It is God that avengeth me, and that bringeth down the people under me,

And that bringeth me forth from my enemies: thou also hast lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.

The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.

is like the light of morning when the sun comes up, a morning in which there are no clouds. He is like the brightness after rain that produces grass from the earth.

When, not so, was my house with GOD, Then, a covenant age-abiding, he appointed me, Ordered in all things and guarded, Now that it is all my salvation and all my desire, Will he not make it shoot forth?

But ungodly men are like thorns that are discarded because they cannot be safely handled.

But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place.

These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lifted up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.

And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there assembled to battle, and the men of Israel had gone away:

He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand adhered to the sword: and the LORD wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to plunder.

Next in command was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines assembled at Lehi, where there happened to be an area of a field that was full of lentils, the army retreated before the Philistines.

But he made a stand in the middle of that area. He defended it and defeated the Philistines; the Lord gave them a great victory.

Now at that time, David [was] in the stronghold, and a garrison of [the] Philistines [was] in Bethlehem at that [same] time

And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Beth-lehem, which is by the gate!

And the three mighty men broke through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink of it, but poured it out to the LORD.

And he said, Be it far from me, O LORD, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.

And. Abishai brother of Joab son of Zeruiah, he, was chief of three, in that he brandished his spear against three hundred whom he slew; and, he, had a name among three.

Among the thirty, is it not that he [was] honored and became a commander for them? But he did not come up to the three

And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, son of a valiant man, great in exploits, of Kabzeel: he it was that smote two lions of Moab; and he went down and smote a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day.

And he made an attack on an Egyptian, a tall man: and the Egyptian had a spear in his hand; but he went down to him with a stick, and pulling the spear out of the hands of the Egyptian, put him to death with that same spear

And again was the anger of Yahweh kindled against Israel, - so that he suffered David to be moved against them, saying, Go, count Israel and Judah.

For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, who was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people.

And Joab said to the king, Now the LORD thy God add to the people, how many soever they may be, a hundred-fold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing?

And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in Aroer, on the right side of the city that lieth in the midst of the river of Gad, and towards Jazer:

And Joab presented the sum of the number of the people to the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said to the LORD, I have sinned greatly in what I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O LORD, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.

Go and say to David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it to thee.

So Gad came to David, and told him, and said to him, Shall seven years of famine come upon thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thy enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land? Now consider, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.

David said to Gad, "I am very upset! I prefer that we be attacked by the Lord, for his mercy is great; I do not want to be attacked by men!"

So the Lord sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and from Dan to Beer-sheba 70,000 men died.

And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thy hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing-place of Araunah the Jebusite.

And David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thy hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house.

And Gad came that day to David, and said to him, Go up, rear an altar to the LORD in the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

And Araunah said, Why is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshing-floor of thee, to build an altar to the LORD, that the plague may be stayed from the people.

And Araunah said to David, Let my lord the king take and offer up that which is good in his sight: see, here are oxen for the burnt-offering, and the threshing-sledges and implements of the oxen for wood.

And the king said to Araunah, No; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt-offerings to the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

Wherefore his servants said to him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat.

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

And Adonijah sacrificeth sheep and oxen and fatlings near the stone of Zoheleth, that is by En-Rogel, and calleth all his brethren, sons of the king, and for all the men of Judah, servants of the king;

Wherefore Nathan spoke to Bath-sheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign, and David our lord knoweth it not?

Now therefore come, let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel, that thou mayest save thy own life, and the life of thy son Solomon.

Go right now to King David and ask him, "Your majesty, you promised your servant that "Your son Solomon will certainly become king after me and will sit on my throne," didn't you? So why has Adonijah become king?'

At that moment, while you are still there speaking with the king, I’ll come in after you and confirm your words.”

And she will say to him, My lord, thou didst swear by Jehovah thy God to thy servant that Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne.

And thou, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldst tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.

Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders.

At that moment, while she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet arrived,

If it was from my lord the king that this thing has happened, [then all is well,] but if not, you must let your servants know who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him."

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

just as I swore to you by the Lord God of Israel: Your son Solomon is to become king after me, and he is the one who is to sit on my throne in my place, that is exactly what I will do this very day.”

Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead: and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.

And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, "Amen, and so I pray God that the LORD God of my lord the king say so too.

And as the LORD hath been with my lord the king, even so I pray God he may be with Solomon, and that he make his seat greater than the seat of my lord king David."

And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.

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, Why is this noise of the city being in an uproar?

While he was still asking that question, Jonathan, the son of Abiathar the priest arrived, so Adonijah told him, "Come on in, since you're a worthy man and are bringing us good news!"

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

And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid, and arose, and went every man his way.

And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah feareth king Solomon: for lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear to me to-day that he will not slay his servant with the sword.

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

"I'm headed down the road that everyone who lives on earth travels, so be strong and demonstrate that you're a grown 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.

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 Israel.

Moreover, thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and 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 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.

Deal with him therefore according to thy wisdom and see that thou bring not his hoar head down to the grave in peace.

But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at thy table: for so they came to me when I fled because of Absalom thy brother.

"Pay attention now! You have with you Gera's son Shimei the descendant of Benjamin from Bahurim. He cursed me violently that day when I had to leave for Mahanaim. When he visited me at the Jordan River, I made an oath to the LORD and told him, "I won't execute you with a sword.'

But don't let him off unpunished, since you're a wise man and you'll know what you need to do to him. Find a way that he dies in his old age by shedding his blood."

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.

After that, Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, "Betokeneth thy coming peace?"

And he said, Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign: but the kingdom is turned about, and hath become my brother's: for it was his from the LORD.

And he said, Speak, I pray thee, to Solomon the king, (for he will not say to thee no,) that he give me Abishag the Shunamite for a wife.

Bathsheba replied, "That's fine, I'll speak to the king on your behalf."

And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him that he died.

To Abiathar the priest, the king said, "Go to Anathoth, to your field, for {you deserve to die}, but on this day I will not kill you, for you carried the ark of the Lord Yahweh before David my father, and because you endured hardship in all the hardship that my father endured."

So Solomon removed 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.

And it was told to king Solomon that Joab had fled to 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.

And the king said to 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.

thus will Yahweh bring back his blood upon his own head, in that he fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, my father David not knowing it, - even Abner son of Ner, general of the army of Israel, and Amasa son of Jether, general of the army of Judah;

Then the king sent and called Shimei, and said to him, "Build thee a house in Jerusalem and dwell there and see that thou go not once thence any whither.

For it shall be, that on the day thou shalt go out, and pass over the brook Kidron, thou shalt know for certain that thou shalt surely die: thy blood shall be upon thy own head.

Shimei said to the king, "The word is good that my lord the king has spoken to me; thus will your servant do." So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.

And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away to Achish son of Maachah king of Gath: and they told Shimei, saying, behold, thy servants are in Gath.

And it was told to Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had returned.

And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, Did I not make thee to swear by the LORD, and protest to thee, saying, Know for a certain, on the day thou goest out, and walkest any where abroad, that thou shalt surely die? and thou saidst 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?

The king said moreover to Shimei, Thou knowest all the wickedness which thy heart is privy to, that thou didst to David my father: therefore the LORD will return thy wickedness upon thy own head;

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

However, the people were sacrificing on the high places, because until that time a temple for the Lord’s name had not been built.

Solomon demonstrated his loyalty to the Lord by following the practices of his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.

And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt-offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.

And Solomon said, Thou hast shown to 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.

And now LORD, my God, it is thou that hast made thy servant king instead of David my father. And I am a young lad and know not how to order myself.

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 to 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 speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.

and God saith unto him, 'Because that thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thee many days, nor asked for thee riches, nor asked the life of thine enemies, and hast asked for thee discernment to understand judgment,

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

And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honor: so that there shall not be any among the kings like to thee all thy days,

Then Solomon woke up and realized that he had dreamed a dream. Then he went back to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the LORD's covenant, offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and threw a party for all of his servants.