1 Kings 2
A Father’s Last Charge, and a Throne Made Secure
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The Charge of David to Solomon
2:1When David’s days drew near for him to die, he commanded his son Solomon, saying,
2:2“I myself am going the way of all the earth. Be strong, and be a man,
2:3and keep the charge of the Lord your God: walk in His ways, keeping His commandments, statutes, and judgments written in Moses’ law, so that you may understand what you will do in everything that I command you,
2:4so that the Lord may establish His word which He spoke, saying, ‘If your sons guard their way, walking before Me in truth with all their heart and all their soul,’ saying, ‘A man shall not be cut off for you from Israel’s throne.’
2:5You also know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me, what he did to the two commanders of Israel’s forces, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He killed them, setting the blood of war in peace, and put innocent blood on the belt around his waist and the sandal on his foot.
2:6Act according to your wisdom, and do not bring his gray hair down to Hades in peace.
2:7Show mercy to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, for they came near to me in this way when I fled from your brother Absalom.
2:8Look, with you is Shimei son of Gera, a son of the Benjaminite from Bahurim. He cursed me with a painful curse on the day I went to Camps. He came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’
2:9You must certainly not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man. You will know what to do to him, and you shall bring his gray hair down to Hades with blood.”
The Death of David
2:10David lay down with his fathers and was buried in the City of David.
2:11David’s reign over Israel lasted forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
2:12Solomon sat on the throne of his father David when he was twelve years old, and his kingdom was firmly prepared.
Adonijah Asks for Abishag
2:13Adonijah son of Haggith came to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, and prostrated himself before her. She said, “Is your coming peaceful?” He said, “Peaceful.
2:14I have a word for you.” She said to him, “Speak.”
2:15He said to her, “You know that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel set its face toward me to reign. But the kingdom turned and became my brother’s, for it became his from the Lord.
2:16Now I ask one request of you; do not turn away your face.” Bathsheba said to him, “Speak.”
2:17He said to her, “Please speak to King Solomon—for he will not turn his face away from you—and he will give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife.”
2:18Bathsheba said, “Very well. I will speak to the king about you.”
2:19Bathsheba came to King Solomon to speak to him about Adonijah. The king rose to meet her and kissed her, then sat on his throne. A throne was placed for the king’s mother, and she sat at his right.
2:20She said to him, “I ask one small request of you; do not turn away your face.” The king said to her, “Ask, my mother, for I will not turn you away.”
2:21She said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to your brother Adonijah as a wife.”
2:22King Solomon answered his mother, “Why do you ask for Abishag for Adonijah? Ask for the kingdom for him too, for he is my elder brother! Abiathar the priest is his, and Joab son of Zeruiah, the commander-in-chief, is his companion!”
2:23King Solomon swore by the Lord, “May God do thus to me and add more, for Adonijah has spoken this word against his own life!
2:24Now, as the Lord lives, who prepared me and placed me on the throne of my father David—He made a house for me, as the Lord spoke—Adonijah shall be put to death today.”
2:25King Solomon sent through Benaiah son of Jehoiada and had Adonijah killed. Adonijah died that day.
Abiathar Expelled from the Priesthood
2:26The king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go quickly to Anathoth, to your field. You are a man deserving death today, but I will not put you to death, because you carried the ark of the Lord’s covenant before my father and suffered all the hardships my father suffered.”
2:27Solomon expelled Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, fulfilling the Lord’s word which He had spoken concerning Eli’s house at Shiloh.
Joab Slain at the Altar
2:28The report reached Joab son of Zeruiah, for Joab had followed Adonijah but had not followed Solomon. Joab fled to the Lord’s dwelling and held fast to the horns of the altar.
2:29Solomon was told, “Joab has fled to the Lord’s tent and is holding fast to the altar’s horns.” Solomon sent to Joab, asking, “What has happened to you, that you have fled to the altar?” Joab said, “I was afraid of you, and I fled to the Lord.” King Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, kill him and bury him.”
2:30Benaiah son of Jehoiada came to Joab in the Lord’s tent and said to him, “Thus says the king: Come out.” Joab said, “I am not coming out, for I will die here.” Benaiah son of Jehoiada returned and said to the king, “This is what Joab has said, and this is how he has answered me.”
2:31The king said to him, “Go and do to him as he has said. Kill him and bury him, and today remove from me and my father’s house the blood Joab shed without cause.
2:32The Lord returned the blood of his injustice upon his own head, because he struck two men more righteous and better than himself and killed them with the sword, while my father David did not know of their blood: Abner son of Ner, commander-in-chief of Israel, and Amasa son of Jether, commander-in-chief of Judah.
2:33Their blood was returned upon his head and the head of his offspring forever. But for David, his offspring, his house, and his throne may there be peace from the Lord forever.”
2:34Benaiah son of Jehoiada came upon Joab, put him to death, and buried him at his house in the wilderness.
2:35The king put Benaiah son of Jehoiada in the military command in Joab’s place. The kingdom was being established in Jerusalem, and the king appointed Zadok the priest as first priest in Abiathar’s place.
The Wisdom and the Works of Solomon
2:35aThe Lord gave Solomon discernment, exceedingly great wisdom, and breadth of heart like the sand beside the sea.
2:35bSolomon’s discernment greatly surpassed the discernment of all the sons of old and all the discerning men of Egypt.
2:35cHe took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into the City of David until he had first finished his own house, the Lord’s house, and Jerusalem’s surrounding wall. He built and completed them in seven years.
2:35dSolomon had seventy thousand burden-bearers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hill country.
2:35eSolomon made the sea, the supports, the great washbasins, the pillars, the courtyard’s fountain, and the bronze sea.
2:35fHe built the citadel and its battlements and cut through the City of David. Thus Pharaoh’s daughter would go up from the City of David to her house, which he built for her. Then he built the citadel.
2:35gSolomon offered three whole burnt offerings and peace offerings in the year on the altar he built for the Lord, and burned incense before the Lord. He completed the house.
2:35hThese were the officials appointed over Solomon’s works: three thousand six hundred overseers of the people doing the works.
2:35iHe built Assour, Megiddo, Gezer, Upper Beth-horon, and Baalath.
2:35kOnly after he had built the Lord’s house and Jerusalem’s surrounding wall—after these things—did he build these cities.
David’s Charge Concerning Shimei
2:35lWhile David was still alive, he commanded Solomon: “Look, with you is Shimei son of Gera, a descendant of the Benjaminite, from Hebron.
2:35mHe cursed me with a painful curse on the day I was going to Camps.
2:35nHe was coming down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord, ‘He shall not be put to death with the sword.’
2:35oNow do not hold him guiltless, for you are a discerning man. You will know what to do to him, and you shall bring his gray hair down to Hades with blood.”
Shimei Confined to Jerusalem
2:36The king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and stay there. You shall not go out from there anywhere.
2:37On the day you go out and cross the Wadi Kidron, know for certain that you shall surely die. Your blood shall be upon your own head.” The king made him swear that day.
2:38Shimei said to the king, “The word you have spoken is good, my lord the king. Your servant will do so.” Shimei stayed in Jerusalem three years.
2:39After three years, two of Shimei’s slaves fled to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. Shimei was told, “Look, your slaves are in Gath.”
2:40Shimei rose, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to seek out his slaves. Shimei went and brought his slaves back from Gath.
2:41Solomon was told, “Shimei went from Jerusalem to Gath and brought back his slaves.”
2:42The king sent for Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord and solemnly warn you, ‘On the day you leave Jerusalem and go to the right or left, know for certain that you shall surely die’?
2:43Why have you not kept the Lord’s oath and the command I laid upon you?”
2:44The king said to Shimei, “You know all your wickedness which your heart knew, the things you did to my father David. The Lord has repaid your wickedness upon your head.
2:45But King Solomon is blessed, and David’s throne shall be prepared before the Lord forever.”
2:46King Solomon commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada. He went out and killed Shimei, and Shimei died.
The Greatness of Solomon’s Kingdom
2:46aKing Solomon was exceedingly discerning and wise. Judah and Israel were exceedingly numerous, like the sand beside the sea in multitude, eating, drinking, and rejoicing.
2:46bSolomon ruled among all the kingdoms. They brought gifts and served Solomon all the days of his life.
2:46cSolomon began to open up the resources of Lebanon,
2:46dand he built Thermai in the wilderness.
2:46eThis was Solomon’s midday meal: thirty kors of fine flour, sixty kors of pounded meal, ten choice calves, twenty pasture-fed cattle, and one hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, and choice pasture-fed birds.
2:46fFor he ruled throughout the region beyond the River, from Raphi to Gaza, among all the kings beyond the River.
2:46gHe had peace on every side around him. Judah and Israel lived securely, each beneath his vine and beneath his fig tree, eating and drinking, from Dan to Beersheba, all Solomon’s days.
2:46hThese were Solomon’s officials: Azariah son of Zadok the priest; Ornia son of Nathan, chief of the supervisors; Edram over his house; Souba the scribe; Basa son of Achithalam, the recorder; Abi son of Joab, commander-in-chief; Achire son of Edrai over the burdens; Benaiah son of Jehoiada over the court administration and the brickworks; and Zachour son of Nathan, the counselor.
2:46iSolomon had forty thousand broodmares for chariots and twelve thousand horsemen.
2:46kHe ruled among all the kings from the River to the land of foreigners and to Egypt’s borders.
2:46lSolomon son of David reigned over Israel and Judah in Jerusalem.
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.