Holy Bible
(King James Version)
First
Kings: Chapter 2
1. NOW the days of David drew
nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,
2. I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew
thyself a man;
3. And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep
his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his
testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest
prosper in all that thou doest, and withersoever thou turnest thyself:
4. That the LORD may continue his word which he spake concerning me,
saying, If thy 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
thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel.
5. Moreover thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zer-u-i-ah did to me,
and what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, unto Abner
the son of Ner, and unto A-ma-sa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and
shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle
that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet.
6. Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoar head go
down to the grave in peace.
7. But shew kindness unto the sons of Bar-zil-la-i the Gil-e-ad-ite, and
let them be of those that eat at thy table: for so they came to me when
I fled because of Ab-sa-lom thy brother.
8. And, behold, thou hast with thee Shim-e-i the son of Gera, a
Benjamite of Ba-hu-rim, which cursed me with a grievous curse in the day
when I went to Ma-ha-na-im: but he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I
sware to him by the LORD, saying, I will not put thee to death with the
sword.
9. Now therefore hold him not guiltless: for thou art a wise man, and
knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him; but his hoar head bring thou
down to the grave with blood.
10. So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of
David.
11. And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven
years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in
Jerusalem.
12. Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father; and his
kingdom was established greatly.
13. And Ad-o-ni-jah the son of Haggith came to Bath-sheba the mother of
Solomon. And she said, Comest thou peaceably? And he said,
Peaceably.
14. He said moreover, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And she
said, Say on.
15. And he said, Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and that all
Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign: howbeit the kingdom
is turned about, and is become my brother's: for it was his from the
LORD.
16. And now I ask one petition of thee, deny me not. And she said
unto him, Say on.
17. And he said, Speak, I pray thee, unto Solomon the king, (for he will
not say thee nay,) that he give me Ab-i-shag the Shu-nam-mite to wife.
18. And Bath-sheba said, Well; I will speak for thee unto the king.
19. Bath-sheba therefore went unto king Solomon, to speak unto him for
Ad-o-ni-jah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself
unto her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a seat to be set for
the king's mother; and she sat on his right hand.
20. Then she said, I desire one small petition of thee; I pray thee, say
me not nay. And the king said unto her, Ask on, my mother: for I
will not say thee nay.
21. And she said, Let Ab-i-shag the Shu-nam-mite be given to Ad-o-ni-jah
thy brother to wife.
22. And king Solomon answered and said unto his mother, And why dost
thou ask Ab-i-shag the Shu-nam-mite for Ad-o-ni-jah? ask for him the
kingdom also; for he is mine elder brother; even for him, and for
A-bi-a-thar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zer-u-i-ah.
23. Then king Solomon sware by the LORD, saying, God do so to me, and
more also, if Ad-o-ni-jah have not spoken this word against his own
life.
24. Now therefore, as the LORD liveth, which hath established me, and
set me on the throne of David my father, and who hath made me an house,
as he promised, Ad-o-ni-jah shall be put to death this day.
25. And king Solomon sent by the hand of Be-nai-ah the son of
Je-hoi-a-da; and he fell upon him that he died.
26. And unto A-bi-a-thar the priest said the king, Get thee to Anathoth,
unto thine own fields; for thou art worthy of death: but I will not at
this time put thee to death, because thou barest the ark of the
LORD God before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in
all wherein my father was afflicted.
27. So Solomon trust out A-bi-a-thar from being priest unto the LORD;
that he might fulfil the word of the LORD, which he spake concerning the
house of Eli in Shiloh.
28. Then tidings came to Joab: for Joab had turned after Ad-o-ni-jah,
though he turned not after Ab-sa-lom. And Joab fled unto the
tabernacle of the LORD, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
29. And it was told king Solomon that Joab was fled unto the tabernacle
of the LORD; and, behold, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent
Be-nai-ah the son of Je-hoi-a-da, saying, Go, fall upon him.
30. And Be-nai-ah came to the tabernacle of the LORD, and said unto him,
Thus saith the king, Come forth. And he said, Nay; but I will die
here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said
Joab, and thus he answered me.
31. And the king said unto him, Do as he hath said, and fall upon him,
and bury him; that thou mayest take away the innocent blood, which Joab
shed, from me, and from the house of my father.
32. And the LORD shall return his blood upon his own head, who fell upon
two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword,
my father David not knowing thereof, to wit, Abner the son of Ner,
captain of the host of Israel, and A-ma-sa the son of Jether, captain of
the host of Judah.
33. Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab, and upon
the head of his seed for ever: but upon David, and upon his seed, and
upon his house, and upon his throne, shall there be peace; for ever from
the LORD.
34. So Be-nai-ah the son of Je-hoi-a-da went up, and fell upon him, and
slew him: and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.
35. And the king put Be-nai-ah the son of Je-hoi-a-da in his room over
the host: and Zadok the priest did the king put in the room of A-bi-a-thar.
36. And the king sent and called for Shim-e-i, and said unto him, Build
thee an house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and go not forth thence any
whither.
37. For it shall be, that on the day thou goest out, and passest over
the brook Kidron, thou shalt know for certain that thou shalt surely
die: thy blood shall be upon thine own head.
38. And Shim-e-i said unto the king, The saying is good: as my lord the
king hath said, so will thy servant do. And Shimei dwelt in
Jerusalem many days.
39. And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of the
servants, of Shim-e-i ran away unto A-chish son of Ma-a-chah king of
Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, Behold, thy servants be in
Gath.
40. And Shim-e-i arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to A-chish
to seek his servants: and Shimei went, and brought his servants from
Gath.
41. And it was told Solomon that Shim-e-i had gone from Jerusalem to
Gath, and was come again.
42. And the king sent and called for Shim-e-i, and said unto him, Did I
not make thee to swear by the LORD and protested unto thee, saying, Know
for a certain, on the day thou goest out, and walkest abroad any whither, that thou shalt surely die? and thou saidst unto me, The word that I
have heard is good.
43. Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the LORD, and the
commandment that I have charged thee with?
44. The king said moreover to Shim-e-i, Thou knowest all the wickedness
which thine heart is privy to, that thou didst to David my father:
therefore the LORD shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head;
45. And king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be
established before the LORD for ever.
46. So the king commanded Be-nai-ah the son of Je-hoi-a-da; which went
out, and fell upon him, that he died. And the kingdom was
established in the hand of Solomon.
Apr. 27 Daily reading
schedule.. No NT reading today.
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Art by: Penny Parker. Visit her site HERE
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