1 When David {David: royal ancestor} was nearing the end of his days, he gave orders to Solomon his son {beno: direct descendant}, saying:
2 “I am going the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong {chazak: courageous, resolute} and become a man {ish: mature adult}.”
3 Guard the stewardship entrusted by the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheicha, Covenant Guide} and follow His ways, upholding His statutes {chukah: standing decrees}, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all your endeavors and in every direction you turn.
4 This is so that the LORD {YHWH, Faithful Promise-Keeper} may confirm the word {davar: spoken decree} He spoke about me: ‘If your sons watch their way, walking before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, then you will not lack a man on Israel’s throne.’
5 And you also know what Joab {Yoav: military leader} son of Zeruiah did to me—what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner son of Ner and to Amasa son of Jether—how he killed them, taking revenge in a time of peace for blood shed in war, and placed the blood of war on his belt {chagor: warrior’s sash} that was around his loins and on his sandals that were on his feet.
6 Do according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray head go down to Sheol {sheol: realm of the dead} in peace {shalom: wholeness}.
7 But to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite you shall show kindness {chesed: covenantal loyalty}, and let them be among those who eat at your table. For they drew near to me when I fled from Absalom your brother {akhikha: royal kinsman}.
8 And behold, with you is Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim; he cursed me with a severe curse {kelalah: pronouncement of misfortune} on the day I went to Mahanaim; and when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the LORD {YHWH, Promise Witness} saying, “I will not put you to death with the sword.”
9 And now, do not acquit him {tenakkehu: declare innocent}, for you are a wise man; you will know what you ought to do to him. Bring his gray hair down to Sheol in blood {seivato: symbol of old age}.
10 And David lay down {shakav: royal euphemism} with his fathers {avotav: ancestral burial}, and he was buried in the city of David.
11 And the days that David {David: Beloved King} reigned over Israel were forty years; in Hebron {Hebron: Initial Capital} he reigned seven years, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years.
12 And Solomon sat on the throne {kisse: royal seat} of David his father, and his kingdom was established {watikkon: set firm} exceedingly.
13 And Adonijah, the son of Haggith {Haggith: festival celebration}, came to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, and she said, “Is your coming {boekha: arrival} in peace?” And he said, “In peace.”
14 And he said, “I have a matter {davar: request or statement} for you.” And she said, “Speak {dabber: start speaking}.”
15 And he said, “You know that the kingdom {melukhah: royal authority} was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me to reign; but the kingdom has turned and has become my brother’s, for it was his from the LORD {YHWH, Throne Appointer}.”
16 And now I am asking you one request {she'elah: single petition}; do not refuse me {panay: withhold favor}. And she said to him, “Speak.”
17 And he said, “Please say to King Solomon {Shlomo: peaceful}, for he will not turn away your face {panayikh: your appeal}. Let him give me Avishag the Shunammite as a wife.”
18 And Bathsheba said, “Good {tov: ready assent}; I will speak to the king {ha-melekh: ruling sovereign} for you.”
19 Bathsheba came to King Solomon to speak to him about Adonijah{adoniyahu: David’s rebellious son}. The king rose to meet her, bowed to her, and sat on his throne{kisse: royal seat}. He placed a throne for the king’s mother, and she sat at his right hand.
20 She said, “I have one small request {she’elah: brief petition}; do not turn away my face.” The king said to her, “Ask, my mother, for I will not turn away your face {panayikh: personal favor}.”
21 And she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite {shunammith: Shunem native} be given to Adonijah your brother as a wife {ishah: marriage partner}.”
22 King Solomon {shelomoh: Wise Ruler} answered his mother: “Why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? You might as well ask for him the kingdom, for he is my elder brother, and on his side are Abiathar the priest {kohen: minister} and Joab son of Zeruiah.”
23 And King Solomon swore by the LORD {YHWH, Oath Keeper}, saying, “So may God {Elohim, Divine Judge} do this to me and add more, if Adonijah has not spoken this word {davar: legal pronouncement} against his own life {nefesh: personal being}.”
24 And now, as the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Upholder} lives, who has established me and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has made for me a house {bayit: enduring dynasty} as He spoke, indeed, today Adonijah shall be put to death.
25 And King Solomon sent by the hand {yad: delegated authority} of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he struck {paga: judicial action} him, and he died.
26 And to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to Anathoth, to your fields {sadeh: land allotment}, for you are a man deserving of death; but on this day I will not put you to death, because you carried the ark of the Lord GOD {Adonai YHWH, Covenant Lord} before my father David, and because you suffered in all that my father suffered.”
27 So Solomon drove out Abiathar from serving as priest to the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Upholder} in order to fulfill the word {devar: prophetic decree} that He had spoken concerning the house of Eli at Shiloh.
28 And the report came to Joab, for Joab had inclined after Adonijah, though after Absalom he did not incline. And Joab fled to the tent of the LORD {YHWH, Holy Dwelling}, and he grasped the horns of the altar {mizbeach: place of sacrifice}.
29 And it was told to King Solomon that Joab had fled to the tent of the LORD {YHWH, Holy Refuge-Giver}, and behold, he was beside the altar {mizbeach: asylum altar}. Then Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, strike him.”
30 So Benaiah came to the tent {ohel: sacred tabernacle of meeting} of the LORD {YHWH, Sanctuary Dweller} and said to him, “Thus says the king: ‘Come out.’” But he answered, “No, for here I will die.” Benaiah returned to the king with the report, “Thus spoke Joab and thus he replied to me.”
31 And the king said to him, “Do as he has spoken. Strike him {pəge‘: lethal blow}, and bury him, and you shall remove the innocent blood {dmei khinam: unjustly spilled life} that Joab has shed from upon me and from upon the house of my father.”
32 And the LORD {YHWH, Bloodguilt Judge} will bring back his blood upon his head {rosho: personal liability}, because he struck two men—more righteous and better than he—and killed them with the sword, though my father David did not know it: Abner son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa son of Yeter, commander of the army of Judah.
33 And their blood will return upon the head of Joab and upon the head of his descendants {zera': continuing lineage} forever, but on David and on his descendants, on his house and on his throne, there will be peace forever from the LORD {YHWH, Judicial Avenger}.
34 So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and struck {paga‘: decisive blow} him and killed him, and he was buried in his house in the wilderness {midbar: arid region}.
35 The king {melekh: sovereign ruler} appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada in his place over the army, and he set Zadok the priest {kohen: sacred officiant} in place of Abiathar.
36 And the king{hamelekh: royal authority} sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, “Build for yourself a house in Jerusalem{Yerushalayim: sacred city} and dwell there, and you shall not go out from there, here or there.”
37 And it shall be on the day that you go out and cross over the Kidron Valley{nachal: ravine east of Jerusalem}, you will know for certain that you shall die; your blood{dam: life forfeited as penalty} will be upon your head.
38 And Shimei said to the king, “The word {davar: spoken decree} is good; as my lord the king has spoken, so will your servant do.” And Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days {yamim rabbim: extended period}.
39 And it happened at the end of three years {shanim: measured periods} that two of Shimei’s {shim‘i: he hears} servants fled to Achish son of Maakah, king of Gath, and they told Shimei, saying, “Behold, your servants are in Gath.”
40 And Shimei arose and saddled his donkey, went to Gath {Gath: Philistine city} to Achish {Akish: Gath’s ruler} to seek his servants, and returned from Gath with them.
41 And it was reported to Solomon {Shlomo: king of Israel} that Shimei had gone out from Jerusalem {Yerushalayim: city of peace} to Gath, and he had returned.
42 Then the king sent for Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Witness} and warned you {va’a‘id: solemn admonition}, saying, ‘On the day you go out and walk here or there, you shall surely know that you will die’?” And you replied, “The word is good; I have heard.”
43 And why did you not keep the oath of the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Witness} and the commandment {mitsvah: binding instruction} which I commanded you?
44 And the king said to Shimei, “You have known all the evil that your heart {levav: inner self} knew and that you did to David my father. And the LORD {YHWH, Justice Giver} has repaid your evil upon your own head.”
45 And King Solomon will be blessed, and the throne of David will be established before the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Upholder} forever {olam: perpetual duration}.
46 Then the king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck him down, and he died; and the kingdom {mamlakah: Realm of Authority} was established in the hand of Solomon {Shelomoh: Peaceful Ruler}.