Study Desk

But as the angel was preparing to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented and said to the death angel, "Stop! That is enough!" At that moment the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

When David saw the angel, he said to the Lord , "I am the one who has sinned and done wrong! But these people are as innocent as sheep—what have they done? Let your anger fall against me and my family."

But the king replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on buying it, for I will not present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me nothing." So David paid him fifty pieces of silver for the threshing floor and the oxen.

The girl was very beautiful, and she looked after the king and took care of him. But the king had no sexual relations with her.

But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and David's personal bodyguard refused to support Adonijah.

But he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the king's bodyguard or his brother Solomon.

But instead, Adonijah has made himself king, and my lord the king does not even know about it.

He has sacrificed many cattle, fattened calves, and sheep, and he has invited all the king's sons to attend the celebration. He also invited Abiathar the priest and Joab, the commander of the army. But he did not invite your servant Solomon.

But he did not invite me or Zadok the priest or Benaiah or your servant Solomon.

Solomon replied, "If he proves himself to be loyal, not a hair on his head will be touched. But if he makes trouble, he will die."

"And there is something else. You know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me when he murdered my two army commanders, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He pretended that it was an act of war, but it was done in a time of peace, staining his belt and sandals with innocent blood.

Do with him what you think best, but don't let him grow old and go to his grave in peace.

But that oath does not make him innocent. You are a wise man, and you will know how to arrange a bloody death for him."

He replied, "As you know, the kingdom was rightfully mine; all Israel wanted me to be the next king. But the tables were turned, and the kingdom went to my brother instead; for that is the way the Lord wanted it.

Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, "Go back to your home in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but I will not kill you now, because you carried the Ark of the Sovereign Lord for David my father and you shared all his hardships."

Joab had not joined Absalom's earlier rebellion, but he had joined Adonijah's rebellion. So when Joab heard about Adonijah's death, he ran to the sacred tent of the Lord and grabbed on to the horns of the altar.

Benaiah went to the sacred tent of the Lord and said to Joab, "The king orders you to come out!" But Joab answered, "No, I will die here." So Benaiah returned to the king and told him what Joab had said.

The king then sent for Shimei and told him, "Build a house here in Jerusalem and live there. But don't step outside the city to go anywhere else.

But three years later two of Shimei's slaves ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. When Shimei learned where they were,

But may I, King Solomon, receive the Lord 's blessings, and may one of David's descendants always sit on this throne in the presence of the Lord ."