¹The days of David drew near to die, and he commanded Solomon his son, saying:

²I am going in the way of all the land. Be strong, and be a man.

³Keep the duty of Yahweh your God, walking in his ways, keeping his statutes, his commandments, his justice, and his testimonies, as it is written in the instruction of Moses, so that you may act wisely in all that you do, and wherever you turn.

⁴so that Yahweh may establish his word, which he spoke concerning me, saying: “If your sons keep their way, walking before me in stability, with all their heart, and with all their being, saying, ‘A man of yours will not be cut off from upon the throne of Israel.’”

⁵And also you know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me, what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner son of Ner, and to Amasa son of Jether: he killed them, and he put the blood of war in wholeness, and he set the blood of war on his belt that was on his loins and on his sandal that was on his feet.

⁶Act according to your wisdom, and do not bring down his grey head in wholeness to Sheol.

⁷And to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite you will do loyal love, and they will be among those who eat at your table, for so they drew near to me when I fled from the face of Absalom your brother.

⁸And behold, with you is Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim; and he cursed me with a grievous curse on the day I went to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by Yahweh, saying: I will not put you to death by the sword.

⁹And now, do not leave him unpunished, for you are a wise man, and you will know what you must do to him, and you will bring down his grey head in blood to Sheol.

¹⁰David lay down with his fathers and was buried in the city of David.

¹¹And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: in Hebron he reigned seven years, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years.

¹²And Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was established exceedingly.

¹³Adonijah son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, and she said, “Is it wholeness that you come?” And he said, “Wholeness.”

¹⁴He said, “I have a word for you.” And she said, “Speak.”

¹⁵He said, “You know that the kingdom was mine, and on me all Israel set their faces to become king. But the kingdom turned about, and it became my brother’s, for from Yahweh it was his.”

¹⁶And now I ask one request of you; do not turn my face away. And she said to him, "Speak."

¹⁷He said, “Please say to Solomon the king — for he will not turn away your face — that he may give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife.”

¹⁸Bathsheba said, “Good; I will speak on your behalf to the king.”

¹⁹Bathsheba went to the king, Solomon, to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. The king rose to meet her and bowed down to her, and he sat on his throne; and he set a throne for the mother of the king, and she sat at his right hand.

²⁰She said, “I am asking one small request of you; do not turn away my face.” And the king said to her, “Ask, my mother, for I will not turn away your face.”

²¹She said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as a wife.”

²²The king Solomon answered and said to his mother, “Why are you asking for Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask the kingdom for him as well, for he is my older brother — for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab son of Zeruiah.”

²³The king Solomon swore an oath by Yahweh, saying, “May God do so to me, and more besides, for at the cost of his own being Adonijah has spoken this word.”

²⁴And now, as Yahweh lives, who established me and made me sit on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house just as he spoke — surely today Adonijah will be put to death.

²⁵The king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he fell upon him, and he died.

²⁶And to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to Anathoth, to your fields; for you are a man of death; but on this day I will not put you to death, for you carried the ark of Adonai Yahweh before the face of David my father, and because you were afflicted in all that my father was afflicted.”

²⁷Solomon drove out Abiathar from being a priest of Yahweh, to fulfill the word of Yahweh that he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

²⁸And the report came to Joab — for Joab had inclined after Adonijah, though after Absalom he had not inclined — and Joab fled to the tent of Yahweh and took hold of the horns of the altar.

²⁹It was told to King Solomon that Joab had fled to the tent of Yahweh, and there he was, beside the altar. Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying, 'Go, fall on him.'

³⁰Benaiah came to the tent of Yahweh and said to him, 'Thus says the king: Go out.' But he said, 'No, for here I will die.' Benaiah brought the king word back, saying, 'Thus Joab spoke, and thus he answered me.'

³¹The king said to him, 'Do as he has spoken: fall on him and bury him, and remove from me and from the house of my father the blood that Joab shed without cause.'

³²And Yahweh will bring his blood back on his own head, who fell on two men more righteous and better than he and killed them with the sword, while my father David did not know: Abner son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah.

³³Their blood will return on the head of Joab and on the head of his seed forever; but for David and for his seed, for his house and for his throne, there will be wholeness on to forever from Yahweh.

³⁴Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and fell on him and put him to death; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.

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

³⁶The king sent and summoned Shimei and said to him, 'Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and you must not go out from there, this way or that.'

³⁷And it will be that on the day you go out and cross the wadi of Kidron, you will know for certain that you will surely die; your blood will be on your own head.

³⁸Shimei said to the king, 'The word is good; as my lord the king has spoken, so your slave will do.' And Shimei dwelled in Jerusalem for many days.

³⁹And it happened, at the end of three years, that two slaves of Shimei fled to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, 'Look, your slaves are in Gath.'

⁴⁰Shimei rose, saddled his donkey, and went to Gath, to Achish, to seek his slaves; and Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath.

⁴¹It was told to Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned.

⁴²The king sent and summoned Shimei and said to him, 'Did I not make you swear by Yahweh and warn you, saying, “On the day you go out and go this way or that, know for certain that you will surely die”? And you said to me, “The word is good; I have heard.”'

⁴³And why have you not kept the oath of Yahweh and the command that I commanded you?

⁴⁴The king said to Shimei, 'You yourself know all the evil that your heart knows, which you did to David my father; and Yahweh will bring your evil back on your own head.'

⁴⁵But King Solomon is blessed, and the throne of David will be established before the face of Yahweh on to forever.

⁴⁶The king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and fell on him, and he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.