Parallel Bible results for "1 kings 2"

1 Kings 2

New Revised Standard NRS

1 When David's time to die drew near, he charged his son Solomon, saying:

2 "I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, be courageous,

3 and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn.

4 Then the Lord will establish his word that he spoke concerning me: "If your heirs take heed to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail you a successor on the throne of Israel.'

5 "Moreover you know also what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me, how he dealt with the two commanders of the armies of Israel, Abner son of Ner, and Amasa son of Jether, whom he murdered, retaliating in time of peace for blood that had been shed in war, and putting the blood of war on the belt around his waist, and on the sandals on his feet.

6 Act therefore according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace.

7 Deal loyally, however, with the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table; for with such loyalty they met me when I fled from your brother Absalom.

8 There is also with you Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a terrible curse on the day when I went to Mahanaim; but when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord, "I will not put you to death with the sword.'

9 Therefore do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man; you will know what you ought to do to him, and you must bring his gray head down with blood to Sheol."

10 Then David slept with his ancestors, and was buried in the city of David.

11 The time that David reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

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

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

14 Then he said, "May I have a word with you?" She said, "Go on."

15 He said, "You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel expected me to reign; however, the kingdom has turned about and become my brother's, for it was his from the Lord.

16 And now I have one request to make of you; do not refuse me." She said to him, "Go on."

17 He said, "Please ask King Solomon—he will not refuse you—to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife."

18 Bathsheba said, "Very well; I will speak to the king on your behalf."

19 So Bathsheba went to King Solomon, to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. The king rose to meet her, and bowed down to her; then he sat on his throne, and had a throne brought for the king's mother, and she sat on his right.

20 Then she said, "I have one small request to make of you; do not refuse me." And the king said to her, "Make your request, my mother; for I will not refuse you."

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

22 King Solomon answered his mother, "And why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom as well! For he is my elder brother; ask not only for him but also for the priest Abiathar and for Joab son of Zeruiah!"

23 Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, "So may God do to me, and more also, for Adonijah has devised this scheme at the risk of his life!

24 Now therefore as the Lord lives, who has established me and placed me on the throne of my father David, and who has made me a house as he promised, today Adonijah shall be put to death."

25 So King Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada; he struck him down, and he died.

26 The king said to the priest Abiathar, "Go to Anathoth, to your estate; for you deserve death. But I will not at this time put you to death, because you carried the ark of the Lord God before my father David, and because you shared in all the hardships my father endured."

27 So Solomon banished Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, thus fulfilling the word of the Lord that he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

28 When the news came to Joab—for Joab had supported Adonijah though he had not supported Absalom—Joab fled to the tent of the Lord and grasped the horns of the altar.

29 When it was told King Solomon, "Joab has fled to the tent of the Lord and now is beside the altar," Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying, "Go, strike him down."

30 So Benaiah came to the tent of the Lord and said to him, "The king commands, "Come out.' " But he said, "No, I will die here." Then Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, "Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me."

31 The king replied to him, "Do as he has said, strike him down and bury him; and thus take away from me and from my father's house the guilt for the blood that Joab shed without cause.

32 The Lord will bring back his bloody deeds on his own head, because, without the knowledge of my father David, he attacked and killed with the sword two men more righteous and better than himself, Abner son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah.

33 So shall their blood come back on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever; but to David, and to his descendants, and to his house, and to his throne, there shall be peace from the Lord forevermore."

34 Then Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and struck him down and killed him; and he was buried at his own house near the wilderness.

35 The king put Benaiah son of Jehoiada over the army in his place, and the king put the priest Zadok in the place of Abiathar.

36 Then the king sent and summoned Shimei, and said to him, "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem, and live there, and do not go out from there to any place whatever.

37 For on the day you go out, and cross the Wadi Kidron, know for certain that you shall die; your blood shall be on your own head."

38 And Shimei said to the king, "The sentence is fair; as my lord the king has said, so will your servant do." So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.

39 But it happened at the end of three years that two of Shimei's slaves ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. When it was told Shimei, "Your slaves are in Gath,"

40 Shimei arose and saddled a donkey, and went to Achish in Gath, to search for his slaves; Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath.

41 When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and returned,

42 the king sent and summoned Shimei, and said to him, "Did I not make you swear by the Lord, and solemnly adjure you, saying, "Know for certain that on the day you go out and go to any place whatever, you shall die'? And you said to me, "The sentence is fair; I accept.'

43 Why then have you not kept your oath to the Lord and the commandment with which I charged you?"

44 The king also said to Shimei, "You know in your own heart all the evil that you did to my father David; so the Lord will bring back your evil on your own head.

45 But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever."

46 Then the king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada; and he went out and struck him down, and he died. So the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.

The Message Bible MSG

1 When David's time to die approached, he charged his son Solomon, saying,

2 "I'm about to go the way of all the earth, but you - be strong; show what you're made of!

3 Do what God tells you. Walk in the paths he shows you: Follow the life-map absolutely, keep an eye out for the signposts, his course for life set out in the revelation to Moses; then you'll get on well in whatever you do and wherever you go.

4 Then God will confirm what he promised me when he said, 'If your sons watch their step, staying true to me heart and soul, you'll always have a successor on Israel's throne.'

5 "And don't forget what Joab son of Zeruiah did to the two commanders of Israel's army, to Abner son of Ner and to Amasa son of Jether. He murdered them in cold blood, acting in peacetime as if he were at war, and has been stained with that blood ever since.

6 Do what you think best with him, but by no means let him get off scot-free - make him pay.

7 "But be generous to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite - extend every hospitality to them; that's the way they treated me when I was running for my life from Absalom your brother.

8 "You also will have to deal with Shimei son of Gera the Benjaminite from Bahurim, the one who cursed me so viciously when I was on my way to Mahanaim. Later, when he welcomed me back at the Jordan, I promised him under God, 'I won't put you to death.'

9 But neither should you treat him as if nothing ever happened. You're wise, you know how to handle these things. You'll know what to do to make him pay before he dies."

10 Then David joined his ancestors. He was buried in the City of David.

11 David ruled Israel for forty years - seven years in Hebron and another thirty-three in Jerusalem.

12 Solomon took over on the throne of his father David; he had a firm grip on the kingdom.

13 Adonijah son of Haggith came to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. She said, "Do you come in peace?"

14 And then, "May I say something to you?" "Go ahead," she said, "speak."

15 "You know that I had the kingdom right in my hands and everyone expected me to be king, and then the whole thing backfired and the kingdom landed in my brother's lap - God's doing.

16 So now I have one request to ask of you; please don't refuse me." "Go ahead, ask," she said.

17 "Ask King Solomon - he won't turn you down - to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife."

18 "Certainly," said Bathsheba. "I'll speak to the king for you."

19 Bathsheba went to King Solomon to present Adonijah's request. The king got up and welcomed her, bowing respectfully, and returned to his throne. Then he had a throne put in place for his mother, and she sat at his right hand.

20 She said, "I have a small favor to ask of you. Don't refuse me." The king replied, "Go ahead, Mother; of course I won't refuse you."

21 She said, "Give Abishag the Shunammite to your brother Adonijah as his wife."

22 King Solomon answered his mother, "What kind of favor is this, asking that Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah? Why don't you just ask me to hand over the whole kingdom to him on a platter since he is my older brother and has Abiathar the priest and Joab son of Zeruiah on his side!"

23 Then King Solomon swore under God, "May God do his worst to me if Adonijah doesn't pay for this with his life!

24 As surely as God lives, the God who has set me firmly on the throne of my father David and has put me in charge of the kingdom just as he promised, Adonijah will die for this - today!"

25 King Solomon dispatched Benaiah son of Jehoiada; he struck Adonijah and he died.

26 The king then told Abiathar the priest, "You're exiled to your place in Anathoth. You deserve death but I'm not going to kill you - for now anyway - because you were in charge of the Chest of our ruling God in the company of David my father, and because you shared all the hard times with my father."

27 Solomon stripped Abiathar of his priesthood, fulfilling God's word at Shiloh regarding the family of Eli.

28 When this news reached Joab, this Joab who had conspired with Adonijah (although he had remained loyal in the Absalom affair), he took refuge in the sanctuary of God, seizing the horns of the Altar and holding on for dear life.

29 King Solomon was told that Joab had escaped to the sanctuary of God and was clinging to the Altar; he immediately sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada with orders, "Kill him."

30 Benaiah went to the sanctuary of God and said, "King's orders: Come out." He said, "No - I'll die right here." Benaiah went back to the king and reported, "This was Joab's answer."

31 The king said, "Go ahead then, do what he says: Kill him and bury him. Absolve me and my father's family of the guilt from Joab's senseless murders.

32 God is avenging those bloody murders on Joab's head. Two men he murdered, men better by far than he ever was: Behind my father's back he brutally murdered Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel's army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah's army.

33 Responsibility for their murders is forever fixed on Joab and his descendants; but for David and his descendants, his family and kingdom, the final verdict is God's peace."

34 So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went back, struck Joab, and killed him. He was buried in his family plot out in the desert.

35 The king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada over the army in place of Joab, and replaced Abiathar with Zadok the priest.

36 The king next called in Shimei and told him, "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, but you are not to leave the area.

37 If you so much as cross the Brook Kidron, you're as good as dead - you will have decreed your own death sentence."

38 Shimei answered the king, "Oh, thank you! Your servant will do exactly as my master the king says." Shimei lived in Jerusalem a long time.

39 But it so happened that three years later, two of Shimei's slaves ran away to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. Shimei was told, "Your slaves are in Gath."

40 Shimei sprang into action, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish in Gath looking for his slaves. And then he came back, bringing his slaves.

41 Solomon was told, "Shimei left Jerusalem for Gath, and now he's back."

42 Solomon then called for Shimei and said, "Didn't I make you promise me under God, and give you a good warning besides, that you would not leave this area? That if you left you would have decreed your own death sentence? And didn't you say, 'Oh, thank you - I'll do exactly as you say'?

43 So why didn't you keep your sacred promise and do what I ordered?"

44 Then the king told Shimei, "Deep in your heart you know all the evil that you did to my father David; God will now avenge that evil on you.

45 But King Solomon will be blessed and the rule of David will be a sure thing under God forever."

46 The king then gave orders to Benaiah son of Jehoiada; he went out and struck Shimei dead. The kingdom was now securely in Solomon's grasp.