So they sought for a beautiful young lady throughout all the borders of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king.

Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, "I will be king." So he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest. And they followed Adonijah and helped him.

But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men who belonged to David, were not with Adonijah.

And Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fatlings by the stone of Zoheleth, which is near En Rogel; and he called all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the men of Judah, the king's servants:

Then Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, "Haven't you heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith reigns, and David our lord doesn't know it?

Now therefore come, please let me give you advice, that you may save your own life, and the life of your son Solomon.

And he has sacrificed many oxen and fatlings and sheep, and has invited all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the commander of the army; but he hasn't invited Solomon your servant.

And as for you, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you to announce to them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.

For he has gone down today and has sacrificed oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king's sons, and the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest. Behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and say, 'Long live king Adonijah.'

But me, me your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon, he has not invited.

Has this thing been brought about by my lord the king, and you haven't told your servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?"

And the king vowed, saying, "As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity,

most certainly as I vowed to you by the LORD, the God of Israel, saying, 'Assuredly Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place;' so I certainly will do this day."

And King David said, "Summon to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada." They came before the king.

The king said to them, "Take with you the servants of your lord, and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon.

Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, "Amen. May the LORD, the God of my lord the king, say so.

As the LORD has been with my lord the king, even so may he be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king David."

So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, went down, and caused Solomon to ride on king David's mule, and brought him to Gihon.

Zadok the priest took the horn of oil out of the Tent, and anointed Solomon. They blew the trumpet; and all the people said, "Long live king Solomon."

Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, "Why is this noise of the city being in an uproar?"

While he yet spoke, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came: and Adonijah said, "Come in; for you are a worthy man, and bring good news."

The king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and they have caused him to ride on the king's mule.

Also, Solomon sits on the throne of the kingdom.

Moreover the king's servants came to bless our lord king David, saying, 'May your God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and make his throne greater than your throne;' and the king bowed himself on the bed.

Also thus said the king, 'Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who has given one to sit on my throne this day, my eyes even seeing it.'"

All the guests of Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and each man went his way.

Adonijah feared because of Solomon; and he arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.

It was told Solomon, saying, "Behold, Adonijah fears king Solomon; for, behold, he has laid hold on the horns of the altar, saying, 'Let king Solomon swear to me first that he will not kill his servant with the sword.'"

Solomon said, "If he shows himself a worthy man, not a hair of him shall fall to the earth; but if wickedness be found in him, he shall die."

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

"I am going the way of all the earth. You be strong therefore, and show yourself a man;

and keep the instruction of the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, according to that which is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do, and wherever you turn yourself.

That the LORD may establish his word which he spoke concerning me, saying, 'If your 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 you,' he said, 'a man on the throne of Israel.'

"Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, even what he did to the two captains of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war on his sash that was about his waist, and in his shoes that were on his feet.

But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those who eat at your table; for so they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother.

"Behold, there is with you Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous 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.'

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

Solomon sat on the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was firmly established.

Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. She said, "Do you come peaceably?" He said, "Peaceably.

Now I ask one petition of you. Do not deny me." She said to him, "Say on."

He said, "Please speak to Solomon the king (for he will not tell you 'no'), that he give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife."

Then she said, "I ask one small petition of you; do not deny me." The king said to her, "Ask on, my mother; for I will not deny you."

She said, "Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as wife."

King Solomon answered his mother, "Why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also; for he is my elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah."

Then king Solomon swore by the LORD, saying, "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 established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised, surely Adonijah shall be put to death this day."

King Solomon sent by Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell on him, so that he died.

To Abiathar the priest the king said, "Go to Anathoth, to your own fields; for you are worthy of death. But I will not at this time put you to death, because you bore the ark of the Lord GOD before David my father, and because you were afflicted in all in which my father was afflicted."

So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest to the LORD, that he might fulfill the word of the LORD, which he spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

The news came to Joab; for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he did not turn after Absalom. Joab fled to the Tent of the LORD, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.

It was told king Solomon, "Joab has fled to the Tent of the LORD, and behold, he is by the altar." Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, "Go, fall on him."

Benaiah came to the Tent of the LORD, and said to him, "Thus says the king, 'Come forth.'" He said, "No; but I will die here." Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, "Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me."

The LORD will return his blood on his own head, because he fell on two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword, and my father David did not know it: Abner the son of Ner, captain of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the army of Judah.

So shall their blood return on the head of Joab, and on the head of his seed forever. But to David, and to his seed, and to his house, and to his throne, there shall be peace forever from the LORD."

Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell on him, 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.

It happened at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. They told Shimei, saying, "Behold, your servants are in Gath."

Why then have you not kept the oath of the LORD, and the commandment that I have instructed you with?"

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 fell on him, so that he died. The kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.

Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the City of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the LORD, and the wall of Jerusalem all around.

Only the people sacrificed in the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the LORD until those days.

Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.

Solomon said, "You have shown to your servant David my father great loving kindness, according as he walked before you in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with you. You have kept for him this great loving kindness, that you have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.

Now, LORD my God, you have made your servant king instead of David my father. I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in.

Your servant is in the midst of your people which you have chosen, a great people, that can't be numbered nor counted for multitude.

God said to him, "Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked for yourself long life, neither have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice;

If you will walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days."

Solomon awoke; and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.

All Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do justice.

These were the officials whom he had: Azariah the son of Zadok, the priest;

Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder;

and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

and Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers; and Zabud the son of Nathan was chief minister, the king's friend;

and Ahishar was over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the men subject to forced labor.

These are their names: Ben Hur, in the hill country of Ephraim;

Ben Hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Socoh, and all the land of Hepher);

Ben Abinadab, in all the height of Dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as wife);

Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth Shean which is beside Zarethan, beneath Jezreel, from Beth Shean to Abel Meholah, as far as beyond Jokmeam;

Ben Geber, in Ramoth Gilead (to him belonged the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; to him belonged the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars);

Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;

Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon as wife);

Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth;

Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar;

Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin;

Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer who was in the land.

Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt: they brought tribute, and served Solomon all the days of his life.

Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and sixty measures of meal,

ten head of fat cattle, and twenty head of cattle out of the pastures, and one hundred sheep, besides harts, and gazelles, and roebucks, and fattened fowl.

Judah and Israel lived safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.

Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.

Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east, and all the wisdom of Egypt.

For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all the nations all around.

He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, and of birds, and of creeping things, and of fish.

There came of all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the place of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David.

"You know how that David my father could not build a house for the name of the LORD his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet.

Behold, I purpose to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spoke to David my father, saying, 'Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, he shall build the house for my name.'

Now therefore command that they cut me cedar trees out of Lebanon. My servants shall be with your servants; and I will give you wages for your servants according to all that you shall say. For you know that there is not among us any who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians."