¹Now when King  ²David was old and advanced in  ³years, they covered him with clothing, but he could not get warm.

So his servants said to him, Let a young virgin be sought for my lord the king, and let her wait on the king and serve him; and let her lie in your bosom so that my lord the king may get warm.

Thus they sought for a beautiful young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and they found Abishag the Shunammite and brought her to the king.

And the young woman was very beautiful, and she served the king and ministered to him; but the king did not know her.

Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king. And he prepared a chariot and horsemen for himself and fifty men to run before him.

And his father had never displeased him by saying, Why have you done thus and thus? And he also was very handsome, and his mother bore him after Absalom.

And he conferred with  ¹Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest; and following Adonijah, they helped him.

But Zadok the priest and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and Nathan the prophet and Shimei and Rei and the mighty men who belonged to David were not with Adonijah.

And Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fatlings by the stone of Zoheleth, which is beside En-rogel; and he called all his brothers, the sons of the king, and all the men of Judah, the servants of the king.

But he did not call Nathan the prophet and Benaiah and the mighty men and Solomon his brother.

Then Nathan spoke to Bath-sheba, Solomon's mother, saying, Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith reigns and our lord David does not know it?

Now therefore come and let me give you counsel to save your life and the life of your son Solomon.

Go in at once to King David and say to him, Did you not, O my lord the king, swear to your female servant, saying, Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? Then why does Adonijah reign?

Just when you are there and still speaking with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words.

So Bath-sheba went in to the king in the chamber. And the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was ministering to the king.

And Bath-sheba bowed and paid homage to the king. And the king said, What do you wish?

And she said to him, My lord, you swore by Jehovah your God to your female servant, saying, Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne.

But now, at this moment Adonijah reigns, and  ¹you, my lord the king, know nothing of it.

And he has sacrificed oxen and fatlings and sheep abundantly and has called for all the king's sons and for Abiathar the priest and for Joab the captain of the army, but he has not called for Solomon your servant.

And you, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are upon you, that you would declare to them who will sit upon the throne of my lord the king after him.

Otherwise when my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, I and my son Solomon will be counted as offenders.

And just while she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in.

And they told the king, saying, Nathan the prophet is here. And he came in before the king and paid homage to the king with his face to the ground.

And Nathan said, O my lord the king, have you said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne?

For he has gone down today and sacrificed oxen and fatlings and sheep abundantly and has called for all the king's sons and for the captains of the army and for Abiathar the priest; and now they are eating and drinking before him, and they say, May King Adonijah live!

But he has not called for me, me your servant, and for Zadok the priest and for Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and for Solomon your servant.

Has this thing been done by my lord the king, and you have not made known to your servants who shall sit upon the throne of my lord the king after him?

Then King David answered and said, Call Bath-sheba to me. And she came in before the king and stood before the king.

And the king swore and said, As Jehovah lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity,

Indeed as I have sworn to you by Jehovah the God of Israel, saying, Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my place; so indeed will I do this day.

Then Bath-sheba bowed her face to the ground and paid homage to the king, and she said, May my lord King David live forever.

And King David said, Call Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada to me. And they came in before the king.

And the king said to them, Take the servants of your lord with you, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon.

And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there as king over Israel; and blow the trumpet and say, May King Solomon live!

Then come up after him; and he shall come and sit upon my throne, and he shall reign in my place; for I have appointed him as ruler over Israel and over Judah.

And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, Amen! May Jehovah, the God of my lord the king, so ordain!

As Jehovah has been with my lord the king, so may He be with Solomon; and may He make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.

So Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and caused Solomon to ride upon King David's mule, and they brought him to Gihon.

And Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the Tent of Jehovah and anointed Solomon; and they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, May King Solomon live!

And all the people went up after him; and the people were playing on pipes and rejoicing with great joy, and the land shook with the sound of them.

And Adonijah and all the invited guests with him heard it as they finished eating. And Joab heard the sound of the trumpet and said, Why is there the sound of the city in an uproar?

Just as he was still speaking, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came. And Adonijah said, Come in; for you are a worthy man and bring good news.

And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Alas! Our lord King David has made Solomon king!

And the king has sent with him Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and they have caused him to ride upon the king's mule.

And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him as king in Gihon; and they have gone up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the sound that you heard.

And Solomon is also sitting upon the throne of the kingdom.

Moreover the king's servants came to bless our lord King David, saying, May your God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and may He make his throne greater than your throne; and the king bowed himself upon his bed.

And thus also did the king say, Blessed be Jehovah the God of Israel, who has given me today one to sit on my throne while my eyes may see it.

And all the invited guests who were with Adonijah became frightened and rose up; and they went away, each on his own way.

And Adonijah was afraid because of Solomon; and he rose up and went away, and he took hold of the horns of the altar.

And it was told Solomon, saying, Now Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon; for he has just now taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not kill his servant with the sword.

And Solomon said, If he is a worthy man, not a hair of his will fall to the ground; but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.

So King Solomon sent men and had him brought down from the altar. And he came and paid homage to King Solomon. And Solomon said to him, Go to your house.

When  ¹David's time to die drew near, he commanded  ¹Solomon his son, saying,

I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong therefore and be a man;

And keep the commandment of Jehovah your God by walking in His ways, by keeping His statutes, His commandments, and His ordinances and His testimonies as they are written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn;

That Jehovah may establish His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, If your children take heed to their way by walking before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail — He said — to be a man upon the throne of Israel for you.

Furthermore you know what  ¹Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, by that which he did to the two captains of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew; and he shed the blood of war in peace and put the blood of war upon his girdle around his loins and upon his sandals that are on his feet.

Do therefore according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray-haired head go down into Sheol in peace.

And show mercy to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table; for so they drew near to me when I fled from Absalom your brother.

And now there is with you Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite of Bahurim, who cursed me with a terrible curse on the day I went to Mahanaim; but he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by Jehovah, saying, I shall not kill you with the sword.

Now therefore do not hold him guiltless; for you are a wise man, and you will know what to do to him. And you shall bring his gray-haired head down into Sheol with blood.

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

And the time that David reigned over Israel was forty years: in Hebron he reigned seven years, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years.

And Solomon sat upon the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established.

Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bath-sheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, Do you come peaceably? And he said, Peaceably.

Then he said, I have something to say to you. And she said, Speak.

And he said, You know that the kingdom was mine and that all Israel looked to me to reign; but the kingdom has turned and has become my brother's, for it was of Jehovah to be his.

Now therefore I ask one thing of you; do not refuse me. And she said to him, Speak.

And he said, Please tell Solomon the king — for he will not refuse you — to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.

And Bath-sheba said, Fine; I will speak to the king for you.

So Bath-sheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her and bowed himself before her; and he sat on his throne and had a throne set for the king's mother, and she sat at his right hand.

And she said, Let me ask one small thing of you; do not refuse me. And the king said to her, Ask, my mother, for I will not refuse you.

And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as his wife.

And King Solomon answered and said to his mother, And why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also, since he is my older brother, indeed for him and for Abiathar the priest and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.

Then King Solomon swore by Jehovah saying, God do so to me, and even more, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life.

Now therefore as Jehovah lives, who has established me and seated me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house as He has promised, surely Adonijah shall be put to death today.

So King Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he struck him down so that he died.

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 kill you at this time, for you bore the Ark of the Lord Jehovah before David my father and you suffered affliction in all that my father suffered.

So Solomon thrust Abiathar out from being a priest to Jehovah, fulfilling the word of Jehovah which He had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

And the report came to Joab, for Joab had followed after Adonijah, though he had not followed after Absalom. And Joab fled into the Tent of Jehovah, and he took hold of the horns of the altar.

And when it was told King Solomon that Joab had fled into the Tent of Jehovah and that he was just then beside the altar, Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go and strike him down.

And Benaiah came to the Tent of Jehovah and said to him, Thus says the king, Come out. And he said, No; rather I will die here. Then Benaiah brought word to the king again, saying, Thus has Joab said, and thus has he answered me.

And the king said to him, Do as he has spoken, and strike him down and bury him, that you may remove the blood which Joab has shed without cause from me and from my father's house.

And Jehovah will return his blood upon his head because he struck down two men more righteous and better than himself and slew them with the sword, though my father David did not know of it, that is, Abner the son of Ner, the captain of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, the captain of the army of Judah.

So their blood shall return upon Joab's head and upon his seed's head forever, but to David and to his seed and to his house and to his throne there shall be peace forever from Jehovah.

And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and struck him down and killed him, and he was buried at his own house in the wilderness.

And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army, and the king put Zadok the priest in Abiathar's place.

Then the king sent word and called for Shimei. And he said to him, Build yourself a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there; and you shall not go forth from there to any place whatever.

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

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

Then at the end of three years two of Shimei's servants ran off to Achish the son of Maacah, the king of Gath; and they told Shimei, saying, Your servants are now in Gath.

So Shimei rose up and saddled his donkey and went to Gath, unto Achish, to seek his servants. And Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath.

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

So the king sent word and called for Shimei; and he said to him, Did I not make you swear by Jehovah and solemnly warn you, saying, On the day that you go forth and travel to any place whatever, know for certain that you shall surely die? And you said to me, This word that I have heard is good.

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

And the king said to Shimei, You yourself know all the evil, which your heart is conscious of, that you did to David my father; and Jehovah will return your evil upon your own head.

But King Solomon will be blessed, and the throne of David will be established before Jehovah forever.

So the king gave commands to Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck him down so that he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.

And Solomon allied himself by marriage with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and he took  ¹Pharaoh's daughter and brought her to the city of David until he completed the building of his house and the house of Jehovah and the wall of Jerusalem all around.

The people however were sacrificing in the high places, for there had still not been built a house for the name of Jehovah up to those days.

And Solomon loved Jehovah, walking in the statutes of David his father; however he sacrificed and burned incense in the  ¹high places.

And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place; a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer on that altar.

In Gibeon Jehovah appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, Ask what I should give you.

And Solomon said, You have shown great lovingkindness to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth and righteousness and in uprightness of heart with You; and You have kept for him this great lovingkindness and have given him a son to sit upon his throne, as it is this day.

And now, O Jehovah my God, You have made Your servant king in the place of David my father, though I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.

And Your servant is in the midst of Your people, whom You have chosen, a vast people that cannot be numbered or counted for multitude.

Give therefore to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?

And this word seemed good in the sight of the  ¹Lord, that Solomon had asked for this matter.

And God said to him, Because you have asked for this matter and have not asked for long life for yourself and have not asked for riches for yourself and have not asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for discernment for yourself to understand justice;

I now do according to your words. I now give you a heart of wisdom and understanding, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor will one rise up after you like you.

And I also give you that for which you did not ask, both riches and glory, so that there will be no one among kings like you all your days.

And if you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and My commandments, as David your father walked, I will extend your days.

Then Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. And he went to Jerusalem and stood before the Ark of the Covenant of  ¹Jehovah, and he offered up burnt offerings and offered peace offerings and made a feast for all his servants.

At that time two harlots came to the king and stood before him.

And the one woman said, Oh, my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house, and I gave birth while she was in the house.

And on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house; only we two were in the house.

And this woman's son died during the night, because she lay on him.

So she rose up in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your female servant was sleeping and laid him in her bosom, and her dead son she laid in my bosom.

Then when I rose up in the morning to nurse my son, there he was, dead. But when I examined him in the morning, that was not my son whom I had given birth to.

And the other woman said, No! The live one is my son, and the dead one is your son. And the first said, No! The dead one is your son, and the live one is my son. And they went on arguing like this before the king.

Then the king said, This one says, This is my son, the live one, and the dead one is your son; and that one says, No! The dead one is your son, and the live one is my son.

And the king said, Get me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.

And the king said, Divide the live child between the two, and give half to one and half to the other.

And the woman whose son was the live one said to the king (for her compassions for her son burned within), Oh, my lord, give the live child to her, and do not by any means kill him! But the other said, He shall neither be mine nor yours; divide him.

And the king answered and said, Give her the live child, and do not by any means kill him; she is his mother.

And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had exercised, and they feared the king; for they saw that the wisdom of God was within him to execute justice.