1 Kings 2:22-46 ▼

22 And King Solomon answered and said to his mother, Why do you ask Abishag the Shilommite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also; for he is my elder brother; ask even for him and for Abiathar the priest and for Joab the son of Zoriah.

23 Then King Solomon swore by the LORD, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah have not spoken this word against his own life.

24 Now therefore, as the LORD lives, who has established me and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death this day.

25 And King Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he attacked him and slew him.

26 And to Abiathar the priest the king said, Go to Anathoth, to your own fields; for you are worthy of death; but I will not at this time put you to death because you bore the ark of the LORD before David my father and because you have been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted.

27 So Solomon expelled Abiathar from being priest to the LORD; that the word of the LORD might be fulfilled which he spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

28 Now when the news reached Joab that Adonijah had been slain (for Joab had been leaning toward Adonijah and he was not leaning toward Solomon), Joab fled to the tabernacle of the LORD and took refuge on the horns of the altar.

29 And it was told King Solomon that Joab had fled to the tabernacle of the LORD and had taken refuge on the horns of the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go and attack him.

30 And Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the LORD and said to him, Thus says the king. Come forth. But he said, No, I will not go out; but I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.

31 And the king said to him, Do to him as he has said, and attack him and kill him, that you may take away the innocent blood, which Joab shed, from me and from the house of my father.

32 And the LORD shall return his blood upon his own head, because he attacked two men more righteous and better than he and slew them with the sword, my father David not knowing of it; namely, Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel; and Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah.

33 Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab and upon the head of his descendants for ever; but to David and to his descendants and to his house and to his throne shall there be peace for ever from the LORD.

34 So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and attacked him and slew him; and he was buried in his own sepulchre in the wilderness.

35 Then King Solomon appointed Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his stead over the army; and Zadok the priest the king appointed in the place of Abiathar.

36 And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go forth from there hither and thither.

37 For on the day that you go out and cross the brook Kidron, you shall know for certain that you shall surely die; your blood shall be upon your own head.

38 And Shimei said to the king, The saying is good; as my lord the king has said, so will your servant do. So Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.

39 And it came to pass at the end of three years that two of the servants of Shimei ran away to Achish the son of Maachah king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, Behold, your servants are in Gath.

40 And Shimei arose and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants; and Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath.

41 And it was told King Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned.

42 And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, Did I not make you to swear by the LORD, and witnessed against you, saying, Know for certain, on the day that you go out of Jerusalem and cross the brook Kidron, you shall surely die? And you said to me, The saying is good, so will I do.

43 Why then have you not kept the oath of the LORD and the commandment that I have charged you with?

44 The king said moreover to Shimei, You know all the evil of which your heart is conscious that you did to David my father; therefore the LORD shall return your wickedness upon your own head;

45 And King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD for ever.

46 So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out and attacked him so that he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.