| NET Bible | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1When David was close to death, he told Solomon his son: | 1As David's time to die drew near, he charged Solomon his son, saying, |
| 2"I am about to die. Be strong and become a man! | 2"I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man. |
| 3Do the job the LORD your God has assigned you by following his instructions and obeying his rules, commandments, regulations, and laws as written in the law of Moses. Then you will succeed in all you do and seek to accomplish, | 3"Keep 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, |
| 4and the LORD will fulfill his promise to me, 'If your descendants watch their step and live faithfully in my presence with all their heart and being, then,' he promised, 'you will not fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.' | 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.' |
| 5"You know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me--how he murdered two commanders of the Israelite armies, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. During peacetime he struck them down like he would in battle; when he shed their blood as if in battle, he stained his own belt and the sandals on his feet. | 5"Now 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. |
| 6Do to him what you think is appropriate, but don't let him live long and die a peaceful death. | 6"So act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down to Sheol in peace. |
| 7"Treat fairly the sons of Barzillai of Gilead and provide for their needs, because they helped me when I had to flee from your brother Absalom. | 7"But 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. |
| 8"Note well, you still have to contend with Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, who tried to call down upon me a horrible judgment when I went to Mahanaim. He came down and met me at the Jordan, and I solemnly promised him by the LORD, 'I will not strike you down with the sword.' | 8"Behold, 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.' |
| 9But now don't treat him as if he were innocent. You are a wise man and you know how to handle him; make sure he has a bloody death." | 9"Now 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." |
| 10Then David passed away and was buried in the city of David. | 10Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. |
| 11David reigned over Israel forty years; he reigned in Hebron seven years, and in Jerusalem thirty-three years. | 11The days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years he reigned in Hebron and thirty-three years he reigned in Jerusalem. |
| 12Solomon sat on his father David's throne, and his royal authority was firmly solidified. | 12And Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established. |
| 13Haggith's son Adonijah visited Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. She asked, "Do you come in peace?" He answered, "Yes." | 13Now Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, "Do you come peacefully?" And he said, "Peacefully." |
| 14He added, "I have something to say to you." She replied, "Speak." | 14Then he said, "I have something to say to you." And she said, "Speak." |
| 15He said, "You know that the kingdom was mine and all Israel considered me king. But then the kingdom was given to my brother, for the LORD decided it should be his. | 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 brother's, for it was his from the LORD. |
| 16Now I'd like to ask you for just one thing. Please don't refuse me." She said, "Go ahead and ask." | 16"Now I am making one request of you; do not refuse me." And she said to him, "Speak." |
| 17He said, "Please ask King Solomon if he would give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife, for he won't refuse you." | 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 replied, "That's fine, I'll speak to the king on your behalf." | 18Bathsheba said, "Very well; I will speak to the king for you." |
| 19So Bathsheba visited King Solomon to speak to him on Adonijah's behalf. The king got up to greet her, bowed to her, and then sat on his throne. He ordered a throne to be brought for the king's mother, and she sat at his right hand. | 19So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king arose to meet her, bowed before her, and sat on his throne; then he had a throne set for the king's mother, and she sat on his right. |
| 20She said, "I would like to ask you for just one small favor. Please don't refuse me." He said, "Go ahead and ask, my mother, for I would not refuse you." | 20Then she said, "I am making one small request of you; do not refuse me." And the king said to her, "Ask, my mother, for I will not refuse you." |
| 21She said, "Allow Abishag the Shunammite to be given to your brother Adonijah as a wife." | 21So she said, "Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as a wife." |
| 22King Solomon answered his mother, "Why just request Abishag the Shunammite for him? Since he is my older brother, you should also request the kingdom for him, for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab son of Zeruiah!" | 22King Solomon answered and said to his mother, "And why are you asking Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him also the kingdom-- for he is my older brother-- even for him, for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah!" |
| 23King Solomon then swore an oath by the LORD, "May God judge me severely, if Adonijah does not pay for this request with his life! | 23Then King Solomon swore by the LORD, saying, "May God do so to me and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life. |
| 24Now, as certainly as the LORD lives (he who made me secure, allowed me to sit on my father David's throne, and established a dynasty for me as he promised), Adonijah will be executed today!" | 24"Now therefore, as the LORD lives, who has established me and set me on the throne of David my father and who has made me a house as He promised, surely Adonijah shall be put to death today." |
| 25King Solomon then sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he killed Adonijah. | 25So King Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him so that he died. |
| 26The king then told Abiathar the priest, "Go back to your property in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but today I will not kill you because you did carry the ark of the sovereign LORD before my father David and you suffered with my father through all his difficult times." | 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." |
| 27Solomon dismissed Abiathar from his position as priest of the LORD, fulfilling the decree of judgment the LORD made in Shiloh against the family of Eli. | 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. |
| 28When the news reached Joab (for Joab had supported Adonijah, although he had not supported Absalom), he ran to the tent of the LORD and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. | 28Now the news came to Joab, for Joab had followed Adonijah, although he had not followed Absalom. And Joab fled to the tent of the LORD and took hold of the horns of the altar. |
| 29When King Solomon heard that Joab had run to the tent of the LORD and was right there beside the altar, he ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada, "Go, strike him down." | 29It was told King Solomon that Joab had fled to the tent of the LORD, and behold, he is beside the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, "Go, fall upon him." |
| 30When Benaiah arrived at the tent of the LORD, he said to him, "The king says, 'Come out!'" But he replied, "No, I will die here!" So Benaiah sent word to the king and reported Joab's reply. | 30So Benaiah came to the tent of the LORD and said to him, "Thus the king has said, 'Come out.'" But he said, "No, for I will die here." And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, "Thus spoke Joab, and thus he answered me." |
| 31The king told him, "Do as he said! Strike him down and bury him. Take away from me and from my father's family the guilt of Joab's murderous, bloody deeds. | 31The king said to him, "Do as he has spoken and fall upon him and bury him, that you may remove from me and from my father's house the blood which Joab shed without cause. |
| 32May the LORD punish him for the blood he shed; behind my father David's back he struck down and murdered with the sword two men who were more innocent and morally upright than he--Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel's army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah's army. | 32"The LORD will return his blood on his own head, because he fell upon two men more righteous and better than he and killed them with the sword, while my father David did not know it: Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. |
| 33May Joab and his descendants be perpetually guilty of their shed blood, but may the LORD give perpetual peace to David, his descendants, his family, and his dynasty." | 33"So shall their blood return on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever; but to David and his descendants and his house and his throne, may there be peace from the LORD forever." |
| 34So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and executed Joab; he was buried at his home in the wilderness. | 34Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and fell upon him and put him to death, and he was buried at his own house in the wilderness. |
| 35The king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada to take his place at the head of the army, and the king appointed Zadok the priest to take Abiathar's place. | 35The king appointed Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in his place, and the king appointed Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar. |
| 36Next the king summoned Shimei and told him, "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there--but you may not leave there to go anywhere! | 36Now the king sent and called for Shimei and said to him, "Build for yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, and do not go out from there to any place. |
| 37If you ever do leave and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will certainly die! You will be responsible for your own death." | 37"For on the day you go out and cross over the brook Kidron, you will know for certain that you shall surely die; your blood shall be on your own head." |
| 38Shimei said to the king, "My master the king's proposal is acceptable. Your servant will do as you say." So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time. | 38Shimei then said to the king, "The word is good. As my lord the king has said, so your servant will do." So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days. |
| 39Three years later two of Shimei's servants ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, "Look, your servants are in Gath." | 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." |
| 40So Shimei got up, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to find his servants; Shimei went and brought back his servants from 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. |
| 41When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had then returned, | 41It was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had returned. |
| 42the king summoned Shimei and said to him, "You will recall that I made you take an oath by the LORD, and I solemnly warned you, 'If you ever leave and go anywhere, know for sure that you will certainly die.' You said to me, 'The proposal is acceptable; I agree to it.' | 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 broken the oath you made before the LORD and disobeyed the order I gave you?" | 43"Why then have you not kept the oath of the LORD, and the command which I have laid on you?" |
| 44Then the king said to Shimei, "You are well aware of the way you mistreated my father David. The LORD will punish you for what you did. | 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 will be empowered and David's dynasty will endure permanently before the LORD." | 45"But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD forever." |
| 46The king then gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada who went and executed Shimei. So Solomon took firm control of the kingdom. | 46So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and fell upon him so that he died. Thus the kingdom was established in the hands of Solomon. |
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