David Instructs Solomon
(Psalm 37:1–40)

1And drew near the days of David to die, and he commanded Solomon his son, saying, 2“I am going the way of all the earth. And you shall be strong and you shall become a man. 3And you shall keep the charge of YHWH your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, and His ordinances, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do, and all wherever you turn in it, 4so that YHWH may fulfill His word that He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons take heed to their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul,’ He said, ‘Shall not be cut off to you a man on the throne of Israel.’

5And also you know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two commanders of the hosts of Israel, to Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether.† And he killed them and made the blood of war in peacetime, and he put the blood of war on his belt that was around his waist, and on his sandal that was on his feet.† 6And you shall do according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down in peace to Sheol.

7And to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite show loving devotion,† 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.

8And behold, with you is Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim. And he cursed me with a bitter curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim. And he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by YHWH, saying, ‘I will not put you to death by the sword.’ 9And now do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man, and you will know what you ought to do to him, and you shall bring down his gray hair in blood to Sheol.”

David’s Reign and Death
(1 Chronicles 29:26–30)

10And David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. 11And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years—in Hebron he reigned seven years and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years.

12And Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was established firmly.

The Execution of Adonijah

13And Adonijah son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, and she said, “Do you come In peace?”

And he said, “In peace.” 14And he said, “A word to me is to you.”

And she said, “Speak.”

15And he said, “You know that the kingdom was mine, and on me had set their faces all Israel that I should reign. And the kingdom has been turned over, and has become to my brother, for from YHWH it has come to him. 16And one request I ask of you; do not deny me.”

And she said to him, “Speak.”

17And he said, “Speak, please, to Solomon the King, for he will not refuse you, that he may give to me Abishag the Shunammitess for a wife.”

18And Bathsheba said, “Good; I will speak for you to the king.”

19And Bathsheba came in to King Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and he bowed low to her and sat down on his throne, and he set a throne for the mother of the king. And she sat at his right hand.

20And she said, “One small request I desire of you. Do not turn back my face.”

And the king said to her, “Ask it, my mother, for I will not turn back your face.”

21And she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammitess be given to Adonijah your brother as wife.”

22And King Solomon answered and said to his mother, “And why do you ask Abishag the Shunammitess for Adonijah? And also ask for him the kingdom—for he is older brother to me—even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab son of Zeruiah.”

23And King Solomon swore by YHWH, saying, “Thus may do to me God, and thus may He add, if against his own life Adonijah has not spoken this word. 24And now as YHWH lives, who has confirmed me and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has established for me a house as He promised, surely today Adonijah shall be put to death.”

25And King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he struck him down, and he died.

26And to Abiathar the priest said the king, “Go to Anathoth, to your own fields. For you are deserving of death, and at this time I will not put you to death, because you carried the ark of the Lord YHWH before the face of David my father, and because you were afflicted in all that my father was afflicted.” 27And Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest to YHWH, that he might fulfill the word of YHWH that He spoke concerning the house of Eli at Shiloh.

The Execution of Joab

28And the report came to Joab, for Joab had turned aside to Adonijah, and after Absalom he had not turned aside. And Joab fled to the tabernacle of YHWH and took hold of the horns of the altar.

29And it was declared to King Solomon that Joab had fled to the tabernacle of YHWH, and behold, he was by the altar.

And Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, fall upon him.”

30And Benaiah went to the tabernacle of YHWH and said to him, “Thus says the king: ‘Come out.’”

And he said, “No, but here I will die.”

And Benaiah brought back to the king word, saying, “Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.”

31And the king said to him, “Do as he has said and strike him down and bury him, that you may take away the innocent blood that Joab shed from me and from the house of my father. 32And YHWH will return his blood on his head, because he struck down two men more righteous and better than he, and he killed them with the sword—and my father David knew it not—Abner son of Ner, the commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa son of Jether, the commander of the army of Judah. 33And their blood shall return upon the head of Joab and upon the head of his seed forever. And upon David and his seed, and upon his house and his throne there shall be peace even to forever from YHWH.”

34And Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and struck him and killed him, and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. 35And the king put Benaiah son of Jehoiada in his place over the army, and Zadok the priest the king put in the place of Abiathar.

The Execution of Shimei

36And the king sent and called for Shimei, and he said to him, “Build for yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there where and where. 37For it will come to pass on the day you go out and pass over the Kidron Brook, that you will surely know that you will surely die; your blood will be on your own head.”

38And Shimei said to the king, “The saying is good. As my lord the king has said, so your servant will do.” And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.

39And it came to pass at the end of three years that two slaves of Shimei fled to Achish son of Maacah† king of Gath. And they declared to Shimei, saying, “Behold, your slaves are in Gath.”

40And Shimei arose and saddled his donkey and went to Gath to Achish to seek his slaves. And Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath.

41And it was told to Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had returned. 42And the king sent and called for Shimei and said to him, “Did not I make you swear by YHWH and give warning to you, saying, ‘On the day of your going out when you travel where and where, you will surely know that you will surely die’? and you said to me, ‘The word I have heard is good.’ 43And why have not you kept the oath of YHWH and the commandment that I commanded concerning you?”

44And the king said to Shimei, “You know all the evil that your heart has known, that you did to David my father; and YHWH will return your evil on your head. 45And King Solomon is blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the face of YHWH even to forever.”

46And the king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck down him, and he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.

Footnotes:

5 Jether is a variant of Ithra; also in verse 32; see 2 Samuel 17:25.
5 Hebrew; LXX He stained with innocent blood the belt around my waist and the sandals on my feet.
7 Forms of the Hebrew chesed are translated here and in most cases throughout the Scriptures as loving devotion; the range of meaning includes love, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, and mercy, as well as loyalty to a covenant.
39 Maacah is a variant of Maoch; see 1 Samuel 27:2.