1 Kings 2:13-46

13 Then Adoniyahu the son of Haggit came to Bat-Sheva the mother of Shlomo. She said, Come you peaceably? He said, Peaceably.
14 He said moreover, I have somewhat to tell you. She said, Say on.
15 He said, You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Yisra'el set their faces on me, that I should reign: however the kingdom is turned about, and is become my brother's; for it was his from the LORD.
16 Now I ask one petition of you; don't deny me. She said to him, Say on.
17 He said, Please speak to Shlomo the king (for he will not tell you 'no'), that he give me Avishag the Shunammite as wife.
18 Bat-Sheva said, Well; I will speak for you to the king.
19 Bat-Sheva therefore went to king Shlomo, to speak to him for Adoniyahu. The king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself to her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a throne to be set for the king's mother; and she sat on his right hand.
20 Then she said, I ask one small petition of you; don't deny me. The king said to her, Ask on, my mother; for I will not deny you.
21 She said, Let Avishag the Shunammite be given to Adoniyahu your brother as wife.
22 King Shlomo answered his mother, Why do you ask Avishag the Shunammite for Adoniyahu? ask for him the kingdom also; for he is my elder brother; even for him, and for Avyatar the Kohen, and for Yo'av the son of Tzeru'yah.
23 Then king Shlomo swore by the LORD, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if Adoniyahu has not spoken this word against his own life.
24 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 Adoniyahu shall be put to death this day.
25 King Shlomo sent by Benayah the son of Yehoiada; and he fell on him, so that he died.
26 To Avyatar the Kohen said the king, Get you to `Anatot, to your own fields; for you are worthy of death: but I will not at this time put you to death, because you bear the ark of the Lord GOD before David my father, and because you were afflicted in all in which my father was afflicted.
27 So Shlomo thrust out Avyatar from being Kohen to the LORD, that he might fulfill the word of the LORD, which he spoke concerning the house of `Eli in Shiloh.
28 The news came to Yo'av; for Yo'av had turned after Adoniyahu, though he didn't turn after Avshalom. Yo'av fled to the Tent of the LORD, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
29 It was told king Shlomo, Yo'av is fled to the Tent of the LORD, and, behold, he is by the altar. Then Shlomo sent Benayah the son of Yehoiada, saying, Go, fall on him.
30 Benayah 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. Benayah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Yo'av, and thus he answered me.
31 The king said to him, Do as he has said, and fall on him, and bury him; that you may take away the blood, which Yo'av shed without cause, from me and from my father's house.
32 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 didn't know it, [to wit], Aviner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Yisra'el, and `Amasa the son of Yeter, captain of the host of Yehudah.
33 So shall their blood return on the head of Yo'av, and on the head of his seed forever: but to David, and to his seed, and to his house, and to his throne, shall there be shalom for ever from the LORD.
34 Then Benayah the son of Yehoiada went up, and fell on him, and killed him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.
35 The king put Benayah the son of Yehoiada in his room over the host; and Tzadok the Kohen did the king put in the room of Avyatar.
36 The king sent and called for Shim`i, and said to him, Build yourself a house in Yerushalayim, and dwell there, and don't go forth from there any where.
37 For on the day you go out, and pass over the brook Kidron, know you for certain that you shall surely die: your blood shall be on your own head.
38 Shim`i said to the king, The saying is good: as my lord the king has said, so will your servant do. Shim`i lived in Yerushalayim many days.
39 It happened at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shim`i ran away to Akhish, son of Ma`akhah, king of Gat. They told Shim`i, saying, Behold, your servants are in Gat.
40 Shim`i arose, and saddled his donkey, and went to Gat to Akhish, to seek his servants; and Shim`i went, and brought his servants from Gat.
41 It was told Shlomo that Shim`i had gone from Yerushalayim to Gat, and was come again.
42 The king sent and called for Shim`i, and said to him, Didn't I adjure you by the LORD, and protest to you, saying, Know for certain, that on the day you go out, and walk abroad any where, you shall surely die? and you said to me, The saying that I have heard is good.
43 Why then have you not kept the oath of the LORD, and the mitzvah that I have charged you with?
44 The king said moreover to Shim`i, You know all the wickedness which your heart is privy to, that you did to David my father: therefore the LORD shall return your wickedness on your own head.
45 But king Shlomo shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD forever.
46 So the king commanded Benayah the son of Yehoiada; and he went out, and fell on him, so that he died. The kingdom was established in the hand of Shlomo.

1 Kings 2:13-46 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST KING 2

This chapter gives an account of the charge David gave to his son Solomon, a little before his death, to walk in the ways of the Lord, 1Ki 2:1-4; and of some instructions delivered to him concerning some particular persons he should either show favour to, or execute justice on, 1Ki 2:5-9; and the next account in it is concerning his death and burial, and the years of his reign, 1Ki 2:10,11; after which it relates an address of Bathsheba to Solomon in favour of Adonijah, which was refused, and the issue of it was his death, 1Ki 2:12-25; and the deposition of Abiathar from the priesthood, 1Ki 2:26,27; and the putting of Joab to death for his treason and murders, 1Ki 2:28-34; in whose post Benaiah was put, as Zadok was in the place of Abiathar, 1Ki 2:35; and lastly the confinement of Shimei in Jerusalem, who had cursed David, 1Ki 2:36-38; who upon transgressing the orders given him was put to death, 1Ki 2:39-46.

The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.