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1 Kings 2

Darby Translation · 46 verses

1And the days of David were at hand that he should die; and he enjoined Solomon his son saying, 2I go the way of all the earth: be of good courage therefore, and be a man; 3and keep the charge of Jehovah thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his ordinances, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest and whithersoever thou turnest thyself; 4that Jehovah may confirm his word which he spoke concerning me, saying, If thy sons take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee, said he, a man upon the throne of Israel. 5And thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and upon his sandals that were on his feet. 6And thou shalt do according to thy wisdom, and not let his hoar head go down to Sheol in peace. 7But shew kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at thy table; for so they came up to me when I fled because of Absalom thy brother. 8And behold, there is with thee Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse in the day that I went to Mahanaim; but he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by Jehovah saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword. 9And now hold him not guiltless; for thou art a wise man, and thou shalt know what thou oughtest to do to him; but bring his hoar head down to Sheol with blood. 10And David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. 11And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: he reigned seven years in Hebron, and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 12And Solomon sat on the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly. 13And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, Comest thou peaceably? And he said, Peaceably. 14And he said, I have something to say to thee. And she said, Speak. 15And he said, Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel had set their faces on me that I should reign; but the kingdom is turned about and is become my brother's, for it was his from Jehovah. 16And now I ask one petition of thee; refuse me not. And she said to him, Speak. 17And he said, Speak, I pray thee, to Solomon the king — for he will not refuse thee — that he give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife. 18And Bathsheba said, Well, I will speak for thee to the king. 19And Bathsheba went to king Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself to her, and sat down on his throne; and he caused a throne to be set for the king's mother, and she sat on his right hand. 20Then she said, I desire one small petition of thee; refuse me not. And the king said to her, Ask, my mother, for I will not refuse thee. 21And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother as wife. 22And king Solomon answered and said to his mother, And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also; for he is mine elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah. 23And king Solomon swore by Jehovah saying, God do so to me, and more also, — Adonijah has spoken this word against his own life! 24And now [as] Jehovah liveth, who has established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death this day. 25And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; who fell on him, that he died. 26And the king said to Abiathar the priest, Go to Anathoth, to thine own fields; for thou art worthy of death; but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou didst bear the ark of Adonai Jehovah before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted. 27And Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest to Jehovah, to fulfil the word of Jehovah, which he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh. 28And the report came to Joab (for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he had not turned after Absalom); and Joab fled to the tent of Jehovah, and caught hold of the horns of the altar. 29And it was told king Solomon that Joab had fled to the tent of Jehovah; and behold, he is by the altar. And Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall on him. 30And Benaiah came to the tent of Jehovah and said to him, Thus saith the king: Come forth. And he said, No; for I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me. 31And the king said to him, Do as he has said, and fall upon him, and bury him; and take away the innocent blood, which Joab shed, from me and from the house of my father. 32And Jehovah shall requite the blood which he shed upon his own head, because he fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, without my father David's knowledge: Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah. 33And their blood shall be requited upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever; but upon David, and upon his seed, and upon his house, and upon his throne, shall there be peace for ever from Jehovah. 34And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and fell upon him, and put him to death; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. 35And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his stead over the host; and Zadok the priest the king put in the stead of Abiathar. 36And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, Build thee a house in Jerusalem, and abide there, and go not forth thence anywhere. 37And it shall be that on the day thou goest forth, and passest over the torrent of Kidron,...know for certain that thou shalt surely die: thy blood shall be upon thine own head. 38And Shimei said to the king, The saying is good: as my lord the king has said, so will thy servant do. And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days. 39And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two servants of Shimei's ran away to Achish son of Maachah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei saying, Behold, thy servants are in Gath. 40Then Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath, to Achish, to seek his servants; and Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath. 41And it was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had come again. 42And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, Did I not make thee swear by Jehovah, and protest to thee, saying, Know for certain, that on the day thou goest forth, and walkest abroad anywhere, thou shalt surely die? and thou saidst to me, The word that I have heard is good. 43Why then hast thou not kept the oath of Jehovah, and the commandment that I charged thee with? 44And the king said to Shimei, Thou knowest all the wickedness of which thy heart is conscious, which thou didst to David my father; and Jehovah returns thy wickedness upon thine own head; 45and king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before Jehovah for ever. 46And the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; who went out and fell upon him, and he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.

Darby's Synopsis

Before David's death the iniquity and ambition of a son whom he "had not displeased at any time "led to the solemn proclamation of Solomon, to whom God had destined, and David promised, the throne. In this circumstance Joab, long restrained by prudence in David's lifetime, shews himself as he is. He makes himself necessary to Adonijah, as he had been to David. Abiathar, long under the sentence of God, takes the same course. Solomon, the elect of God, who held his rights from God, did not suit them.

Read Darby's Synopsis on 1 Kings 1–2

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Text: J. N. Darby, The Holy Scriptures: A New Translation from the Original Languages, public domain. Emphasized words are Darby's own. Provenance on the sources page.