1 Reis 2

¹ Then the dayes of Dauid drewe neere that he should die, and hee charged Salomon his sonne, saying,

² I go theI am ready to die as all men must.way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man;

³ And keep theHe shows how hard it is to govern and that no one can do it well except he obey God.charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself:

⁴ That the LORD may continue his word which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me inWithout hypocrisy.truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel.

⁵ Moreover thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, [and] what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, andHe shed his blood in time of peace, as if there had been war.shed the blood of war in peace, andHe put the bloody sword into his sheath.put the blood of war upon his girdle that [was] about his loins, and in his shoes that [were] on his feet.

⁶ Doe therefore according to thy wisdome, and let thou not his hoare head go downe to the graue in peace.

⁷ But shew kindness unto the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at thy table:That is, they dealt mercifully with me.for so they came to me when I fled because of Absalom thy brother.

⁸ And beholde, with thee is Shimei the sonne of Gera, the sonne of Iemini, of Bahurim, which cursed mee with an horrible curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim: but hee came downe to meete me at Iorden, & I sware to him by the Lorde, saying, I will not slay thee with the sword.

⁹ Now therefore hold him not guiltless: for thou [art] a wise man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him; but his hoar head bring thou down to the grave withLet him be punished with death, see (1Ki_2:46).blood.

¹⁰ So Dauid slept with his fathers, and was buried in the citie of Dauid.

¹¹ And the dayes which Dauid reigned vpon Israel, were fourtie yeeres: seuen yeeres reigned he in Hebron, and thirtie & three yeeres reigned he in Ierusalem.

¹² Then sate Salomon vpon the throne of Dauid his father, and his kingdome was stablished mightily.

¹³ And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said,For she was afraid lest he would work treason against the king.Comest thou peaceably? And he said, Peaceably.

¹⁴ He said moreouer, I haue a sute vnto thee; she sayd, Say on.

¹⁵ And he said, Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and [that] all IsraelIn sign of their favour and consent.set their faces on me, that I should reign: howbeit the kingdom is turned about, and is become my brother's: for it was his from the LORD.

¹⁶ Nowe therefore I aske thee one request, refuse me not; she said vnto him, Say on.

¹⁷ And he sayd, Speake, I pray thee, vnto Salomon ye King, (for he will not say thee nay) that he giue me Abishag the Shunammite to wife.

¹⁸ And Bath-sheba sayd, Well, I will speake for thee vnto the King.

¹⁹ Bathsheba therefore went unto king Solomon, to speak unto him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, andIn token of reverence, and that others by his example might have her in greater honour.bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a seat to be set for the king's mother; and she sat on his right hand.

²⁰ Then she sayd, I desire a small request of thee, say me not nay. Then the King sayde vnto her, Aske on, my mother: for I will not say thee nay.

²¹ She sayd then, Let Abishag the Shunammite be giuen to Adonijah thy brother to wife.

²² And king Solomon answered and said unto his mother, And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him theMeaning, that if he would have granted Abishag, who was so dear to his father, he would later have aspired for the kingdom.kingdom also; for he [is] mine elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.

²³ Then King Salomon sware by the Lorde, saying, God doe so to me and more also, if Adoniiah hath not spoken this worde against his owne life.

²⁴ Now therefore as ye Lord liueth, who hath established me, & set me on the throne of Dauid my father, who also hath made me an house, as he promised, Adoniiah shall surely die this day.

²⁵ And King Salomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the sonne of Iehoiada, and hee smote him that he dyed.

²⁶ And unto Abiathar the priest said the king, Get thee to Anathoth, unto thine own fields; for thou [art] worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thouWhen he fled before Absalom, (2Sa_15:24).barest the ark of the Lord GOD before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted.

²⁷ So Salomon cast out Abiathar from being Priest vnto the Lord, that he might fulfill the wordes of the Lord, which he spake against the house of Eli in Shiloh.

²⁸ Then tidings came to Joab: for Joab hadHe took Adonijah's part when he would have usurped the kingdom (1Ki_1:7).turned after Adonijah, though 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 theThinking to be saved by the holiness of the place.altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him.

³⁰ And Benaiah came to the Tabernacle of the Lord, & sayd vnto him, Thus sayth the King, Come out; he sayde, Nay, but I will die here. Then Benaiah brought the King worde againe, saying, Thus sayd Ioab, & thus he answered me.

³¹ And the king said unto him, Do as he hath said, andFor it was lawful to take the wilful murderer from the altar, (Exo_21:14).fall upon him, and bury him; that thou mayest take away the innocent blood, which Joab shed, from me, and from the house of my father.

³² And the Lorde shall bring his blood vpon his owne head: for he smote two men more righteous and better then he, and slew them with the sword, & my father Dauid knew not: to wit, Abner the sonne of Ner, captaine of the hoste of Israel, and Amasa the sonne of Iether captaine of the hoste of Iudah.

³³ Their blood shall therefore return upon theJoab will be justly punished for the blood that he has cruelly shed.head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever: but upon David, and upon his seed, and upon his house, and upon his throne, shall there be peace for ever from the LORD.

³⁴ So Benaiah the sonne of Iehoiada went vp, & smote him, and slewe him, & he was buryed in his owne house in the wildernesse.

³⁵ And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host: and Zadok theAnd so took the office of high priest from the house of Eli, and restored it to the house of Phinehas.priest did the king put in the room of Abiathar.

³⁶ Afterwarde the King sent, & called Shimei, and sayde vnto him, Buylde thee an house in Ierusalem, and dwell there, and depart not thence any whither.

³⁷ For that day that thou goest out, and passest ouer the riuer of Kidron, knowe assuredly, that thou shalt dye the death: thy blood shall be vpon thine owne head.

³⁸ And Shimei sayd vnto the King, The thing is good: as my lord the King hath sayd, so wil thy seruant doe. So Shimei dwelt in Ierusalem many dayes.

³⁹ And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of theThus God appoints the ways and means to bring his just judgments on the wicked.servants of Shimei ran 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: andHis covetous mind moved him to risk his life, rather than to lose the worldly profit he had by his servants.Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath.

⁴¹ And it was tolde Salomon, that Shimei had gone from Ierusalem to Gath, and was come againe.

⁴² And the King sent and called Shimei, and sayde vnto him, Did I not make thee to sweare by the Lorde, and protested vnto thee, saying, That day that thou goest out, and walkest any whither, knowe assuredly that thou shalt dye the death? And thou saydest vnto mee, The thing is good, that I haue heard.

⁴³ Why then hast thou not kept the othe of the Lorde, and the commandement wherewith I charged thee?

⁴⁴ The king said moreover to Shimei,For though you would deny it, your own conscience accuses you for reviling and doing wrong to my father, (2Sa_16:5).Thou knowest all the wickedness which thine heart is privy to, that thou didst to David my father: therefore the LORD shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head;

⁴⁵ And let King Salomon be blessed, and the throne of Dauid stablished before the Lorde for euer.

⁴⁶ So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; which went out, and fell upon him, that he died. And the kingdom wasBecause all his enemies were destroyed.established in the hand of Solomon.