June
28
1
Kings 1-3
1Ki
1:1 Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered
him with clothes, but he got no heat.
1Ki
1:2 Therefore his servants said to him, Let there be sought for my
lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and
cherish him; and let her lie in your bosom, that my lord the king may
keep warm.
1Ki
1:3 So they sought for a beautiful young lady throughout all the
borders of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her
to the king.
1Ki
1:4 The young lady was very beautiful; and she cherished the king,
and ministered to him; but the king didn't know her intimately.
1Ki
1:5 Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will
be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to
run before him.
1Ki
1:6 His father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why
have you done so? and he was also a very goodly man; and he was born
after Absalom.
1Ki
1:7 He conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the
priest: and they following Adonijah helped him.
1Ki
1:8 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.
1Ki
1:9 Adonijah killed sheep and cattle and fatlings by the stone of
Zoheleth, which is beside En Rogel; and he called all his brothers,
the king's sons, and all the men of Judah, the king's servants:
1Ki
1:10 but Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and
Solomon his brother, he didn't call.
1Ki
1:11 Then Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying,
Haven't you heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith reigns, and David
our lord doesn't know it?
1Ki
1:12 Now therefore come, please let me give you counsel, that you
may save your own life, and the life of your son Solomon.
1Ki
1:13 Go in to king David, and tell him, Didn't you, my lord, king,
swear to your handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon your son shall
reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne? why then does Adonijah
reign?
1Ki
1:14 Behold, while you yet talk there with the king, I also will
come in after you, and confirm your words.
1Ki
1:15 Bathsheba went in to the king into the chamber: and the king
was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite was ministering to the king.
1Ki
1:16 Bathsheba bowed, and did obeisance to the king. The king said,
What would you like?
1Ki
1:17 She said to him, My lord, you swore by Yahweh your God to your
handmaid, saying,
Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on
my throne.
1Ki
1:18 Now, behold, Adonijah reigns; and you, my lord the king, don't
know it:
1Ki
1:19 and he has slain cattle and fatlings and sheep in abundance,
and has called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and
Joab the captain of the army; but he hasn't called Solomon your
servant.
1Ki
1:20 You, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, that
you should tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king
after him.
1Ki
1:21 Otherwise it will happen, when my lord the king shall sleep
with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted
offenders.
1Ki
1:22 Behold, while she yet talked with the king, Nathan the prophet
came in.
1Ki
1:23 They told the king, saying, Behold, Nathan the prophet. When he
was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with
his face to the ground.
1Ki
1:24 Nathan said, My lord, king, have you said, Adonijah shall reign
after me, and he shall sit on my throne?
1Ki
1:25 For he is gone down this day, and has slain cattle and fatlings
and sheep in abundance, and has called all the king's sons, and the
captains of the army, and Abiathar the priest; and behold, they are
eating and drinking before him, and say, Long
live king Adonijah.
1Ki
1:26 But he hasn't called me, even me your servant, and Zadok the
priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon.
1Ki
1:27 Is this thing done by my lord the king, and you haven't shown
to your servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king
after him?
1Ki
1:28 Then king David answered, Call to me Bathsheba. She came into
the king's presence, and stood before the king.
1Ki
1:29 The king swore, and said, As Yahweh lives, who has redeemed my
soul out of all adversity,
1Ki
1:30 most certainly as I swore to you by Yahweh, the God of Israel,
saying, Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall
sit on my throne in my place; most certainly so will I do this day.
1Ki
1:31 Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did
obeisance to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live forever.
1Ki
1:32 King David said, Call to me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the
prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. They came before the king.
1Ki
1:33 The king said to them, Take with you the servants of your lord,
and cause Solomon my son to ride on my own mule, and bring him down
to Gihon:
1Ki
1:34 and let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him
there king over Israel; and blow the trumpet, and say, Long
live king Solomon.
1Ki
1:35 Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit on
my throne; for he shall be king in my place; and I have appointed him
to be prince over Israel and over Judah.
1Ki
1:36 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, Amen:
Yahweh, the God of my lord the king, say so too.
1Ki
1:37 As Yahweh has been with my lord the king, even so be he with
Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king
David.
1Ki
1:38 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 on king David's mule, and brought him to
Gihon.
1Ki
1:39 Zadok the priest took the horn of oil out of the Tent, and
anointed Solomon. They blew the trumpet; and all the people said,
Long live
king Solomon.
1Ki
1:40 All the people came up after him, and the people piped with
pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth shook with the
sound of them.
1Ki
1:41 Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they
had made an end of eating. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet,
he said, Why is this noise of the city being in an uproar?
1Ki
1:42 While he yet spoke, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the
priest came: and Adonijah said, Come in; for you are a worthy man,
and bring good news.
1Ki
1:43 Jonathan answered Adonijah, Most certainly our lord king David
has made Solomon king:
1Ki
1:44 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 on the king's mule;
1Ki
1:45 and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him
king in Gihon; and they are come up from there rejoicing, so that the
city rang again. This is the noise that you have heard.
1Ki
1:46 Also Solomon sits on the throne of the kingdom.
1Ki
1:47 Moreover the king's servants came to bless our lord king David,
saying, Your God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and
make his throne greater than your throne: and the king bowed himself
on the bed.
1Ki
1:48 Also thus said the king, Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel,
who has given one to sit on my throne this day, my eyes even seeing
it.
1Ki
1:49 All the guests of Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and went
every man his way.
1Ki
1:50 Adonijah feared because of Solomon; and he arose, and went, and
caught hold on the horns of the altar.
1Ki
1:51 It was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah fears king
Solomon; for, behold, he has laid hold on the horns of the altar,
saying, Let king Solomon swear to me first that he will not kill his
servant with the sword.
1Ki
1:52 Solomon said, If he shall show himself a worthy man, there
shall not a hair of him fall to the earth; but if wickedness be found
in him, he shall die.
1Ki
1:53 So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar.
He came and did obeisance to king Solomon; and Solomon said to him,
Go to your house.
1Ki
2:1 Now the days of David drew near that he should die; and he
commanded Solomon his son, saying,
1Ki
2:2 I am going the way of all the earth: you be strong therefore,
and show yourself a man;
1Ki
2:3 and keep the instruction of Yahweh 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 law of Moses, that you may prosper in
all that you do, and wherever you turn yourself.
1Ki
2:4 That Yahweh 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, there shall not
fail you, said he, a man on the throne of Israel.
1Ki
2:5 Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me,
even what 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 killed,
and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war on his
sash that was about his waist, and in his shoes that were on his
feet.
1Ki
2:6 Do therefore according to your wisdom, and don't let his gray
head go down to Sheol in peace.
1Ki
2:7 But 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.
1Ki
2:8 Behold, there is with you Shimei the son of 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 Yahweh, saying, I will not put you to death with the
sword.
1Ki
2:9 Now therefore don't 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 Sheol with blood.
1Ki
2:10 David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of
David.
1Ki
2:11 The days that David reigned over Israel were forty years; seven
years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty-three years reigned he in
Jerusalem.
1Ki
2:12 Solomon sat on the throne of David his father; and his kingdom
was established greatly.
1Ki
2:13 Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother
of Solomon. She said, Do you come peaceably? He said, Peaceably.
1Ki
2:14 He said moreover, I have something to tell you. She said, Say
on.
1Ki
2:15 He said, You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all
Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign: however the
kingdom is turned about, and is become my brother's; for it was his
from Yahweh.
1Ki
2:16 Now I ask one petition of you; don't deny me. She said to him,
Say on.
1Ki
2:17 He said, "Please speak to Solomon the king (for he will
not tell you 'no'), that he give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife."
1Ki
2:18 Bathsheba said, Well; I will speak for you to the king.
1Ki
2:19 Bathsheba therefore went to king Solomon, 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.
1Ki
2:20 Then she said, I ask one small petition of you; don't deny me.
The king said to her, Ask on, my mother; for I will not deny you.
1Ki
2:21 She said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your
brother as wife.
1Ki
2:22 King Solomon answered his mother, Why do you ask Abishag the
Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also; for he is my
elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for
Joab the son of Zeruiah.
1Ki
2:23 Then king Solomon swore by Yahweh, saying, God do so to me, and
more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life.
1Ki
2:24 Now therefore as Yahweh lives, who has established me, and set
me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, as
he promised, surely Adonijah shall be put to death this day.
1Ki
2:25 King Solomon sent by Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell
on him, so that he died.
1Ki
2:26 To Abiathar the priest said the king, Go to Anathoth, to your
own fields; for you are worthy of death: but I will not at this time
put you to death, because you bore the ark of the Lord Yahweh before
David my father, and because you were afflicted in all in which my
father was afflicted.
1Ki
2:27 So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest to Yahweh,
that he might fulfill the word of Yahweh, which he spoke concerning
the house of Eli in Shiloh.
1Ki
2:28 The news came to Joab; for Joab had turned after Adonijah,
though he didn't turn after Absalom. Joab fled to the Tent of Yahweh,
and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
1Ki
2:29 It was told king Solomon, Joab is fled to the Tent of Yahweh,
and behold, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of
Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall on him.
1Ki
2:30 Benaiah came to the Tent of Yahweh, 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.
1Ki
2:31 The king said to him, Do as he has said, and fall on him, and
bury him; that you may take away the blood, which Joab shed without
cause, from me and from my father's house.
1Ki
2:32 Yahweh will return his blood on his own head, because he fell
on two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with
the sword, and my father David didn't know it, to
wit, Abner the son of Ner, captain of
the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the army
of Judah.
1Ki
2:33 So shall their blood return on the head of Joab, and on the
head of his seed forever: but to David, and to his seed, and to his
house, and to his throne, shall there be peace for ever from Yahweh.
1Ki
2:34 Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell on him, and
killed him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.
1Ki
2:35 The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the
army; and Zadok the priest did the king put in the room of Abiathar.
1Ki
2:36 The king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, Build
yourself a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and don't go forth
from there any where.
1Ki
2:37 For 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.
1Ki
2:38 Shimei 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.
1Ki
2:39 It 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.
1Ki
2:40 Shimei arose, and saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to
Achish, to seek his servants; and Shimei went, and brought his
servants from Gath.
1Ki
2:41 It was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to
Gath, and was come again.
1Ki
2:42 The king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, Didn't I
adjure you by Yahweh, and protest to you, saying, Know for certain,
that on the day you go out, and walk abroad any where, you shall
surely die? and you said to me, The saying that I have heard is good.
1Ki
2:43 Why then have you not kept the oath of Yahweh, and the
commandment that I have instructed you with?
1Ki
2:44 The king said moreover to Shimei, You know all the wickedness
which your heart is privy to, that you did to David my father:
therefore Yahweh shall return your wickedness on your own head.
1Ki
2:45 But king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David
shall be established before Yahweh forever.
1Ki
2:46 So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went
out, and fell on him, so that he died. The kingdom was established in
the hand of Solomon.
1Ki
3:1 Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took
Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he
had made an end of building his own house, and the house of Yahweh,
and the wall of Jerusalem all around.
1Ki
3:2 Only the people sacrificed in the high places, because there was
no house built for the name of Yahweh until those days.
1Ki
3:3 Solomon loved Yahweh, walking in the statutes of David his
father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.
1Ki
3:4 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.
1Ki
3:5 In Gibeon Yahweh appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and
God said, Ask what I shall give you.
1Ki
3:6 Solomon said, You have shown to your servant David my father
great loving kindness, according as he walked before you in truth,
and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with you; and you
have kept for him this great loving kindness, that you have given him
a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.
1Ki
3:7 Now, Yahweh my God, you have made your servant king instead of
David my father: and I am but a little child; I don't know how to go
out or come in.
1Ki
3:8 Your servant is in the midst of your people which you have
chosen, a great people, that can't be numbered nor counted for
multitude.
1Ki
3:9 Give your servant therefore an understanding heart to judge your
people, that I may discern between good and evil; for who is able to
judge this your great people?
1Ki
3:10 The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
1Ki
3:11 God said to him, Because you have asked this thing, and have
not asked for yourself long life, neither have asked riches for
yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for
yourself understanding to discern justice;
1Ki
3:12 behold, I have done according to your word: behold, I have
given you a wise and an understanding heart; so that there has been
none like you before you, neither after you shall any arise like you.
1Ki
3:13 I have also given you that which you have not asked, both
riches and honor, so that there shall not be any among the kings like
you, all your days.
1Ki
3:14 If you will walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my
commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your
days.
1Ki
3:15 Solomon awoke; and behold, it was a dream: and he came to
Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and
offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a
feast to all his servants.
1Ki
3:16 Then there came two women who were prostitutes, to the king,
and stood before him.
1Ki
3:17 The one woman said, Oh, my lord, I and this woman dwell in one
house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.
1Ki
3:18 It happened the third day after I was delivered, that this
woman was delivered also; and we were together; there was no stranger
with us in the house, save we two in the house.
1Ki
3:19 This woman's child died in the night, because she lay on it.
1Ki
3:20 She arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while
your handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead
child in my bosom.
1Ki
3:21 When I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it
was dead; but when I had looked at it in the morning, behold, it was
not my son, whom I bore.
1Ki
3:22 The other woman said, No; but the living is my son, and the
dead is your son. This said, No; but the dead is your son, and the
living is my son. Thus they spoke before the king.
1Ki
3:23 Then said the king, The one says, This is my son who lives, and
your son is the dead: and the other says, No; but your son is the
dead, and my son is the living.
1Ki
3:24 The king said, Get me a sword. They brought a sword before the
king.
1Ki
3:25 The king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to
the one, and half to the other.
1Ki
3:26 Then spoke the woman whose the living child was to the king,
for her heart yearned over her son, and she said, Oh, my lord, give
her the living child, and in no way kill it. But the other said, It
shall be neither mine nor yours; divide it.
1Ki
3:27 Then the king answered, Give her the living child, and in no
way kill it: she is its mother.
1Ki
3:28 All Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and
they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him,
to do justice.
