UST by section 1 KI 1:1

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The First Book of Kings 1

1 When King David was very old, even though his helpers put many blankets on top of him at night, he still felt cold. 2 So his officials said to him, “Your Majesty, please allow us to search for a young virgin who can stay with you and take care of you. She can sleep close to you and keep you warm.”

3 The king gave them permission, so they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful young woman. They found a woman whose name was Abishag. She lived in the city of Shunem. They brought her to the king. 4 Abishag was very beautiful. She came to the royal court and took care of the king. Even though she lay in bed with him to keep him warm, the king did not have sexual relations with her.5-6 5-6After Absalom died, David’s oldest remaining son was Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith. He was a very handsome man. For his whole life, his father David had not corrected him about the things he did. Adonijah started to boast. He told people, “Now that Absalom has died, I will be the next king.” He got a chariot to ride in and horses to pull it, and he had 50 men run in front of his chariot wherever he went.

7 One day Adonijah spoke with Joab, David’s army commander, and with Abiathar the priest, and they promised to help him become the next king. 8 But other important people refused to help him. These included Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and David’s greatest soldiers.

9 One day Adonijah went to the stone of Zoheleth near En Rogel to sacrifice some sheep and oxen and fat cattle for a feast. He invited most of his brothers, King David’s other sons, to come. He also invited most of the king’s Judean officials to come to the feast, where he planned to proclaim himself king. 10 But he did not invite Nathan, Benaiah, the great soldiers, or his younger brother Solomon.

11 Nathan found out what they were doing, so he went and said to Solomon’s mother Bathsheba, “I must tell you that Adonijah son of Haggith is making himself the king! And King David does not know about this! 12 Please allow me to give you some advice about what you can do to save your own life and your son Solomon’s life, because otherwise Adonijah will kill you. 13 Go right away to King David. Say to him, ‘Your Majesty, you solemnly promised me that my son Solomon would become the king after you die. You said that he would sit on your throne and rule. But instead, Adonijah has proclaimed himself king.’ 14 Then, Bathsheba, while you are still talking to the king, I will come in and tell him that what you are saying to him about Adonijah is true.”

15 So Bathsheba went to see the king in his bedroom. (He was very old, and Abishag, who was from the city of Shunem, was taking care of him.) 16 Bathsheba bowed very low in front of the king. Then the king asked her, “What do you want?”

17 She replied, “Your Majesty, you solemnly promised me, with Yahweh your God as your witness, that my son Solomon would become the king after you died. You promised that he would sit on your throne and rule. 18 But instead, Adonijah has made himself king without you knowing about it. 19 He has sacrificed many oxen and fat cattle and sheep, and he has invited most of your sons to the celebration. He has also invited Abiathar the priest and Joab, your army commander. But he has not invited your son Solomon. 20 Your Majesty, all the people of Israel are expecting you to tell them who will become the next king after you die. 21 If you do not confirm that you want Solomon to be king, then after you have died, people will treat me and Solomon my son as rebels, and they will execute us because we did not help Adonijah become king.”

22 While Bathsheba was still talking with King David, the prophet Nathan arrived at the palace. 23 David’s servants told him, “Nathan the prophet has come.” David told his servants to bring Nathan in, so Bathsheba left, and Nathan came to where the king was. He knelt down and touched the ground with his face to show great respect.

24 Then Nathan said, “Your Majesty, I do not recall you saying that Adonijah would become king after you. 25 I ask about this because today he has gone to En Rogel and has sacrificed many oxen, fat cattle, and sheep. He has invited all of your other sons, Joab the army commander, and Abiathar the priest. They are all having a feast with him and telling him, ‘We hope that you, King Adonijah, will reign for a long time!’ 26 But he did not invite me or Zadok the priest or Benaiah son of Jehoiada or your son Solomon. 27 It does not seem to me that you would have given Adonijah permission to hold this feast without telling me and your other officials that you wanted him to become the king after you died.”

28 Then King David said, “Tell Bathsheba to come back here again.” So Nathan left, and someone got Bathsheba and she came back and stood in front of the king.

29 King David told her, “I am going to make you a solemn promise. I guarantee it by my devotion to Yahweh, who has saved me from all my troubles. 30 I promised you that your son Solomon would become the king after I died. I promised that he would sit on my throne and rule instead of me. I guaranteed that promise by my devotion to Yahweh, the God whom we Israelites worship. Now I am promising that I will make Solomon the king this very day.”

31 Bathsheba knelt down and touched her face to the ground to show gratitude and respect and said, “Your Majesty, I hope that you will continue to reign for a long time!”

32 Then King David ordered some of his servants, “Go and tell Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada to come here to me.” So servants went and got them, and when they came in, 33 David told them, “Put my son Solomon on the special mule that I ride as king. Gather my royal bodyguards and have them escort him to the spring at Gihon. 34 There the two of you, Zadok and Nathan, must pour olive oil on his head to appoint him as the next king of Israel. Have someone blow a ram’s horn, and have all the people there shout, ‘We hope that King Solomon will reign for a long time!’ 35 Then have him ride on the mule ahead of you as you return here. Solomon should come to the palace and sit on my throne. He will then be the king instead of me. He is the one I have chosen to rule over all the people of Israel and of Judah.”

36 Benaiah son of Jehoiada replied, “We will do that! We know that Yahweh, the God whom you worship faithfully, wants Solomon to be the next king! 37 Your Majesty, Yahweh has helped you. We hope that he will also help Solomon and enable him to become an even greater king than you have been.”

38 So Zadok, Nathan, Benaiah, and the elite corps of royal bodyguards put Solomon on King David’s special mule and escorted him to the spring at Gihon. 39 There Zadok took the container of olive oil that he had brought from the sacred tent and poured the oil on Solomon’s head to show that he would be the next king. Then someone blew a ram’s horn, and all the people who had gathered for the ceremony shouted, “We hope that King Solomon will reign for a long time!” 40 Then all those people followed Solomon back to Jerusalem. They were playing flutes and shouting joyfully. They were making a very loud noise that echoed off the ground.

41 As Adonijah and all his guests were finishing eating at their celebration, they heard the noise. When Joab heard someone blowing a ram’s horn, he asked, “Why is there so much noise in the city?”

42 While he was still speaking, Jonathan son of Abiathar the priest, arrived. Adonijah told him, “Come in! You are the kind of important person that someone would have sent to bring me good news!”

43 Jonathan replied, “No, the truth is that His Majesty King David has just made Solomon the next king. 44 David sent Zadok, Nathan, Benaiah, and his elite corps of royal bodyguards to go with Solomon. They put Solomon on the special mule that David rides as king. 45 They all went to the spring at Gihon, and there Zadok and Nathan poured olive oil on his head to show that he would be the next king. Then they returned from there to the city, celebrating the whole way. Many people in the city are celebrating with them. That is why you are hearing this loud noise. 46 Right now, Solomon is sitting on the throne where the Israelite king sits. 47 Furthermore, the palace officials came to His Majesty King David and thanked him for appointing Solomon as the king. They said, ‘We want God to make Solomon even more famous than you have been. We want God to enable him to be an even better king than you have been.’ When they said that, the king, lying on his bed, bowed his head to worship Yahweh and show that he agreed with what they had said. 48 Then King David said, ‘I praise Yahweh, the God whom we Israelites worship, because he has allowed one of my sons to become the king today while I am still alive to hear about it.’ ”

49 This report made all of Adonijah’s guests very afraid. They all got up immediately and left. The group scattered in different directions. 50 Adonijah was afraid of what Solomon would do to him. So he went to the sacred tent and held onto the projections at the corners of the altar because Israelites could do that so no one would harm them. 51 Then someone told Solomon, “Listen, Adonijah is afraid of you, so he has gone to the sacred tent and is holding onto the altar. He is saying, ‘Before I leave the sacred tent, I want King Solomon to swear to me that he will not order his soldiers to execute me.’ ”

52 Solomon promised, “If he behaves honorably, I will not harm him at all. But if I discover that he is actually disloyal to me, I will have my soldiers execute him.” 53 Then King Solomon sent some men to get Adonijah, and they brought him back from the altar. He came to Solomon and bowed down respectfully in front of him. Then Solomon told him, “You may go home.”

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UST by section 1 KI 1:1

The First Book of Kings 1

UST by section 1 KI 1:1