And king David is old, entering into days, and they cover him with garments, and he hath no heat,

and his servants say to him, 'Let them seek for my lord the king a young woman, a virgin, and she hath stood before the king, and is to him a companion, and hath lain in thy bosom, and my lord the king hath heat.'

and the young woman is very very fair, and she is to the king a companion, and serveth him, and the king hath not known her.

And Adonijah son of Haggith is lifting himself up, saying, 'I do reign;' and he prepareth for himself a chariot and horsemen, and fifty men running before him,

and his father hath not grieved him all his days, saying, 'Wherefore thus hast thou done?' and he also is of a very good form, and his mother bare him after Absalom.

And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by Enrogel, and called all his brethren the king's sons, and all the men of Judah the king's servants:

And Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith is king, and David our lord does not know it?

Now let me give you some advice as to how you can save your life and your son Solomon's life.

Come, go to King David and say to him, 'Have you not, my lord the king, sworn to your servant, "Surely Solomon your son shall become king after me. And he will sit on my throne"? But why is Adonijah king?'

And while you are still talking there with the king, see, I will come in after you and say that your story is true.

And Bath-Sheba cometh in unto the king, to the inner chamber, and the king is very aged, and Abishag the Shunammite is serving the king:

And Bath-sheba went down on her face on the earth before the king giving him honour. And he said, What is your desire?

She replied, “My lord, you swore to your servant by the Lord your God, ‘Your son Solomon is to become king after me, and he is the one who is to sit on my throne.’

And now behold, Adonijah is king; and now, my lord the king, thou knowest it not.

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

Otherwise it will come about when my lord the king lies down [in death] with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be considered political enemies.”

And lo, she is yet speaking with the king, and Nathan the prophet hath come in;

The king was told, “Here is Nathan the prophet.” And when he came before the king, he bowed before the king with his face to the ground.

“My lord the king,” Nathan said, “did you say, ‘Adonijah is to become king after me, and he is the one who is to sit on my throne’?

For he is gone down this day, and hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the king's sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah.

Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not shewed it unto thy servant, who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?

And the king sware, and said, As the LORD liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress,

Even as I sware unto thee by the LORD God of Israel, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead; even so will I certainly do this day.

"King David," Bathsheba said as she bowed low in front of the king with her face to the ground, "your majesty, may you live forever."

And the king will say to them, Take with you the servants of your lord and cause Solomon my son to ride upon the mule which is to me, and bring down to Gihon:

Let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there as king over Israel. Blow on the trumpet and say, 'Long live King Solomon!'

You are to come up after him, and he is to come in and sit on my throne. He is the one who is to become king in my place; he is the one I have commanded to be ruler over Israel and Judah.”

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

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

He is yet speaking, and lo, Jonathan son of Abiathar the priest hath come in, and Adonijah saith, 'Come in, for a man of valour thou art, and thou bearest good tidings.'

"No," Jonathan answered. "Our lord King David has installed Solomon as king.

The king has sent Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Jehoiada's son Benaiah, the special forces and mercenaries, along with Solomon, who is riding the king's personal mule.

And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon: and they are come up from thence rejoicing, so that the city rang again. This is the noise that ye have heard.

And also Solomon is sitting on the throne of the kingdom.

and also thus hath the king said, Blessed is Jehovah, God of Israel, who hath given to-day one sitting on my throne, and mine eyes seeing.'

And Adonijah feared Solomon, and he got up and went [to the tabernacle on Mt. Zion] and took hold of the horns of the altar [seeking asylum].

And it is declared to Solomon, saying, 'Lo, Adonijah feareth king Solomon, and lo, he hath laid hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear to me as to-day -- he doth not put to death his servant by the sword.'

And Solomon saith, 'If he becometh a virtuous man -- there doth not fall of his hair to the earth, and if evil is found in him -- then he hath died.'

As the time approached for David to die, he instructed his son Solomon,

“As for me, I am going the way of all of the earth. Be strong and be courageous like 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 law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself:

so that Jehovah doth establish His word which He spake unto me, saying, If thy sons observe their way to walk before Me in truth, with all their heart, and with all their soul; saying, There is not cut off a man of thine from the throne of Israel.

And also, thou hast known that which he did to me -- Joab son of Zeruiah -- that which he did to two heads of the hosts of Israel, to Abner son of Ner, and to Amasa son of Jether -- that he slayeth them, and maketh the blood of war in peace, and putteth the blood of war in his girdle, that is on his loins, and in his sandals that are on his feet;

So act consistently with your wisdom, and don't let him die as a peaceful old man.

And, behold, there is with thee 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 sware to him by Jehovah, saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword.

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.

And David lieth down with his fathers, and is buried in the city of David,

And Solomon hath sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom is established greatly,

and Adonijah son of Haggith cometh in unto Bath-Sheba, mother of Solomon, and she saith, 'Is thy coming peace?' and he saith, 'Peace.'

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.

And she said unto him, "Tell what it is."

And he said, Speak, I pray thee, to Solomon the king for he will not refuse thee that he give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife.

and told him, "I would like to make a minor request of you. Please don't refuse me." "What is your request, mother?" the king asked her. "I won't turn you down."

And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother as wife.

And king Solomon answered and said unto his mother, And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also; for he is mine elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.

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, Adonijah shall be put to death this day.

So Solomon fired Abiathar as the LORD's priest, thus fulfilling the promise that the LORD had spoken in Shiloh concerning Eli's household.

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 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him.

So Benaiah went to the tabernacle and said to Joab, “This is what the king says: ‘Come out!’”

But Joab said, “No, for I will die here.”

So Benaiah took a message back to the king, “This is what Joab said, and this is how he answered me.”

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.

yea, turned back hath their blood on the head of Joab, and on the head of his seed to the age; and for David, and for his seed, and for his house, and for his throne, there is peace unto the age, from Jehovah.'

And Benaiah son of Jehoiada goeth up and falleth upon him, and putteth him to death, and he is buried in his own house in the wilderness,

and it hath been, in the day of thy going out, and thou hast passed over the brook Kidron, thou dost certainly know that thou dost surely die -- thy blood is on thy head.'

And Shimei 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.

And Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants: and Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath.

And it is declared to Solomon that Shimei hath gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and doth return,

And the king sent and called for Shimei, 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.

The king said moreover to Shimei, 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;

and king Solomon is blessed, and the throne of David is established before Jehovah unto the age.'

And the king chargeth Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he goeth out and falleth on him, and he dieth, and the kingdom is established in the hand of Solomon.

Solomon became the son-in-law of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter as his wife, keeping her in the town of David, till the house he was building for himself, and the house of the Lord and the wall round Jerusalem, were complete.

But [in the meantime] the people were still sacrificing [to God] on the high places (hilltops) [as the pagans did to their idols], for there was no [permanent] house yet built for the Name of the Lord.

And Solomon loveth Jehovah, to walk in the statutes of David his father -- only, in high places he is sacrificing and making perfume --

and the king goeth to Gibeon, to sacrifice there, for it is the great high place; a thousand burnt-offerings cause to ascend doth Solomon on that altar.

And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.

"You have demonstrated abundant gracious love to your servant David, my father, as he lived in your presence truthfully, righteously, and uprightly in his heart. In addition, you have kept on showing this abundant gracious love by giving him a son to sit on his throne today. Now, LORD my God, you have set me as king to replace my father David, but I'm still young. I don't have any leadership skills.

And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.

Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?

And the thing is good in the eyes of the Lord, that Solomon hath asked this thing,

God said to him, “Because you have asked this and have not asked for yourself a long life nor for wealth, nor for the lives of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to recognize justice,

Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.

And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.

And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.

and she riseth in the middle of the night, and taketh my son from beside me -- and thy handmaid is asleep -- and layeth it in her bosom, and her dead son she hath laid in my bosom;

And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king.

Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.

Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.

Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.

And all Israel hear of the judgment that the king hath judged, and fear because of the king, for they have seen that the wisdom of God is in his heart, to do judgment.

And king Solomon is king over all Israel,

and these are the heads whom he hath: Azariah son of Zadok is the priest;

Elihoreph and Ahiah sons of Shisha are scribes; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud is remembrancer;

and Benaiah son of Jehoiada is over the host; and Zadok and Abiathar are priests;

and Azariah son of Nathan is over the officers; and Zabud son of Nathan is minister, friend of the king;

And Ahishar is over the household, and Adoniram son of Abda is over the tribute.

And Solomon hath twelve officers over all Israel, and they have sustained the king and his household -- a month in the year is on each one for sustenance;

Whose names are these: The son of Hur in mount Ephraim;

Ben-Hesed is in Aruboth, hath Sochoh and all the land of Hepher;

Ben-abinadab, in all the hills of Dor (Taphath, Solomon’s daughter, was his wife);

Baana the son of Ahilud; to him pertained Taanach and Megiddo, and all Bethshean, which is by Zartanah beneath Jezreel, from Bethshean to Abelmeholah, even unto the place that is beyond Jokneam: