Study Desk

And if you obey the Lord , he will keep his promise about me. He said, ‘If your sons carefully live the way I tell them, sincerely, with all their heart, the king of Israel will always be a man from your family.'"

David also said, "You remember what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me. He killed two of the commanders of Israel's army, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. Remember, it was during a time of peace when he spilled the blood that splattered onto his sword belt and army boots. I should have punished him then.

Now Solomon was king. He sat on the throne of his father David and was in complete control of his kingdom.

So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to talk with him. When the king saw her, he stood up, bowed before her, and then sat back down. He told some servants to bring another throne for his mother, and she sat down at his right side.

King Solomon answered his mother, "Why are you asking me to give Abishag to Adonijah? Why don't you just ask me to give him the whole kingdom! After all, he is my older brother, and both Abiathar the priest and Joab support him!"

Then Solomon said, "By the Lord , I swear I'll make Adonijah pay for this with his life!

The Lord made me the king of Israel. He gave me the throne of my father David. The Lord kept his promise and gave the kingdom to me and my family. Now, as surely as the Lord lives, I swear Adonijah will die today!"

So Solomon told Abiathar that he could not continue to serve as a priest of the Lord . This happened as the Lord said it would when he told Eli the priest what would happen to him and his family.

He and his family will always be guilty for their deaths. But the Lord will bring peace to David, his descendants, his family of kings, and his kingdom forever."

So Benaiah son of Jehoiada killed Joab, and he was buried near his home in the desert.

But three years later, two of Shimei's slaves ran away. They went to King Achish of Gath, who was the son of Maacah. Shimei heard that his slaves were in Gath,

so he saddled his donkey and went to King Achish at Gath to find them. He found them there and brought them back home.

Then the king ordered Benaiah to kill Shimei, and he did. So Solomon had full control of his kingdom.

Solomon made a peace treaty with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, by marrying his daughter. Solomon brought her to the City of David. This was when Solomon was still building his palace, the Temple of the Lord , and the wall around Jerusalem.

Solomon showed that he loved the Lord by obeying everything his father David told him to do, except that Solomon continued to go to the high places to offer sacrifices and to burn incense.

Solomon answered, "You were very kind and loyal to your servant, my father David. He was faithful to you and lived a good, honest life. And you showed him the greatest kindness when you let his son take his place as king.

Solomon woke up and knew that God had spoken to him in the dream. Then Solomon went to Jerusalem and stood before the Box of the Lord 's Agreement. He offered a burnt offering and fellowship offerings to the Lord and then gave a party for all of his officials.

Then King Solomon sent his servant to get a sword.

These are the names of his leading officials: Azariah son of Zadok was the priest;

Israel was divided into twelve districts. Solomon chose governors to rule over each district. These governors were ordered to gather food from their districts and give it to the king and his family. Each of the twelve governors was responsible for giving food to the king one month each year.