Kings III 2:25-42

²⁵So King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he slew him, and Adonijah died in that day.

²⁶And the king said to Abiathar the priest, Depart thou quickly to Anathoth to thy farm, for thou art worthy of death this day; but I will not slay thee, because thou hast borne the ark of the covenant of the Lord before my father, and because thou wast afflicted in all things wherein my father was afflicted.

²⁷And Solomon removed Abiathar from being a priest of the Lord, that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

²⁸And the report came to Joab son of Zeruiah; for Joab had turned after Adonijah, and he went not after Solomon: and Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and caught hold of the horns of the altar.

²⁹And it was told Solomon, saying, Joab has fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and lo! he has hold of the horns of the altar. And King Solomon sent to Joab, saying, What ails thee, that thou hast fled to the altar? and Joab said, Because I was afraid of thee, and fled for refuge to the Lord. And Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying, Go and slay him, and bury him.

³⁰And Benaiah son of Jehoiada came to Joab to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him, Thus says the king, Come forth. And Joab said, I will not come forth, for I will die here. And Benaiah son of Jehoiada returned and spoke to the king, saying, Thus has Joab spoken, and thus has he answered me.

³¹And the king said to him, Go, and do to him as he has spoken, and kill him: and thou shalt bury him, and thou shalt remove this day the blood which he shed without cause, from me and from the house of my father.

³²And the Lord has returned upon his own head the blood of his unrighteousness, inasmuch as he attacked two men more righteous and better than himself, and slew them with the sword, and my father David knew not of their blood, even Abner the son of Ner the commander-in-chief of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether the commander-in-chief of Judah.

³³And their blood is returned upon his head, and upon the head of his seed forever: but to David, and his seed, and his house, and his throne, may there be peace forever from the Lord.

³⁴So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up, and attacked him, and slew him, and buried him in his house in the wilderness.

³⁵And the king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada in his place over the host; and the kingdom was established in Jerusalem; and as for Zadok the priest, the king appointed him to be high priest in the room of Abiathar. And Solomon son of David reigned over Israel and Judah in Jerusalem:

^35aand the Lord gave understanding to Solomon, and very much wisdom, and largeness of heart, as the sand by the seashore.

^35bAnd the wisdom of Solomon abounded exceedingly beyond the wisdom of all the ancients, and beyond all the wise men of Egypt;

^35cand he took the daughter of Pharaoh, and brought her into the city of David, until he had finished building his own house, and the house of the Lord first, and the wall of Jerusalem round about. In seven years he made and finished them.

^35dAnd Solomon had seventy thousand bearers of burdens, and eighty thousand hewers of stone in the mountain:

^35eand Solomon made the sea, and the bases, and the great lavers, and the pillars, and the fountain of the court, and the brazen sea—and he built the citadel as a defense above it, he made a breach in the wall of the city of David;

^35fthus the daughter of Pharaoh went up out of the city of David to her house which he built for her. Then he built the citadel;

^35gand Solomon offered up three whole burnt offerings in the year, and peace offerings on the altar which he built to the Lord, and he burned incense before the Lord, and finished the house.

^35hAnd these are the chief persons who presided over the works of Solomon; three thousand and six hundred masters of the people that wrought the works.

³⁵ⁱAnd he built Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer, and upper Beth-horon, and Baalath:

^35konly after he had built the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about, afterward he built these cities.

^35lAnd when David was yet living, he charged Solomon, saying, Behold, there is with thee Shimei the son of Gera, of the seed of Benjamin out of Hebron:

^35mhe cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went into the camp;

³⁵ⁿand he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying, He shall not be slain with the sword.

^35oBut now do not thou hold him guiltless, for thou art a man of understanding, and thou wilt know what thou shalt do to him, and thou shalt bring down his gray hairs with blood to the grave.

³⁶And the king called Shimei, and said to him, Build thee a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and thou shalt not go out thence any whither.

³⁷And it shall come to pass in the day that thou shalt go forth and cross over the brook Kidron, know assuredly that thou shalt certainly die: thy blood shall be upon thy head. And the king caused him to swear in that day.

³⁸And Shimei said to the king, Good is the word that thou hast spoken, my lord O king: thus will thy servant do. And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem three years.

³⁹And it came to pass after the three years, that two servants of Shimei ran away to Achish son of Maacah king of Gath: and it was told Shimei, saying, Behold, thy servants are in Gath.

⁴⁰And Shimei rose up, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish to seek out his servants: and Shimei went, and brought his servants out of Gath.

⁴¹And it was told Solomon, saying, Shimei is gone out of Jerusalem to Gath, and has brought back his servants.

⁴²And the king sent and called Shimei, and said to him, Did I not adjure thee by the Lord, and testify to thee, saying, In whatsoever day thou shalt go out of Jerusalem, and go to the right or left, know certainly that thou shalt assuredly die?