st Kings _Chapter 2

As David’s death approached, he instructed his son Solomon, saying,

I am now going on the path that all men must follow. So, be strong and be a big man,

Keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and walk in the way of the Lord according to the law of Moses, and keep his laws, commandments, judgments, and testimonies. In this way, no matter what you do, no matter where you go, everything will prosper.

The Lord will fulfill his promise to me, saying, “If your descendants take care of their own ways and walk before me with all their heart, all their heart, and all their heart, they will never sit on the throne of Israel.”.

You know what Joab, the son of Zeruiah, did to me, which was to kill the two commanders of Israel, Abner the son of Ner and Amasa the son of Jether. He shed the blood of these two people during peacetime, just like during a war, staining the waistband and shoes on his feet with this blood.

So do according to your wisdom, and do not let his white head go down to the underworld in peace.

Be kind to the sons of Barzillai the Gilead, so that they may always eat at your table. Because when I was avoiding your brother Absalom, they brought food to meet me.

There is Shimei the son of Kirah, a Benjamite from Bahurim, with you. On the day I went to Mahanaim, he cursed me with cruel words, but later he came down to meet me from the Jordan River. I swore to him by the Lord, saying, I will not put you to death with the sword.

Don’t make him innocent now. You are a wise man, and you will know how to deal with him, so that his white head will be killed and his blood will flow down to the underworld.

David slept with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David.

David reigned over Israel for forty years, in Hebron for seven years, and in Jerusalem for thirty-three years.

Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was very strong.

Adonijah, the son of Hagi, went to see Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. Bathsheba asked him, “Are you here for peace?”? The answer is for safety.

Also, I have something to say to you. And Bathsheba said, Speak.

Adonijah said, “You know that the kingdom belongs to me, and all Israel looks up to me as king. However, the kingdom has returned to my brother, because he obtained it from the Lord.”.

Now I have something to ask you, please don’t refuse. And Bathsheba said, Speak.

He said, “Please ask King Solomon to give me Abishag the Shunammite as his wife, because he will not refuse you.”.

Bathsheba said, Good, I will speak to King Ti for you.

So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak for Adonijah. The king stood up to meet her, bowed to her, and sat on his throne. He ordered a seat for the queen’s mother, and she sat on the king’s right side.

Bathsheba said, I have a small request for you, please do not refuse. The king said, “Please tell my mother, I will not refuse.”.

Bathsheba said, “Please give Abishag the Shunammite to your brother Adonijah as his wife.”.

King Solomon said to his mother, “Why only seek Abishag the Shunammite on his behalf?”? You can also seek his country for him. He is my brother, assisted by Abiathar the priest and Joab the son of Zeruiah.

King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, Adonijah said these words to himself; otherwise, may God punish me severely.

The Lord has established me to sit on the throne of my father David, and has built a house for me as promised. Now I swear by the living Lord, Adonijah will be put to death today.

So King Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada to kill Adonijah.

The king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your own land in Anathoth.”. You deserve to die, but because you carried the Ark of the Lord Jehovah in front of my father David and suffered all the hardships with my father, I will not kill you today.

Solomon removed Abiathar and forbade him from being a priest to the Lord. In this way, the words spoken by the Lord about the house of Eli in Shiloh will be fulfilled.

Although Joab did not return to Absalom, he returned to Adonijah. When he heard the news, he fled to the tabernacle of the Lord and grabbed the corner of the altar.

Someone told King Solomon that Joab had fled to the tabernacle of the Lord and is now by the altar. Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying, Go and kill him.

Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the Lord and said to Joab, The king commanded, ‘Come out.’. He said, I won’t go out, I’ll die here. Then Benaiah went and replied to the king, saying, This is how Joab answered me.

The king said, Do as he says, kill him, bury him, so that Joab’s innocent blood will not be on me or my father’s house.

The Lord will bring the guilt of Joab’s bloodshed upon his own head. Because he killed two more righteous and good men with the sword, Abner son of Ner, the commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa son of Jether, the commander of the army of Judah, but my father David did not know.

Therefore, the guilt of shedding the blood of these two shall be on the heads of Joab and his descendants forever. Only David and his descendants, as well as his family and kingdom, will have peace from the Lord forever.

So Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, went up and killed Joab, and was buried in Joab’s own house in the wilderness.

The king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada as the commander of the army in place of Joab, and appointed Zadok the priest in place of Abiathar.

The king sent someone to summon Shimei and said to him, “Build a house in Jerusalem and live there, and do not go out to any other place.”.

You must know for sure when you come out to cross the Jilun River and when you will die. Your blood will be on your own head.

Shimei said to the king, ‘This is very good.’. As my lord the king says, so will my servant do. So he stayed in Jerusalem for many days.

After three years, the two servants of Shimei fled to Achish, the son of Maacah, king of Gath. Someone told Shimei that your servant is in Gath.

Shimei got up, prepared his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish to find his servant. He then brought his servant back from Gath.

Someone told Solomon, “Shimei went out of Jerusalem to Gath and returned.”.

The king sent someone to summon Shimei and said to him, “Didn’t I make you swear by the Lord and warn you that you should know for sure that on the day you go out to another place, you will die?”? You also said to me, These words are good, and I will obey them.

Why do you not keep your oath by the Lord and the commands I have given you now?

And the king said to Shimei, You yourself know all the evil things you have done to my father David, so the Lord will bring your sins upon your own head.

Only King Solomon will be blessed, and the throne of David will be established before the Lord forever.

So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went and killed Shimei. In this way, the throne of Solomon was firmly established.