1Ki 2 | EngLXX | STEP | And the days of David drew near that he should die: and he addressed his son Solomon, saying,I go the way of all the earth:

‏ 1 Kings 2

1 And the days of David drew near that he should die: and he addressed his son Solomon, saying,I go the way of all the earth: 2 but be you strong, and show yourself a man; 3 and keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, to keep the commandmentsand the ordinances and the judgments which are written in the law of Moses; that you may understand whatyou shall do in all things that I command you: 4 that the Lord may confirm his word which he spoke, saying, If your children shall takeheed to their way to walk before me in truth with all their heart,I promise you, saying, there shall not fail you a man on the throne of Israel. 5 Moreover you know all that Joab the son of Saruia did to me, what he did to the two captainsof the forces of Israel, to Abenner the son of Ner, and to Amessai the son of Jether, that he killed them,and shed the blood of war in peace, and put innocent blood on his girdle that was about his loins, andon his sandal that was on his foot. 6 Therefore you shall dealwith him according to your wisdom, and you shall not bring down his grey hairs in peace tothe grave. 7 But you shall deal kindly with the sons of Berzelli the Galaadite, and they shall be amongthose that eat at your table; for thus they drew near to me when I fled from the face of your brotherAbessalom. 8 And, behold,there is with you Semei the son of Gera, a Benjamite of Baurim: and he cursed me with a grievouscurse in the day when I went into the camp; and he came down to Jordan to meet me, and I swore to himby the Lord, saying, I will not put you to death with the sword. 9 But you shall by no means hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man, and will know whatyou shall do to him, and shall bring down his grey hairs with blood to the grave. 10 And David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. 11 And the days which David reigned over Israelwere forty years; he reigned seven years in Chebron, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 12 And Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was established greatly. 13 And Adonias the son of Aggith came in to Bersabee the mother of Solomon, and did obeisanceto her: and she said, Do you enter peaceably? and he said, Peaceably: 14 I have business with you. And she said to him, Say on. 15 And he said to her, You know that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel turned their facetoward me for a king; but the kingdom was turnedfrom me and became my brother's: for it wasappointed to him from the Lord. 16 And now I make one request of you, do not turn away your face. And Bersabee said to him,Speakon. 17 And he said to her, Speak, I pray you, to king Solomon, for he will not turn away hisface from you, and let him give me Abisag the Somanite for a wife. 18 And Bersabee said, Well; I will speak for you to the king. 19 And Bersabee went in to king Solomon to speak to him concerning Adonias; and the kingrose up to meet her, and kissed her, and sat on the throne, and a throne was set for the mother of theking, and she sat on his right hand. 20 And she said to him, I ask of you one little request; turn not away my face from you.And the king said to her, Ask, my mother, and I will not reject you. 21 And she said, Let, I pray you, Abisag the Somanite be given to Adonias your brother towife. 22 And king Solomon answered and said to his mother, And why have you asked Abisag for Adonias?ask for him the kingdom also; for heis my elder brother, and he has for his companion Abiathar the priest, and Joab the son ofSaruia the commander-in-chief. 23 And king Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, God do so to me, and more also,if it be not that Adonias has spoken this word against his own life. 24 And nowas the Lord lives who has established me, and set me on the throne of my father David, andhe has made me a house, as the Lord spoke, this day shall Adonias be put to death. 25 So king Solomon sent by the hand of Banaeas the son of Jodae, and he killed him, andAdonias died in that day. 26 And the king said to Abiathar the priest, Depart you quickly to Anathoth to your farm,for you are worthy of death this day; but I will not kill you, because you have borne the ark of the covenantof the Lord before my father, and because you was afflicted in all things wherein my father was afflicted. 27 And Solomon removed Abiathar from being a priest of the Lord, that the word of the Lordmight be fulfilled, which he spoke concerning the house of Heli in Selom. 28 And the report came to Joab son of Saruia; for Joab had turned after Adonias, and hewent not after Solomon: and Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and caught hold of the horns of thealtar. 29 And it was told Solomon, saying, Joab has fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and behold!he has hold of the horns of the altar. And king Solomon sent to Joab, saying, What ails you, that youhave fled to the altar? and Joab said, Because I was afraid of you, and fled for refuge to the Lord. AndSolomon sent Banaeas son of Jodae, saying, Go and kill him, and bury him. 30 And Banaeas son of Jodae came to Joab to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him,Thus says the king, Come forth. And Joab said, I will not come forth, for I will die here. And Banaeasson of Jodae returned and spoke to the king, saying, Thus has Joab spoken, and thus has he answered me. 31 And the king said to him, Go, and do to him as he has spoken, and kill him: and you shallbury him, and you shall remove this day the blood which he shed without cause, from me and from the houseof my father. 32 And the Lord has returned upon his own head the blood of his unrighteousness, inasmuchas he attacked two men more righteous and better than himself, and killed them with the sword, and myfather David knew not of their blood,even Abenner the son of Ner the commander-in-chief of Israel, and Amessa the son of Jetherthe commander-in-chief of Juda. 33 And their blood is returned upon his head, and upon the head of his seed for ever: butto David, and his seed, and his house, and his throne, may there be peace for ever from the Lord. 34 So Banaeas son of Jodae went up, and attacked him, and killed him, and buried him inhis house in the wilderness. 35 And the king appointed Banaeas son of Jodae in his place over the host; and the kingdomwas established in Jerusalem; andas for Sadoc the priest, the king appointed him to be high priest in the room of Abiathar.And Solomon son of David reigned over Israel and Juda in Jerusalem: and the Lord gave understanding toSolomon, and very much wisdom, and largeness of heart, as the sand by the sea-shore. And the wisdom ofSolomon abounded exceedingly beyond the wisdom of all the ancients, and beyond all the wise men of Egypt:and he took the daughter of Pharao, and brought her into the city of David, until he had finished buildinghis own house, and the house of the Lord first, and the wall of Jerusalem round about. In seven yearshe made and finishedthem. And Solomon had seventy thousand bearers of burdens, and eight thousand hewers of stonein the mountain: and Solomon made the sea, and the bases, and the great lavers, and the pillars, and thefountain of the court, and the brazen sea—and he built the citadel as a defence above it, he made a breachin the wall of the city of David: thus the daughter of Pharao went up out of the city of David to herhouse which he built for her. Then he built the citadel: and Solomon offered up three whole burnt offeringsin the year, and peace-offerings on the altar which he built to the Lord, and he burnt incense beforethe Lord, and finished the house. And these are the chief persons who presided over the works of Solomon;three thousand and six hundred masters of the people that wrought the works. And he burit Assur, and Magdo,and Gazer, and upper Baethoron, and Ballath: only after he had built the house of the Lord, and the wallof Jerusalem round about, afterwards he built these cities. And when David was yet living, he chargedSolomon, saying, Behold, there is with you Semei the son of Gera, of the seed of Benjamin out of Chebron:he cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went into the camp; and he came down to meet me atJordan, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying, He shall not be slain with the sword. But now do not youhold him guiltless, for you are a man of understanding, and you will know what you shall do to him, andyou shall bring down his grey hairs with blood to the grave. 36 And the king called Semei, and said to him, Build you a house in Jerusalem, and dwellthere, and you shall not go out thence any whither. 37 And it shall come to pass in the day that you shall go forth and cross over the brookKedron, know assuredly that you shall certainly die: your blood shall be upon your head. And the kingcaused him to swear in that day. 38 And Semei said to the king, Goodis the word that you have spoken, my lord O king: thus will your servant do. And Semei livedin Jerusalem three years. 39 And it came to pass after the three years, that two servants of Semei ran away to Anchusson of Maacha king of Geth: and it was told Semei, saying, Behold, your servantsare in Geth. 40 And Semei rose up, and saddled his ass, and went to Geth to Anchus to seek out his servants:and Semei went, and brought his servants out of Geth. 41 And it was told Solomon, saying, Semei is gone out of Jerusalem to Geth, and has broughtback his servants. 42 And the king sent and called Semei, and said to him, Did I not adjure you by the Lord,and testify to you, saying, In whatever day you shall go out of Jerusalem, and go to the right or left,know certainly that you shall assuredly die? 43 And why have you not kept the oath of the Lord, and the commandment which I commandedyou? 44 And the king said to Semei, You know all your mischief which your heart knows, whichyou did to David my father: and the Lord has recompensed your mischief on yourown head. 45 And king Solomonis blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord for ever. 46 And Solomon commanded Banaeas the son of Jodae, and he went forth and killed him. Andking Solomon was very prudent and wise: and Juda and Israelwere very many, as the sand which is by the sea for multitude, eating, and drinking, and rejoicing:and Solomon was chief in all the kingdoms, and they brought gifts, and served Solomon all the days ofhis life. And Solomon began to open the domains of Libanus, and he built Thermae in the wilderness. Andthis was the daily provision of Solomon, thirty measures of fine flour, and sixty measures of ground meal,ten choice calves, and twenty oxen from the pastures, and a hundred sheep, besides stags, and does, andchoice fed birds. For he ruled in all the country on this side the river, from Raphi to Gaza, over allthe kings on this side the river: and he was at peace on all sides round about; and Juda and Israel livedsafely, every one under his vine and under his fig tree, eating and drinand feasting, from Dan even toBersabee, all the days of Solomon. And thesewere the princes of Solomon; Azariu son of Sadoc the priest, and Orniu son of Nathan chiefof the officers, and he went to his house; and Suba the scribe, and Basa son of Achithalam recorder, andAbi son of Joab commander-in-chief, and Achire son of Edraiwas over the levies, and Banaeas son of Jodae over the household and over the brick work, andCachur the son of Nathanwas counsellor. And Solomon had forty thousand brood mares for his chariots, and twelve thousandhorses. And he reigned over all the kings from the river and to the land of the Philistines, and to theborders of Egypt: so Solomon the son of David reigned over Israel and Juda in Jerusalem.