1 Kings 2:6-39

⁶Doe therefore according to thy wisdome, and let thou not his hoare head go downe to the graue in peace.

⁷But shew kindnes vnto the sonnes of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among them that eate at thy table: for so they came to me when I fled from Absalom thy brother.

⁸And beholde, with thee is Shimei the sonne of Gera, the sonne of Iemini, of Bahurim, which cursed mee with an horrible curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim: but hee came downe to meete me at Iorden, and I sware to him by the Lord, saying, I will not slay thee with the sword.

⁹But thou shalt not count him innocent: for thou art a wise man, and knowest what thou oughtest to doe vnto him: therefore thou shalt cause his hoare head to goe downe to the graue with blood.

¹⁰So Dauid slept with his fathers, and was buried in the citie of Dauid.

¹¹And the dayes which Dauid reigned vpon Israel, were fourtie yeeres: seuen yeeres reigned he in Hebron, and thirtie and three yeeres reigned he in Ierusalem.

¹²Then sate Salomon vpon the throne of Dauid his father, and his kingdome was stablished mightily.

¹³And Adonijah the sonne of Haggith came to Bath-sheba the mother of Salomon: and she saide, Commest thou peaceably? And hee said, Yea.

¹⁴He said moreouer, I haue a sute vnto thee. And she sayd, Say on.

¹⁵Then he said, Thou knowest that the kingdome was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reigne: howbeit the kingdome is turned away, and is my brothers: for it came to him by the Lord.

¹⁶Nowe therefore I aske thee one request, refuse me not. And she said vnto him, Say on.

¹⁷And he sayd, Speake, I pray thee, vnto Salomon ye King, (for he will not say thee nay) that he giue me Abishag the Shunammite to wife.

¹⁸And Bath-sheba sayd, Well, I will speake for thee vnto the King.

¹⁹Bath-sheba therefore went vnto King Salomon, to speake vnto him for Adonijah: and the King rose to meete her, and bowed himselfe vnto her, and sate downe on his throne: and he caused a seate to be set for the Kings mother, and she sate at his right hand.

²⁰Then she sayd, I desire a small request of thee, say me not nay. Then the King sayde vnto her, Aske on, my mother: for I will not say thee nay.

²¹She sayd then, Let Abishag the Shunammite be giuen to Adonijah thy brother to wife.

²²But King Salomon answered and sayd vnto his mother, And why doest thou aske Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? aske for him the kingdome also: for he is mine elder brother, and hath for him both Abiathar the Priest, and Ioab the sonne of Zeruiah.

²³Then King Salomon sware by the Lord, saying, God doe so to me and more also, if Adoniiah hath not spoken this worde against his owne life.

²⁴Now therefore as ye Lord liueth, who hath established me, and set me on the throne of Dauid my father, who also hath made me an house, as he promised, Adoniiah shall surely die this day.

²⁵And King Salomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the sonne of Iehoiada, and hee smote him that he dyed.

²⁶Then the King sayd vnto Abiathar the Priest, Go to Anathoth vnto thine owne fieldes: for thou art worthy of death: but I will not this day kill thee, because thou barest the Arke of the Lord God before Dauid my father, and because thou hast suffered in all, wherein my father hath bene afflicted.

²⁷So Salomon cast out Abiathar from being Priest vnto the Lord, that he might fulfill the wordes of the Lord, which he spake against the house of Eli in Shiloh.

²⁸Then tidings came to Ioab: (for Ioab had turned after Adoniiah, but he turned not after Absalom) and Ioab fled vnto the Tabernacle of the Lord, and caught hold on the hornes of the altar.

²⁹And it was tolde king Salomon, that Ioab was fled vnto the Tabernacle of the Lord, and beholde, he is by the altar. Then Salomon sent Benaiah the sonne of Iehoiada, saying, Goe, fall vpon him.

³⁰And Benaiah came to the Tabernacle of the Lord, and sayd vnto him, Thus sayth the King, Come out. And he sayde, Nay, but I will die here. Then Benaiah brought the King worde againe, saying, Thus sayd Ioab, and thus he answered me.

³¹And the King sayde vnto him, Doe as he hath sayd, and smite him, and bury him, that thou mayest take away the blood, which Ioab shed causelesse, from me and from the house of my father.

³²And the Lord shall bring his blood vpon his owne head: for he smote two men more righteous and better then he, and slew them with the sword, and my father Dauid knew not: to wit, Abner the sonne of Ner, captaine of the hoste of Israel, and Amasa the sonne of Iether captaine of the hoste of Iudah.

³³Their blood shall therefore returne vpon the head of Ioab, and on the head of his seede for euer: but vpon Dauid, and vpon his seede, and vpon his house, and vpon his throne shall there be peace for euer from the Lord.

³⁴So Benaiah the sonne of Iehoiada went vp, and smote him, and slewe him, and he was buryed in his owne house in the wildernesse.

³⁵And the King put Benaiah the sonne of Iehoiada in his roume ouer the hoste: and the King set Zadok the Priest in the roume of Abiathar.

³⁶Afterwarde the King sent, and called Shimei, and sayde vnto him, Buylde thee an house in Ierusalem, and dwell there, and depart not thence any whither.

³⁷For that day that thou goest out, and passest ouer the riuer of Kidron, knowe assuredly, that thou shalt dye the death: thy blood shall be vpon thine owne head.

³⁸And Shimei sayd vnto the King, The thing is good: as my lord the King hath sayd, so wil thy seruant doe. So Shimei dwelt in Ierusalem many dayes.

³⁹And after three yeres two of the seruants of Shimei fled away vnto Achish sonne of Maachah King of Gath: and they tolde Shimei, saying, Behold, thy seruants be in Gath.