said, 'Come in. A worthy man like you must be bringing good news.'
43 'Not at all!' Jonathan answered. 'Our lord King David has made Solomon king.
44 The king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites and the Pelethites, and they have put him on the king's mule,
45 and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon. From there they have gone up cheering, and the city resounds with it. That's the noise you hear.
46 Moreover, Solomon has taken his seat on the royal throne.
47 Also, the royal officials have come to congratulate our lord King David, saying, 'May your God make Solomon's name more famous than yours and his throne greater than yours!' And the king bowed in worship on his bed
48 and said, 'Praise be to the Lord , the God of Israel, who has allowed my eyes to see a successor on my throne today.' '
49 At this, all Adonijah's guests rose in alarm and dispersed.
50 But Adonijah, in fear of Solomon, went and took hold of the horns of the altar.
51 Then Solomon was told, 'Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon and is clinging to the horns of the altar. He says, 'Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.' '
52 Solomon replied, 'If he shows himself to be a worthy man, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground; but if evil is found in him, he will die.'
53 Then King Solomon sent men, and they brought him down from the altar. And Adonijah came and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon said, 'Go to your home.'
2 When the time drew near for David to die, he gave a charge to Solomon his son.
2 'I am about to go the way of all the earth,' he said. 'So be strong, show yourself a man,
3 and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go,
4 and that the Lord may keep his promise to me: 'If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.'
5 'Now you yourself know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me-what he did to the two commanders of Israel's armies, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He killed them, shedding their blood in peacetime as if in battle, and with that blood stained the belt around his waist and the sandals on his feet.
6 Deal with him according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to the grave in peace.
7 'But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai of Gilead and let them be among those who eat at your table. They stood by me when I fled from your brother Absalom.
8 'And remember, you have with you Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim, who called down bitter curses on me the day I went to Mahanaim. When he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord : 'I will not put you to death by the sword.'
9 But now, do not consider him innocent. You are a man of wisdom; you will know what to do to him. Bring his gray head down to the grave in blood.'
10 Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David.
11 He had reigned forty years over Israel-seven years in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem.
12 So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his rule was firmly established.
13 Now Adonijah, the son of Haggith, went to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. Bathsheba asked him, 'Do you come peacefully?' He answered, 'Yes, peacefully.'
14 Then he added, 'I have something to say to you.' 'You may say it,' she replied.
15 'As you know,' he said, 'the kingdom was mine. All Israel looked to me as their king. But things changed, and the kingdom has gone to my brother; for it has come to him from the Lord .
16 Now I have one request to make of you. Do not refuse me.' 'You may make it,' she said.
17 So he continued, 'Please ask King Solomon-he will not refuse you-to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.'
18 'Very well,' Bathsheba replied, 'I will speak to the king for you.'
19 When Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, the king stood up to meet her, bowed down to her and sat down on his throne. He had a throne brought for the king's mother, and she sat down at his right hand.
20 'I have one small request to make of you,' she said. 'Do not refuse me.' The king replied, 'Make it, my mother; I will not refuse you.'
21 So she said, 'Let Abishag the Shunammite be given in marriage to your brother
