Study Desk

Now, my lord and king, all the Israelites are watching you. They are waiting for you to decide who will be the next king after you.

But Jonathan answered, "No, it is not good news for you! King David has made Solomon the new king.

The time came for David to die, so he gave these commands to Solomon,

Then Bathsheba said, "Very well, I will speak to the king for you."

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.

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

Joab killed two men who were much better than he was. He killed Abner son of Ner, the commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa son of Jether, the commander of the army of Judah. He did this without my father's knowledge. But now the Lord will punish Joab for the men he killed.

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."

Next, the king sent for Shimei and said to him, "Build yourself a house here in Jerusalem to live in and don't leave the city.

Shimei answered, "Yes, my king. I will obey you." So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time.

So Solomon sent for him and said, "I made you promise in the Lord 's name not to leave Jerusalem. And I warned you that if you went anywhere, you would die. And you agreed to what I said. You said that you would obey me.

You know all the bad things you did to my father David. Now the Lord will punish you for it.

The Lord was happy that Solomon asked for wisdom.

So God said to him, "You did not ask for long life and riches for yourself. You did not ask for the death of your enemies. You asked for the wisdom to listen and make the right decisions.

So I will give you what you asked for. I will make you wise and intelligent. I will make you wiser than anyone who ever lived or ever will live.

And I will also give you what you did not ask for. You will have riches and honor all your life. There will be no other king in the world as great as you.

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.

Ahishar was responsible for everything in the king's palace; Adoniram son of Abda was in charge of the slaves.

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.

Geber son of Uri was governor of Gilead. There had been two kings in this area, King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan, but Solomon appointed only one governor for that district.