1 Kings 2:19-31

¹⁹Bath-sheba' thereupon went unto king Solomon, to speak unto him for Adoniyah; and the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and then sat down on his throne, and placed a chair for the king's mother; and she sat on his right hand.

²⁰Then said she, There is one small petition I am going to ask of thee; do not turn me away. And the king said unto her, Ask on, my mother; for I will not turn thee away.

²¹And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adoniyah thy brother for wife.

²²And king Solomon answered and said unto his mother, And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adoniyah? rather ask for him the kingdom; for he is my elder brother;— even for him, and for Ebyathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruyah.

²³Then swore king Solomon by the Lord, saying, May God do so to me, and may he thus continue, if Adoniyah have not spoken this word against his own life.

²⁴And now, as the Lord liveth, who hath established me, and seated me on the throne of David my father, and who hath made me a house, as he hath spoken, this very day shall Adoniyah be put to death.

²⁵And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benayahu the son of Yehoyada'; and he fell upon him so that he died.

²⁶And unto Ebyathar the priest said the king, Go to 'Anathoth, unto thy own fields; for thou art a man worthy of death; but on this day will I not put thee to death; because thou hast borne the ark of the Lord Eternal before David my father, and because thou was afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted.

²⁷So Solomon banished Ebyathar that he should not be priest unto the Lord, to fulfill the word of the Lord, which he had spoken concerning the house of 'Eli in Shiloh.

²⁸And the report came to Joab; for Joab had turned after Adoniyah, though he had not turned after Abshalom. And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.

²⁹And it was told to king Solomon that Joab had fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord; and that, behold, he was close by the altar. Then sent Solomon Benayahu the son of Yehoyada,' saying, Go, fall upon him.

³⁰And Benayahu came to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said unto him, Thus hath said the king, Come forth. And he said, No; but here will I die. And Benayahu brought the king word again, saying, Thus hath Joab spoken, and thus hath he answered me.

³¹Then said the king unto him, Do as he hath spoken, and fall upon him, and bury him; and remove thus the innocent blood, which Joab hath shed, from me, and from the house of my father.