I Kings 2 · מלכים א

Now the days of David drew near that he should die; and he charged Shelomo his son, saying,

I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and show thyself a man;

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 Tora of Moshe, that thou mayst prosper in all that thou doest, and wherever thou turnest thyself:

that the Lord may continue his word which he spoke 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 Yisra᾽el.

Moreover thou knowst also what Yo᾽av the son of Żeruya did to me, and what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Yisra᾽el, to Avner the son of Ner, and to ῾Amasa the son of Yeter, 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.

Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down to She᾽ol in peace.

But show loyal love to the sons of Barzillay the Gil῾adite, and let them be of those that eat at thy table: for they came to me when I fled from Avshalom thy brother.

And, behold, thou hast with thee Shim῾i the son of Gera, a Binyeminite of Baĥurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse on the day when I went to Maĥanayim: but he came down to meet me at the Yarden, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword.

Now therefore hold him not guiltless: for thou art a wise man, and knowst what thou oughtest to do to him; but his hoar head bring thou down to She᾽ol with blood.

So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.

And the days that David reigned over Yisra᾽el were forty years: seven years he reigned in Ḥevron, and thirty three years he reigned in Yerushalayim.

Then Shelomo sat upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was firmly established.

And Adoniyyahu the son of Ḥaggit came to Bat-sheva the mother of Shelomo. And she said, Comest thou peaceably? And he said, Peaceably.

He said moreover, I have something to say to thee. And she said, Say on.

And he said, Thou knowst that the kingdom was mine, and that all Yisra᾽el set their faces on me, that I should reign: but the kingdom is turned about, and is become my brother’s: for it was his from the Lord.

And now I ask one petition of thee, deny me not. And she said to him, Say on.

And he said, Speak, I pray thee, to Shelomo the king, (for he will not refuse thee,) that he give me Avishag the Shunammite to wife.

And Bat-sheva said, Well; I will speak for thee to the king.

Bat-sheva therefore went to king Shelomo, to speak to him for Adoniyyahu. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself down to 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.

Then she said, I desire one small petition of thee; do not deny me. And the king said to her, Ask on, my mother: for I will not deny thee.

And she said, Let Avishag the Shunammite be given to Adoniyyahu thy brother to wife.

And king Shelomo answered and said to his mother, And why dost thou ask Avishag the Shunammite for Adoniyyahu? ask for him the kingdom also; for he is my elder brother; even for him, and for Evyatar the priest, and for Yo᾽av the son of Żeruya.

Then king Shelomo swore by the Lord, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if Adoniyyahu have not spoken this word against his own life.

Now therefore, as the Lord lives, who has established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised, Adoniyyahu shall be put to death this day.

And king Shelomo sent by the hand of Benayahu the son of Yehoyada; and he fell upon him that he died.

And to Evyatar the priest the king said, Get thee to ῾Anatot, to thy own fields; for thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou didst bear the ark of the Lord God before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all my father’s afflictions.

So Shelomo thrust out Evyatar from being priest to the Lord; that he might fulfill the word of the Lord, which he spoke concerning the house of ῾Eli in Shilo.

Then tidings came to Yo᾽av; for Yo᾽av had inclined after Adoniyyahu, though he had not inclined after Avshalom. And Yo᾽av fled to the tent of the Lord, and caught hold of the horns of the altar.

And it was told king Shelomo, that Yo᾽av was fled to the tent of the Lord; and, behold, he was by the altar. Then Shelomo sent Benayahu the son of Yehoyada, saying, Go, fall upon him.

And Benayahu came to the tent of the Lord, and said to him, Thus says the king, Come out. And he said, No; but I will die here. And Benayahu brought the king word back, saying, Thus said Yo᾽av, and thus he answered me.

And the king said to him, Do as he has said, and fall upon him, and bury him; that thou mayst take away the innocent blood, which Yo᾽av shed, from me, and from the house of my father.

And the Lord shall return his blood upon his own head, for he fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, my father David not knowing of it, namely, Avner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Yisra᾽el, and ῾Amasa the son of Yeter, captain of the host of Yehuda.

Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Yo᾽av, 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.

So Benayahu the son of Yehoyada went up, and fell upon him, and slew him: and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.

And the king put Benayahu the son of Yehoyada in place of him over the host: and Żadoq the priest did the king put in place of Evyatar.

And the king sent and called for Shim῾i, and said to him, Build thee a house in Yerushalayim, and dwell there, and do not go from there anywhere.

For it shall be, that on the day thou goest out, and passest over the wadi of Qidron, thou shalt know for certain that thou shalt surely die: thy blood shall be upon thy own head.

And Shim῾i said to the king, The saying is good: as my lord the king has said, so will thy servant do. And Shim῾i dwelt in Yerushalayim many days.

And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shim῾i ran away to Akhish son of Ma῾akha king of Gat. And they told Shim῾i, saying, Behold, thy servants are in Gat.

And Shim῾i arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gat to Akhish to seek his servants: and Shim῾i went, and brought his servants from Gat.

And it was told Shelomo that Shim῾i had gone from Yerushalayim to Gat, and was returned.

And the king sent and called for Shim῾i, and said to him, Did I not make thee to swear by the Lord, and did I not forewarn thee, saying, Know for certain, on the day thou goest out, and walkest abroad anywhere, that thou shalt surely die? and thou didst say to me, The word that I have heard is good.

Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the Lord, and the commandment that I have charged thee with?

And the king said to Shim῾i, Thou knowst all the wickedness which thy heart is privy to, that thou didst to David my father: therefore the Lord shall return thy wickedness upon thy own head;

and king Shelomo shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord for ever.

So the king commanded Benayahu the son of Yehoyada; who went out, and fell upon him, that he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Shelomo.