1 Kings 2:8-36

8And behold, you have with you 1Shimei the son of Gera the Benjaminite, of Bahurim; now it was he who cursed me with a painful curse on the day I went to Mahanaim. But when 2he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ 9But now do not leave him unpunished, 3for you are a wise man; and you will know what to do to him, and you will bring his gray hair down to 4Sheol with blood.”

10Then 5David 6lay down with his fathers, and he was buried in 7the city of David. 11Now 8the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: in Hebron he reigned for 9seven years, and in Jerusalem he reigned for thirty-three years. 12Then 10Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was firmly established.

13Now Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. So she said, “11Do you come peacefully?” And he said, “Peacefully.” 14Then he said, “I have something to say to you.” And she said, “Speak.” 15So he said, “You yourself know that 12the kingdom was mine and 13that all Israel 14intended for me to be king; 15however, the kingdom has turned around and become my brother’s, 16for it was his from the Lord. 16So now I am making one request of you; do not 17refuse me.” And she said to him, “Speak.” 17Then he said, “Please speak to Solomon the king--for he will not 18refuse you--that he may give me 19Abishag the Shunammite as a wife.” 18And Bathsheba said, “Very well; I will speak to the king for you.”

19So Bathsheba went to King Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king stood to meet her, bowed to her, and sat on his throne; then he 20had a throne set up for the king’s mother, and 21she sat on his right. 20Then she said, “I am making one small request of you; 22do not 23refuse me.” And the king said to her, “Ask, my mother, for I will not 24refuse you.” 21So she said, “25Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as a wife.” 22But King Solomon answered and said to his mother, “And why are you requesting Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? 26Request for him the kingdom as well--27since he is my older brother--for him, for 28Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah!” 23Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, “May God do so to me and more so, if Adonijah has 29not spoken this word against his own 30life! 24Now then, as the Lord lives, who has established me and set me on the throne of David my father, and 31has made me a house just as He 32promised, Adonijah certainly shall be put to death today!” 25Then King Solomon 33sent the order by Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he 34struck him so that he died.

26Then to Abiathar the priest the king said, “35Go to Anathoth to your own field, 36for you 37deserve to die; but I will not put you to death at this 38time, because 39you carried the ark of the Lord 40God before my father David, and because 41you were afflicted in everything with which my father was afflicted.” 27So Solomon dismissed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, to fulfill 42the word of the Lord, which He had spoken regarding the house of Eli in Shiloh.

28Now the news came to Joab 43because Joab had followed Adonijah, 44though he had not followed Absalom. So Joab fled to the tent of the Lord and 45took 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 46was beside the altar. Then Solomon 47sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “48Go, 49execute 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, “50Do just as he has spoken, and 51execute him and bury him, 52so that you may remove from me and from my father’s house the blood which Joab shed without 53justification. 3254The Lord will return his blood on his own head, 55because he 56struck two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword, while my father David did not know about it: 57Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and 58Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. 3359So their blood shall return on the head of Joab and on the head of his 60descendants forever; but for David and his 61descendants, and his house and his throne, may there be peace from the Lord forever.” 34Then 62Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and 63struck him and put him to death, and he was buried at his own house 64in the wilderness. 35And 65the king appointed Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in his place, and the king appointed 66Zadok the priest 67in place of Abiathar.

36Now the king sent men and summoned 68Shimei, and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, and do not leave there for any other place.