1 Kings 2:4-28

⁴If so, then the Lord will keep his promise to me when he said: ‘If your descendants are to live right before me, faithfully and with complete commitment, then you will always have one of them on the throne of Israel.’

⁵In addition, you know what Joab, son of Zeruiah, did to me and what he did to Abner, son of Ner, and Amasa, son of Jether, the two army commanders of Israel. He murdered them, spilling the blood of war during a time of peace. He smeared the blood of war on his belt and on his sandals.

⁶Do what you think is right, but don't let his gray head go down peacefully into the grave.

⁷But be kind to the sons of Barzillai of Gilead. Bring them into your royal court, for they helped me when I ran from your brother Absalom.

⁸Don't you forget Shimei, son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim who cursed me with painful words when I went to Mahanaim. When he met me at the Jordan I swore to him by the Lord, ‘I will not kill you with the sword.’

⁹So don't leave him unpunished. You're a wise man and you know what you have to do to him—send him down into the grave with blood on his gray head.”

¹⁰Then David died and his was buried in the City of David.

¹¹His reign over Israel lasted forty years; seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

¹²Solomon took over as king, sitting on the throne of his father David, and his hold on his kingdom was secure.

¹³Adonijah, son of Haggith, went to see Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. She asked him, “Have you come here with good intentions?” He replied, “Yes, with good intentions.”

¹⁴“I have something I'd like to ask of you,” he continued. “Go on,” she said.

¹⁵“You know that the kingdom was mine,” he declared, “and everyone in Israel was looking forward to me being their next king. But everything was turned upside-down, and the kingdom passed to my brother, because that's what the Lord wanted.

¹⁶Now I've just one request to ask of you—please don't say no.” “Tell me,” she said.

¹⁷He went on, “Please talk to King Solomon for me because he won't turn you down. Ask him to give me Abishag from Shunem as my wife.”

¹⁸“Very well,” Bathsheba replied. “I will talk to the king for you.”

¹⁹So Bathsheba went to talk to King Solomon for Adonijah. The king got up from his throne to meet her, and bowed before her. Then he sat back down and ordered another throne brought in for his mother. She sat to his right.

²⁰“I have just one small request to ask of you,” she said. “Please don't say no.” The king replied, “Ask away, dear mother. I won't say no to you.”

²¹“Please give Abishag from Shunem to your brother Adonijah as his wife,” she replied.

²²King Solomon answered his mother, “Why on earth are you asking me to give Abishag to Adonijah? You might as well ask me to give my brother the kingdom! He is my older brother, and Abiathar the priest and Joab, son of Zeruiah, are on his side!”

²³Then King Solomon vowed before the Lord, “May God punish me, really punish me, if what Adonijah has asked for doesn't cost him his life.

²⁴So I vow, as the Lord lives, who affirmed me as king and placed me on the throne of my father David, making me the head of a dynasty as he promised, Adonijah shall be executed today.”

²⁵King Solomon sent Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, who carried out the king's orders and executed Adonijah.

²⁶In the case of Abiathar, the high priest, the king told him, “Go home and take care of your fields. You should be condemned to death, but I will not kill you right now because you carried the Ark of the Lord God ahead of my father David and went through all his hard times with him.”

²⁷So Solomon dismissed Abiathar from his position as priest of the Lord, and so fulfilled what the Lord had said at Shiloh regarding the descendants of Eli.

²⁸When Joab heard the news he ran to the Lord's Tent and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. (He had not supported Absalom's rebellion but he had supported Adonijah.)