 1 Kings 2:26 Hebrew, man of death.
- 1 Kings 2:26 When he fled before Absalom, 2 Sam. 15:24.
- 1 Kings 2:28 He took Adonijah’s part when he would have usurped the kingdom, 1 Kings 1:7.
- 1 Kings 2:29 Thinking to be saved by the holiness of the place.
- 1 Kings 2:31 For it was lawful to take the willful murderer from the altar, Exod. 21:14.
- 1 Kings 2:33 Joab shall be justly punished for the blood that he hath cruelly shed.
- 1 Kings 2:35 And so took the office of the high Priest from the house of Eli, and restored it to the house of Phinehas.
- 1 Kings 2:39 Thus God appointeth the ways and means to bring his just judgments upon the wicked.
- 1 Kings 2:40 His covetous mind moved him rather to venture his life, than to lose his worldly profit, which he had by his servants.
- 1 Kings 2:44 For though thou wouldest deny, yet thine own conscience would accuse thee for reviling and doing wrong to my father, 2 Sam 16:5.
- 1 Kings 2:46 Because all his enemies were destroyed.
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