1 Kings 2

Now the days of Dawud drew near that he should die; and he charged Sulayman his son, saying, ²I am going the way of all the earth: be strong therefore, and show yourself a man; ³and keep the charge of Allah your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his ordinances, and his testimonies, according to that which is written in the Taurat of Musa, that you may prosper in all that you do, and wherever you turn yourself. ⁴That Allah may establish his word which he spoke concerning me, saying, If your children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel. ⁵Moreover you know also what Joab Ibn Zeruiah did to me, even what he did to the two captains of the forces of Israel, to Abner Ibn Ner, and to Amasa Ibn Jether, whom he killed, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war on his belt that was about his waist, and on his shoes that were on his feet. ⁶Do therefore according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray head go down to the grave in peace. ⁷But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those who eat at your table; for so they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother. ⁸Behold, there is with you Shimei Ibn Gera, the Benjamite, of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim; but he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by Allah, saying, I will not put you to death with the sword. ⁹Now therefore 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 his gray head down to the grave with blood. ¹⁰Dawud slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of Dawud. ¹¹The days that Dawud reigned over Israel were forty years; seven years he reigned in Hebron, and thirty-three years he reigned in Jerusalem. ¹²Sulayman sat on the throne of Dawud his father; and his kingdom was firmly established. ¹³Then Adonijah Ibn Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Sulayman. She said, Do you come in peace? He said, In peace. ¹⁴He said moreover, I have something to tell you. She said, Speak. ¹⁵He said, You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign: however the kingdom has turned over to become my brother's; for it was his from Allah. ¹⁶Now I ask one petition of you; do not deny me. She said to him, Speak. ¹⁷He said, Please speak to Sulayman the king (for he will not tell you 'no'), that he give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife. ¹⁸Bathsheba said, Very well; I will speak for you to the king. ¹⁹Bathsheba therefore went to king Sulayman, to speak to him for Adonijah. The king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself to her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a throne to be set for the king's mother; and she sat on his right hand. ²⁰Then she said, I ask one small petition of you; do not deny me. The king said to her, Ask on, my mother; for I will not deny you. ²¹She said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as wife. ²²King Sulayman answered his mother, Why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also--for he is my older brother--for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab Ibn Zeruiah. ²³Then king Sulayman swore by Allah, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life. ²⁴Now therefore as Allah lives, who has established me, and set me on the throne of Dawud my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised, surely Adonijah shall be put to death this day. ²⁵King Sulayman sent by Benaiah Ibn Jehoiada; and he struck him down, so that he died. ²⁶To Abiathar the priest the king said, Go to Anathoth, to your own fields; for you are deserving of death: but I will not at this time put you to death, because you bear the ark of the Lord Allah before Dawud my father, and because you were afflicted in everything in which my father was afflicted. ²⁷So Sulayman thrust out Abiathar from being priest to Allah, that he might fulfill the word of Allah, which he spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh. ²⁸The news came to Joab; for Joab had supported Adonijah, though he had not supported Absalom. Joab fled to the Tent of Allah, and caught hold on the horns of the altar. ²⁹It was told king Sulayman, Joab has fled to the Tent of Allah, and, behold, he is by the altar. Then Sulayman sent Benaiah Ibn Jehoiada, saying, Go, strike him down. ³⁰Benaiah came to the Tent of Allah, and said to him, Thus says the king, Come forth. He said, No; but I will die here. Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me. ³¹The king said to him, Do as he has said, and strike him down, and bury him; that you may take away the blood, which Joab shed without cause, from me and from my father's house. ³²Allah will return his blood on his own head, because he struck down two men more righteous and better than he--Abner Ibn Ner, captain of the army of Israel, and Amasa Ibn Jether, captain of the army of Judah. He killed them with the sword, and my father Dawud didn't know it. ³³So shall their blood return on the head of Joab, and on the head of his seed forever: but to Dawud, and to his seed, and to his house, and to his throne, shall there be peace for ever from Allah. ³⁴Then Benaiah Ibn Jehoiada went up, and struck Joab down, and killed him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. ³⁵The king put Benaiah Ibn Jehoiada in Joab's position over the army; and the king put Zadok the priest in the position of Abiathar. ³⁶The king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, Build yourself a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and do not go forth from there any where. ³⁷For on the day you go out, and pass over the brook Kidron, know for certain that you shall surely die: your blood shall be on your own head. ³⁸Shimei said to the king, The saying is good: as my lord the king has said, so will your servant do. Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days. ³⁹It happened at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. They told Shimei, saying, Behold, your servants are in Gath. ⁴⁰Shimei arose, and saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish, to seek his servants; and Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath. ⁴¹It was told Sulayman that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and returned again. ⁴²The king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, Didn't I adjure you by Allah, and warn you, saying, Know for certain, that on the day you go out, and walk abroad any where, you shall surely die? You said to me, The saying that I have heard is good. ⁴³Why then have you not kept the oath of Allah, and the commandment that I have charged you with? ⁴⁴The king said moreover to Shimei, You know in your heart all the wickedness that you did to Dawud my father: therefore Allah shall return your wickedness on your own head. ⁴⁵But king Sulayman shall be blessed, and the throne of Dawud shall be established before Allah forever. ⁴⁶So the king commanded Benaiah Ibn Jehoiada; and he went out, and struck Shimei down, so that he died. The kingdom was established in the hand of Sulayman.