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Reading: 1Kings
2; Psalm 45:6-7; Proverbs 12:18
Now the days of David drew near that he should die, and he
charged Solomon his son, saying: "I go the way of all the
earth; be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man. And
keep the charge of the LORD your God: to walk in His ways, to
keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His
testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may
prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn; that the LORD
may fulfill His word which 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, 'you
shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.' "Moreover
you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what
he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner
the son of Ner and Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed. And
he shed the blood of war in peacetime, and put the blood of war
on his belt that was around his waist, and on his sandals that
were on his feet. Therefore do according to your wisdom, and do
not let his gray hair go down to the grave in peace. "But
show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite and let
them be among those who eat at your table, for so they came to
me when I fled from Absalom your brother.
"And see, you have with you Shimei the son of Gera, a
Benjamite from Bahurim, who cursed mewith a malicious 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 the LORD, saying, 'I
will not put you to death with the sword.' Now therefore, do not
hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man and know what you
ought to do to him; but bring his gray hair down to the grave
with blood."
So David rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of
David. The period that David reigned over Israel was forty
years; seven years he reigned in Hebron, and in Jerusalem he
reigned thirty-three years. Then Solomon sat on the throne
of his father David; and his kingdom was firmly established.
Now Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of
Solomon. So she said, "Do you come peaceably?" And he
said, "Peaceably."
Moreover he said, "I have something to say to
you." And she said, "Say it." Then he
said, "You know that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel
had set their expectations on me, that I should reign.
However, the kingdom has been turned over, and has become my
brother's; for it was his from the LORD. Now I ask one petition
of you; do not deny me." And she said to him, "Say
it."
Then he said, "Please speak to King Solomon, for he will
not refuse you, that he may give me Abishag the Shunammite as
wife."
So Bathsheba said, "Very well, I will speak for you to the
king." Bathsheba therefore went to King Solomon, to speak
to him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her and
bowed down to her, and sat down on his throne and had a throne
set for the king's mother; so she sat at his right hand. Then
she said, "I desire one small petition of you; do not
refuse me."
And the king said to her, "Ask it, my mother, for I will
not refuse you." So she said, "Let Abishag the
Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as wife."
And King Solomon answered and said to his mother, "Now 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 the son of Zeruiah."
Then King Solomon swore by the LORD, saying, "May God do so
to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word
against his own life! Now therefore, as the LORD lives,
who has confirmed me and set me on the throne of David my
father, and who has established a house for me, as He promised,
Adonijah shall be put to death today!"
So King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada
and he struck him down, and he died.
And to Abiathar the priest the king said, "Go to Anathoth,
to your own fields, for you are deserving of death; but I will
not put you to death at this time, because you carried the ark
of the Lord GOD before my father David, and because you were
afflicted every time my father was afflicted." So
Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest to the LORD, that he
might fulfill the word of the LORD which He spoke concerning the
house of Eli at Shiloh.
Then news came to Joab for Joab had defected to Adonijah though
he had not defected to Absalom. So Joab fled to the tabernacle
of the LORD, and took hold of the horns of the altar. And King
Solomon was told, "Joab has fled to the tabernacle of the
LORD; there he is, by the altar." Then Solomon sent Benaiah
the son of Jehoiada, saying, "Go, strike him down." So
Benaiah went to the tabernacle of the LORD, and said to him,
"Thus says the king, 'Come out!'"
And he said, "No, but I will die here." And Benaiah
brought back word to the king, saying, "Thus said Joab, and
thus he answered me." Then the king said to him,
"Do as he has said, and strike him down and bury him, that
you may take away from me and from the house of my father the
innocent blood which Joab shed. So the LORD will return
his blood on his head, because he struck down two men more
righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword -
Abner the son of Ner, the commander of the army of Israel, and
Amasa the son of Jether, the commander of the army of
Judah-though my father David did not know it. Their blood
shall therefore return upon the head of Joab and upon the head
of his descendants forever. But upon David and his descendants,
upon his house and his throne, there shall be peace forever from
the LORD."
So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and struck and killed
him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.
The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the
army, and the king put Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar.
Then the king sent and called for Shimei and said to him
"Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there and do
not go out from there anywhere. For it shall be, on the day you
go out and cross the Brook Kidron, know for certain you shall
surely die; your blood shall be on your own head."
And Shimei said to the king, "The saying is good. As
my lord the king has said, so your servant will do."
So Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days. Now it happened at
the end of three years, that two slaves of Shimei ran away to
Achish the son of Maachah king of Gath. And they told Shimei,
saying, "Look, your slaves are in Gath!" So Shimei
arose, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to seek
his slaves. And Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath.
And Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath
and had come back.
Then the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him,
"Did I not make you swear by the LORD, and warn you,
saying, 'Know for certain that on the day you go out and travel
anywhere, you shall surely die'? And you said to me, 'The word I
have heard is good.' Why then have you not kept the oath of the
LORD and the commandment that I gave you?" The king said
moreover to Shimei," You know, as your heart acknowledges
all the wickedness that you did to my father David; therefore
the LORD will return your wickedness on your own head. But King
Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be
established before the LORD forever."
So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went
out and struck him down, and he died. Thus the kingdom was
established in the hand of Solomon.
WORSHIP:
Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of
righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You love
righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has
anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.
(Psalm 45:6-7)
WISDOM:
There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, But the
tongue of the wise promotes health. (Prov.12:18)
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