1Ki 2:1-12 | NASB2020 | STEP | As David’s time to die drew near , he commanded his son Solomon , saying ,

1 Kings 2:1-12

David’s Command to Solomon

1 As David’s ^{▼▼Lit days
,} ^btime to die drew near, he commanded his son Solomon, saying, 2 “ ^cI am going the way of all the earth. So ^dbe strong, and ^{▼▼Lit become a man}prove yourself a man. 3 Do your duty to the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to ^{▼▼Or carefully perform}keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, ^gaccording to what is written in the Law of Moses, so that ^hyou may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn, 4 so that ⁱthe Lord may fulfill His ^{▼▼Lit word}promise which He spoke regarding me, saying, ‘ ^kIf your sons are careful about their way, ^lto walk before Me in ^{▼▼Or faithfulness}truth with all their heart and all their soul, ^{▼▼Lit there shall not be cut off to you a man from upon
,} ^oyou shall not be deprived of a man to occupy the throne of Israel.’

5 “Now you yourself also know what Joab the ^pson of Zeruiah did to me, what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to ^qAbner the son of Ner and to ^rAmasa the son of Jether, whom he killed; he also ^{▼▼Lit brought blood...on peace}shed the blood of war in peace. And he put the blood of war on his belt that was on his waist, and on his sandals that were on his feet. 6 ^tSo act as your wisdom dictates, and do not let his gray hair go down to ^{▼▼I.e., the netherworld}Sheol in peace. 7 However, ^vshow kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and ^wlet them be among those who eat at your table; ^xfor ^{▼▼Lit so they came near to me}they assisted me when I fled from Absalom your brother. 8 And behold, you have with you ^zShimei the son of Gera the Benjaminite, of Bahurim; now it was he who cursed me with a painful curse on the day I went to Mahanaim. But when ^aahe came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ 9 But now do not leave him unpunished, ^abfor you are a wise man; and you will know what to do to him, and you will bring his gray hair down to ^{▼▼I.e., the netherworld}Sheol with blood.”

Death of David

10 Then ^adDavid ^{▼▼I.e., died}lay down with his fathers, and he was buried in ^afthe city of David. 11 Now ^agthe days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: in Hebron he reigned for ^ahseven years, and in Jerusalem he reigned for thirty-three years. 12 Then ^aiSolomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was firmly established.