1 Kings 2:25-46

25Then King Solomon 1sent the order by Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he 2struck him so that he died.

26Then to Abiathar the priest the king said, “3Go to Anathoth to your own field, 4for you 5deserve to die; but I will not put you to death at this 6time, because 7you carried the ark of the Lord 8God before my father David, and because 9you were afflicted in everything with which my father was afflicted.” 27So Solomon dismissed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, to fulfill 10the word of the Lord, which He had spoken regarding the house of Eli in Shiloh.

28Now the news came to Joab 11because Joab had followed Adonijah, 12though he had not followed Absalom. So Joab fled to the tent of the Lord and 13took hold of the horns of the altar. 29And it was reported to King Solomon that Joab had fled to the tent of the Lord, and 14was beside the altar. Then Solomon 15sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “16Go, 17execute him.” 30So Benaiah came to the tent of the Lord and said to him, “This is what the king has said: ‘Come out.’” But he said, “No, for I will die here.” So Benaiah brought back word to the king, saying, “This is what Joab spoke, and so he answered me.” 31And the king said to him, “18Do just as he has spoken, and 19execute him and bury him, 20so that you may remove from me and from my father’s house the blood which Joab shed without 21justification. 3222The Lord will return his blood on his own head, 23because he 24struck two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword, while my father David did not know about it: 25Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and 26Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. 3327So their blood shall return on the head of Joab and on the head of his 28descendants forever; but for David and his 29descendants, and his house and his throne, may there be peace from the Lord forever.” 34Then 30Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and 31struck him and put him to death, and he was buried at his own house 32in the wilderness. 35And 33the king appointed Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in his place, and the king appointed 34Zadok the priest 35in place of Abiathar.

36Now the king sent men and summoned 36Shimei, and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, and do not leave there for any other place. 37For on the day you leave and 37cross the 38brook Kidron, you will know for certain that you will assuredly die; 39your blood will be 40on your own head.” 38Shimei then said to the king, “The word is good. Just as my lord the king has spoken, so your servant shall do.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for many days.

39But it came about at the end of three years, that two of Shimei’s servants ran away 41to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. And others told Shimei, saying, “Behold, your servants are in Gath.” 40Then Shimei got up and saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish, to search for his servants. And Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath. 41And it was reported to Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had returned. 42So the king sent men and summoned Shimei, and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord, and solemnly warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you depart and go anywhere, you shall assuredly die’? And you said to me, ‘The word I have heard is good.’ 43Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord, and the command which I 42imposed on you?” 44The king also said to Shimei, “43You yourself know all the evil that 44you acknowledge in your heart, which you did to my father David; therefore 45the Lord will return your evil on your own head. 45But King Solomon will be blessed, and 46the throne of David will be established before the Lord forever.” 4647So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and 48struck him so that he died.

49And the kingdom was established in the hands of Solomon.