1 Kings 2:23-46

23Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, “May God do so to me and more also, if Adonijah has 1not spoken this word against his own 2life. 24Now therefore, as the Lord lives, who has established me and set me on the throne of David my father and 3who has made me a house as He promised, surely Adonijah shall be put to death today.” 25So King Solomon 4sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him so that he died.

26Then to Abiathar the priest the king said, “5Go to Anathoth to your own field, 6for you 7deserve to die; but I will not put you to death at this time, because 8you carried the ark of the Lord 9God before my father David, and because 10you were afflicted in everything with which my father was afflicted.” 27So Solomon dismissed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, in order to fulfill 11the word of the Lord, which He had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

28Now the news came to Joab, 12for Joab had followed Adonijah, 13although he had not followed Absalom. And Joab fled to the tent of the Lord and 14took hold of the horns of the altar. 29It was told King Solomon that Joab had fled to the tent of the Lord, and behold, he is beside the altar. Then Solomon 15sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “16Go, fall upon him.” 30So Benaiah came to the tent of the Lord and said to him, “Thus the king has said, ‘Come out.’” But he said, “No, for I will die here.” And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, “Thus spoke Joab, and thus he answered me.” 31The king said to him, “17Do as he has spoken and fall upon him and bury him, 18that you may remove from me and from my father’s house the blood which Joab shed without cause. 3219The Lord will return his blood on his own head, 20because he fell upon two men more righteous and better than he and killed them with the sword, while my father David did not know it: 21Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and 22Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. 3323So shall their blood return on the head of Joab and on the head of his 24descendants forever; but to David and his 25descendants and his house and his throne, may there be peace from the Lord forever.” 34Then 26Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and fell upon him and put him to death, and he was buried at his own house 27in the wilderness. 3528The king appointed Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in his place, and the king appointed 29Zadok the priest 30in the place of Abiathar.

36Now the king sent and called for 31Shimei and said to him, “Build for yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, and do not go out from there to any place. 37For on the day you go out and 32cross over the 33brook Kidron, you will know for certain that you shall surely die; 34your blood shall be on your own head.” 38Shimei then said to the king, “The word is good. As my lord the king has said, so your servant will do.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.

39But it came about at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away 35to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, “Behold, your servants are in Gath.” 40Then Shimei arose and saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish to look for his servants. And Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath. 41It was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had returned. 42So the king sent and called for Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord and solemnly warn you, saying, ‘You will know for certain that on the day you depart and go anywhere, you shall surely die’? And you said to me, ‘The word which I have heard is good.’ 43Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord, and the command which I 36have laid on you?” 44The king also said to Shimei, “37You know all the evil which 38you acknowledge in your heart, which you did to my father David; therefore 39the Lord shall return your evil on your own head. 45But King Solomon shall be blessed, and 40the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever.” 4641So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and fell upon him so that he died.

42Thus the kingdom was established in the hands of Solomon.