1And the days of Dawiḏ drew near to die, and he commanded Shelomoh his son, saying,

2“I am going the way of all the earth. And you shall be strong, and be a man.

3“And guard the Charge of יהוה your Elohim: to walk in His ways, to guard His laws, His commands, His right-rulings, and His witnesses, as it is written in the Torah of Mosheh, so that you do wisely all that you do and wherever you turn;

4so that יהוה does establish His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons guard their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their being,’ saying, ‘there is not to cease a man of yours on the throne of Yisra’ĕl.’

5“And also, you know what Yo’aḇ son of Tseruyah did to me, and what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Yisra’ĕl, to Aḇnĕr son of Nĕr and Amasa son of Yether, that he slew them, and shed the blood of battle in peace, and put the blood of battle on his belt that was around his waist, and on his sandals that were on his feet.

6“So act according to your wisdom, and do not let his grey hair go down to the grave in peace.

7“But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gil‛aḏite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, for so they came to me when I fled from Aḇshalom your brother.

8“And see, with you is Shim‛i son of Gĕra, the Binyamite from Baḥurim, who cursed me with a grievous cursing in the day when I went to Maḥanayim. But he came down to meet me at the Yardĕn, and I swore to him by יהוה, saying, ‘I shall not put you to death with the sword.’

9“And now, do not leave him unpunished, for you are a wise man and know what you should do to him, and shall bring his grey hair down to the grave with blood.”

10And Dawiḏ slept with his fathers, and was buried in the City of Dawiḏ.

11And the days that Dawiḏ reigned over Yisra’ĕl was forty years. He reigned seven years in Ḥeḇron, and in Yerushalayim he reigned thirty-three years.

12And Shelomoh sat on the throne of his father Dawiḏ. And his reign was firmly established.

13And Aḏoniyahu son of Ḥaggith came to Bathsheḇa the mother of Shelomoh, and she said, “Do you come in peace?” And he said, “Peace.”

14And he said, “I have a word for you,” and she said, “Speak.”

15And he said, “You know that the reign was mine, and all Yisra’ĕl had set their faces toward me, that I should reign. But the reign has been turned around, and has become my brother’s, for it was his from יהוה.

16“And now, I am making one request of you, do not refuse me.” And she said to him, “Say it.”

17And he said, “Please speak to Sovereign Shelomoh – for he would not refuse you – to give me Aḇishag̅ the Shunammite as wife.”

18And Bathsheḇa said, “Good, let me speak for you to the sovereign.”

19And Bathsheḇa came to Sovereign Shelomoh, to speak to him for Aḏoniyahu. And the sovereign rose up to meet her and bowed down to her, and sat down on his throne and had a throne set for the sovereign’s mother. So she sat at his right hand.

20And she said, “I am making one small request of you, do not refuse me.” And the sovereign said to her, “Ask it, my mother, for I do not refuse you.”

21Then she said, “Let Aḇishag̅ the Shunammite be given to Aḏoniyahu your brother as wife.”

22And Sovereign Shelomoh answered and said to his mother, “Now why do you ask Aḇishag̅ the Shunammite for Aḏoniyahu? Ask for him the reign also – for he is my older brother – for him, and for Eḇyathar the priest, and for Yo’aḇ son of Tseruyah.”

23And Sovereign Shelomoh swore by יהוה, saying, “Elohim does so to me, and more also, if Aḏoniyahu has not spoken this word against his own life!

24“And now, as יהוה lives, who established me and set me on the throne of Dawiḏ my father, and who has made me a house, as He promised, Aḏoniyahu shall be put to death today!”

25And Sovereign Shelomoh sent by the hand of Benayahu son of Yehoyaḏa, and he fell upon him, and he died.

26Then the sovereign said to Eḇyathar the priest, “Go to Anathoth, to your own fields, for you deserve death. But I do not put you to death at this time, because you did bear the ark of the Master יהוה before my father Dawiḏ, and because you were afflicted in all my father was afflicted in.”

27So Shelomoh dismissed Eḇyathar from being priest to יהוה, to fill the word of יהוה which He spoke concerning the house of Ěli at Shiloh.

28And news came to Yo’aḇ, for Yo’aḇ had turned aside after Aḏoniyah, though he did not turn aside after Aḇshalom. And Yo’aḇ fled to the Tent of יהוה, and took hold of the horns of the altar.

29And the report came to Sovereign Shelomoh that Yo’aḇ had fled to the Tent of יהוה, and see, he is by the altar. Then Shelomoh sent Benayahu son of Yehoyaḏa, saying, “Go, fall on him.”

30So Benayahu came to the Tent of יהוה and said to him, “Thus said the sovereign, ‘Come out!’ ” And he said, “No, for here I die.” And Benayahu brought back word to the sovereign, saying, “Thus said Yo’aḇ, and thus he answered me.”

31And the sovereign said to him, “Do as he has said, and fall upon him. And you shall bury him, so that you take away from me and from the house of my father the blood which Yo’aḇ shed without cause.

32“Thus יהוה shall return his blood on his head, because he had fallen on two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, while my father Dawiḏ did not know it: Aḇnĕr son of Nĕr, commander of the army of Yisra’ĕl, and Amasa son of Yether, commander of the army of Yehuḏah.

33“So shall their blood return upon the head of Yo’aḇ and upon the head of his seed forever. But upon Dawiḏ and his seed, upon his house and his throne, there is to be peace forever from יהוה.”

34Then Benayahu son of Yehoyaḏa went up and fell upon him and put him to death. And he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.

35And the sovereign put Benayahu son of Yehoyaḏa in his place over the army, and the sovereign put Tsaḏoq the priest in the place of Eḇyathar.

36And the sovereign sent and called for Shim‛i, and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Yerushalayim and dwell there, and do not go out from there anywhere.

37“And it shall be, on the day you go out and pass over the wadi Qiḏron, know for certain that you shall die – your blood is on your own head.”

38And Shim‛i said to the sovereign, “The word is good. As my master the sovereign has said, so your servant does.” So Shim‛i dwelt in Yerushalayim many days.

39And it came to be at the end of three years, that two slaves of Shim‛i fled to Aḵish son of Ma‛aḵah, sovereign of Gath. And they informed Shim‛i, saying, “See, your slaves are in Gath!”

40And Shim‛i rose up, and saddled his donkey, and went to Aḵish at Gath to look for his slaves. And Shim‛i went and brought his slaves from Gath.

41And Shelomoh was told that Shim‛i had gone from Yerushalayim to Gath and had come back.

42So the sovereign sent and called for Shim‛i, and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by יהוה, and warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you leave to go anywhere, you shall certainly die’? And you said to me, ‘The word I have heard is good.’

43“And why have you not guarded the oath of יהוה and the command that I gave you?”

44The sovereign also said to Shim‛i, “You shall know all the evil that your heart has known, that you did to my father Dawiḏ. And יהוה shall return your evil on your own head.

45“But Sovereign Shelomoh is blessed, and the throne of Dawiḏ is established before יהוה forever.”

46So the sovereign ordered Benayahu son of Yehoyaḏa, and he went out and fell on him, and he died. And the reign was established in the hand of Shelomoh.