1 Kings 2

And the days of David drew near for him to die; and he charged Salomon his son, saying:

I am going the way of all the earth; and you shall be strong and shall become a man.

And you shall keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his commandments and the statutes and the judgments that are written in the law of Moses, that you may understand what you shall do according to all that I command you.

that the Lord may establish his word which he spoke, saying: If your sons keep their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul — saying, There shall not fail you a man upon the throne of Israel.

And you also know what Joab son of Sarouia did to me, what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abenner son of Ner and to Amessai son of Iether: he killed them, and set the blood of war in peace, and put innocent blood upon his belt that was about his loins and upon his sandal that was upon his foot.

And you shall act according to your wisdom, and you shall not bring his grey head down to Hades in peace.

And to the sons of Berzelli the Galaadite you shall show mercy, and they shall be among those who eat at your table; for so they drew near to me when I was fleeing from before Abessalom your brother.

And behold, with you is Semei son of Gera, son of the Jemeni, from Baourim; and he cursed me with a grievous curse on the day when I was going to the camps. And he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying: I will not put you to death with the sword.

But you shall by no means hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man and will know what you are to do to him; and you shall bring his grey head down to Hades in blood.

And David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David.

And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: in Chebron he reigned seven years, and in Jerusalem thirty-three years.

And Salomon sat upon the throne of David his father, being twelve years old; and his kingdom was very firmly established.

And Adonias son of Angith came in to Bersabee the mother of Salomon and did obeisance to her. And she said: Is your coming peaceable? And he said: Peaceable.

I have a word for you. And she said to him: Speak.

And he said to her: You know that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel set their face toward me to be king; but the kingdom was turned about and became my brother's, for it came to him from the Lord.

And now I ask one request of you; do not turn away your face. And Bersabee said to him: Speak.

And he said to her: Speak, I pray, to king Salomon — for he will not turn his face away from you — that he give me Abisak the Somanite as wife.

And Bersabee said: Very well; I will speak to the king concerning you.

And Bersabee went in to king Salomon to speak to him concerning Adonias. And the king rose up to meet her and kissed her, and sat down upon his throne; and a throne was set for the king's mother, and she sat at his right hand.

And she said to him: I ask one small request of you; do not turn away your face. And the king said to her: Ask, my mother, for I will not turn you away.

And she said: Let Abisak the Somanite be given to Adonias your brother as wife.

And king Salomon answered and said to his mother: And why do you ask Abisak for Adonias? Ask the kingdom for him as well! For he is my elder brother, greater than I; and Abiathar the priest is his, and Joab son of Sarouia the commander-in-chief is his companion.

And king Salomon swore by the Lord, saying: So may God do to me and more also, for Adonias has spoken this word against his own life.

And now, as the Lord lives, who established me and set me upon the throne of David my father, and who made me a house as the Lord spoke — today Adonias shall be put to death.

And king Salomon sent by the hand of Banaias son of Iodae, and he killed him; and Adonias died on that day.

And to Abiathar the priest the king said: Go off to Anathoth, to your own field; for you are a man deserving of death this day. But I will not put you to death, because you bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord before my father, and because you were afflicted in all things wherein my father was afflicted.

And Salomon cast out Abiathar from being priest of the Lord, that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled which he spoke against the house of Heli in Selom.

And the report came to Joab son of Sarouia — for Joab had turned after Adonias, and after Salomon he had not turned — and Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord and took hold of the horns of the altar.

And it was reported to Salomon, saying: Joab has fled to the tent of the Lord, and behold, he is holding fast to the horns of the altar. And Salomon sent to Joab, saying: What has happened to you, that you have fled to the altar? And Joab said: Because I was afraid of you, and I fled to the Lord. And king Salomon sent Banaias son of Iodae, saying: Go and kill him and bury him.

And Banaias son of Iodae came to Joab in the tent of the Lord and said to him: Thus says the king: Come out. And Joab said: I will not come out, for here I will die. And Banaias son of Iodae returned and spoke to the king, saying: Thus has Joab spoken, and thus has he answered me.

And the king said to him: Go and do to him as he has said, and kill him and bury him; and you shall take away this day the blood which Joab shed without cause, from me and from the house of my father.

And the Lord has returned the blood of his unrighteousness upon his own head, in that he fell upon two men more righteous and better than himself and killed them with the sword, and my father David did not know of their blood — Abenner son of Ner, commander-in-chief of Israel, and Amessa son of Iether, commander-in-chief of Judah.

And their blood has returned upon his head and upon the head of his seed for ever; but to David and to his seed and to his house and to his throne may there be peace for ever from the Lord.

And Banaias son of Iodae fell upon Joab and put him to death, and buried him in his own house in the wilderness.

And the king gave Banaias son of Iodae in his place over the army, and the kingdom was being established in Jerusalem; and Sadok the priest the king made chief priest in place of Abiathar. And the Lord gave Salomon understanding and very great wisdom, and breadth of heart like the sand that is by the sea. And the understanding of Salomon was multiplied exceedingly, beyond the understanding of all the sons of antiquity and beyond all the prudent men of Egypt. And he took the daughter of Pharao and brought her into the city of David, until he had finished his own house and, first of all, the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about; in seven years he made them and finished them. And Salomon had seventy thousand men bearing burdens and eighty thousand stonecutters in the mountain. And Salomon made the sea and the supports and the great lavers and the pillars and the fountain of the court and the bronze sea. And he built the citadel and its battlements, and he cut through the city of David; thus the daughter of Pharao went up out of the city of David to her house which he built for her — then he built the citadel. And Salomon offered up three times in the year whole burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar which he built to the Lord, and he burned incense before the Lord; and he finished the house. And these are the chiefs who were appointed over the works of Salomon: three thousand six hundred overseers of the people who did the works. And he built Assour and Magdo and Gazer and upper Baithoron and Baalath. Only after he had built the house of the Lord and the wall of Jerusalem round about, after these things he built these cities. And while David was still alive he charged Salomon, saying: Behold, with you is Semei son of Gera, son of the seed of the Jemini, from Chebron. This man cursed me with a grievous curse on the day when I was going to the camps. And he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying: He shall not be put to death with the sword. And now do not hold him guiltless, for you are a prudent man and will know what you are to do to him; and you shall bring his grey head down to Hades in blood.

And the king called Semei and said to him: Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and you shall not go out from there anywhere.

And it shall be, on the day of your going out, when you cross the brook Kedron, you shall surely know that you shall certainly die; your blood shall be upon your own head. And the king put him under oath on that day.

And Semei said to the king: The word which you have spoken is good, my lord the king; so will your servant do. And Semei dwelt in Jerusalem three years.

And it came to pass after three years that two of Semei's servants ran away to Anchous son of Maacha, king of Geth. And it was reported to Semei, saying: Behold, your servants are in Geth.

And Semei rose and saddled his donkey and went to Geth, to Anchous, to seek out his servants. And Semei went and brought his servants back from Geth.

And it was reported to Salomon, saying: Semei has gone from Jerusalem to Geth and has brought back his servants.

And the king sent and summoned Semei and said to him, "Did I not make you swear by the Lord and solemnly warn you, saying, 'On whatever day you go out from Jerusalem and travel to the right or to the left, know for certain that you shall surely die'?

Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord and the commandment that I commanded against you?"

And the king said to Semei, "You yourself know all your wickedness, which your heart knows, the things you did to David my father; and the Lord has repaid your wickedness on your own head.

But King Salomon is blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever."

And King Salomon gave command to Banaia son of Jodae, and he went out and struck him down, and he died. And King Salomon was exceedingly shrewd and wise. And Judah and Israel were very many, like the sand that is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and rejoicing. And Salomon was ruler over all the kingdoms, and they were bringing gifts and served Salomon all the days of his life. And Salomon began to open up the strongholds of Lebanon. And he himself built Thermai in the wilderness. And this was Salomon's provision: thirty kors of fine flour and sixty kors of pounded meal, ten choice calves and twenty pasture-fed oxen and a hundred sheep, besides deer and gazelles and choice pasture-fed fowl. For he was ruler over all the region beyond the River, from Raphi as far as Gaza, over all the kings beyond the River. And he had peace on every side round about him, and Judah and Israel dwelt securely, each one under his own vine and under his own fig tree, eating and drinking, from Dan even to Bersabee, all the days of Salomon. And these were Salomon's officials: Azarion son of Sadok the priest; and Orniou son of Nathan, chief of those in charge; and Edram over his household; and Souba the scribe; and Basa son of Achithalam the recorder; and Abi son of Joab commander-in-chief; and Achire son of Edrai over the levies; and Banaia son of Jodae over the court and over the brickworks; and Zachour son of Nathan the counselor. And Salomon had forty thousand brood mares for chariots and twelve thousand horsemen. And he was ruler over all the kings from the River even to the land of the Philistines and to the borders of Egypt. Salomon son of David reigned over Israel and Judah in Jerusalem.