Davids Charge to Solomon 1As Davids time to die drew near, he charged Solomon his son, saying, 2I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man. 3Keep the charge of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, according to what is written in the Law of Moses, that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn, 4so that the LORD may carry out His promise which He spoke concerning me, saying, If your sons are careful of their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel. 5Now you also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed; he also shed the blood of war in peace. And he put the blood of war on his belt about his waist, and on his sandals on his feet. 6So act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down to Sheol in peace. 7But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table; for they assisted me when I fled from Absalom your brother. 8Behold, there is with you Shimei the son of Gera the Benjamite, of Bahurim; now it was he who cursed me with a violent curse on the day I went to Mahanaim. But when he came down to me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the LORD, saying, I will not put you to death with the sword. 9Now therefore, do not let him go unpunished, for you are a wise man; and you will know what you ought to do to him, and you will bring his gray hair down to Sheol with blood.
13Now Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, Do you come peacefully? And he said, Peacefully. 14Then he said, I have something to say to you. And she said, Speak. 15So he said, You know that the kingdom was mine and that all Israel expected me to be king; however, the kingdom has turned about and become my brothers, for it was his from the LORD. 16Now I am making one request of you; do not refuse me. And she said to him, Speak. 17Then he said, Please speak to Solomon the king, for he will not refuse you, that he may give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife. 18Bathsheba said, Very well; I will speak to the king for you.
26Then to Abiathar the priest the king said, Go to Anathoth to your own field, for you deserve to die; but I will not put you to death at this time, because you carried the ark of the Lord GOD before my father David, and because you were afflicted in everything with which my father was afflicted. 27So Solomon dismissed Abiathar from being priest to the LORD, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD, which He had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.
39But it came about at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, Behold, your servants are in Gath.
40Then Shimei arose and saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish to look for his servants. And Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath.
41It was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had returned.
42So the king sent and called for Shimei and said to him, Did I not make you swear by the LORD and solemnly warn you, saying, You will know for certain that on the day you depart and go anywhere, you shall surely die? And you said to me, The word which I have heard is good.
43Why then have you not kept the oath of the LORD, and the command which I have laid on you?
44The king also said to Shimei, You know all the evil which you acknowledge in your heart, which you did to my father David; therefore the LORD shall return your evil on your own head.
45But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD forever.
46So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and fell upon him so that he died. NASB 1995 Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org Bible Hub |