Kings III 2:4-30

⁴that the Lord may confirm his word which he spoke, saying, If your children shall take heed to their way to walk before me in truth with all their heart, I promise you, saying, there shall not fail you a man on the throne of Israel.

⁵Moreover you know all that Joab the son of Saruia did to me, what he did to the two captains of the forces of Israel, to Abenner the son of Ner, and to Amessai the son of Jether, that he killed them, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put innocent blood on his girdle that was about his loins, and on his sandal that was on his foot.

⁶Therefore you shall deal with him according to your wisdom, and you shall not bring down his grey hairs in peace to the grave.

⁷But you shall deal kindly with the sons of Berzelli the Galaadite, and they shall be amongst those that eat at your table; for thus they drew near to me when I fled from the face of your brother Abessalom.

⁸And, behold, there is with you Semei the son of Gera, a Benjamite of Baurim: and he cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went into the camp; and he came down to Jordan to meet me, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying, I will not put you to death with the sword.

⁹But you shall by no means hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man, and will know what you shall do to him, and shall bring down his grey hairs with blood to the grave.

¹⁰And David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.

¹¹And the days which David reigned over Israel were forty years; he reigned seven years in Chebron, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

¹²And Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was established greatly.

¹³And Adonias the son of Aggith came in to Bersabee the mother of Solomon, and did obeisance to her: and she said, Do you enter peaceably? and he said, Peaceably:

¹⁴I have business with you. And she said to him, Say on.

¹⁵And he said to her, You know that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel turned their face towards me for a king; but the kingdom was turned from me and became my brother's: for it was appointed to him from the Lord.

¹⁶And now I make one request of you, do not turn away your face. And Bersabee said to him, Speak on.

¹⁷And he said to her, Speak, I pray you, to king Solomon, for he will not turn away his face from you, and let him give me Abisag the Somanite for a wife.

¹⁸And Bersabee said, Well; I will speak for you to the king.

¹⁹And Bersabee went in to king Solomon to speak to him concerning Adonias; and the king rose up to meet her, and kissed her, and sat on the throne, and a throne was set for the mother of the king, and she sat on his right hand.

²⁰And she said to him, I ask of you one little request; turn not away my face from you. And the king said to her, Ask, my mother, and I will not reject you.

²¹And she said, Let, I pray you, Abisag the Somanite be given to Adonias your brother to wife.

²²And king Solomon answered and said to his mother, And why have you asked Abisag for Adonias? ask for him the kingdom also; for he is my elder brother, and he has for his companion Abiathar the priest, and Joab the son of Saruia the commander-in-chief.

²³And king Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if it be not that Adonias has spoken this word against his own life.

²⁴And now as the Lord lives who has established me, and set me on the throne of my father David, and he has made me a house, as the Lord spoke, this day shall Adonias be put to death.

²⁵So king Solomon sent by the hand of Banaeas the son of Jodae, and he killed him, and Adonias died in that day.

²⁶And the king said to Abiathar the priest, Depart you quickly to Anathoth to your farm, for you are worthy of death this day; but I will not kill you, because you have borne the ark of the covenant of the Lord before my father, and because you was 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 Heli in Selom.

²⁸And the report came to Joab son of Saruia; for Joab had turned after Adonias, 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 behold! he has hold of the horns of the altar. And king Solomon sent to Joab, saying, What ails you, that you have fled to the altar? and Joab said, Because I was afraid of you, and fled for refuge to the Lord. And Solomon sent Banaeas son of Jodae, saying, Go and kill him, and bury him.

³⁰And Banaeas son of Jodae 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 Banaeas son of Jodae returned and spoke to the king, saying, Thus has Joab spoken, and thus has he answered me.