1 Kings 2 Cross References - MSB

¹ As the time drew near for David to die, he charged his son Solomon, ² “I am about to go the way of all the earth. So be strong and prove yourself a man. ³ And keep the charge of the LORD your God to walk in His ways and to keep His statutes, commandments, ordinances, and decrees, as is written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you turn, ⁴ and so that the LORD may fulfill His promise to me: ‘If your descendants take heed to walk faithfully before Me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’ ⁵ Moreover, you know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me—what he did to Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether, the two commanders of the armies of Israel. He killed them in peacetime to avenge the blood of war. He stained with the blood of war the belt around his waist and the sandals on his feet. ⁶ So act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace. ⁷ But show loving devotion to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, because they stood by me when I fled from your brother Absalom. ⁸ Keep an eye on Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim who is with you. He called down bitter curses against me on the day I went to Mahanaim, but when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the LORD: ‘I will never put you to the sword.’ ⁹ Now therefore, do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man. You know what you ought to do to him to bring his gray head down to Sheol in blood.” ¹⁰ Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. ¹¹ The length of David’s reign over Israel was forty years—seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. ¹² So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was firmly established. ¹³ Now Adonijah son of Haggith went to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, and she asked, “Do you come in peace?” “Yes, in peace,” he replied. ¹⁴ Then he said, “I have something to tell you.” “Say it,” she answered. ¹⁵ “You know that the kingship was mine,” he said. “All Israel expected that I should reign, but the kingship has turned to my brother, for it has come to him from the LORD. ¹⁶ So now I have just one request of you; do not deny me.” “State your request,” she told him. ¹⁷ Adonijah replied, “Please speak to King Solomon, since he will not turn you down. Let him give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.” ¹⁸ “Very well,” Bathsheba replied. “I will speak to the king for you.” ¹⁹ So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. The king stood up to greet her, bowed to her, and sat down on his throne. Then the king had a throne brought for his mother, who sat down at his right hand. ²⁰ “I have just one small request of you,” she said. “Do not deny me.” “Make your request, my mother,” the king replied, “for I will not deny you.” ²¹ So Bathsheba said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to your brother Adonijah as his wife.” ²² King Solomon answered his mother, “Why do you request Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Since he is my older brother, you might as well request the kingdom for him and for Abiathar the priest and for Joab son of Zeruiah!” ²³ Then King Solomon swore by the LORD: “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if Adonijah has not made this request at the expense of his life. ²⁴ And now, as surely as the LORD lives—the One who established me, who set me on the throne of my father David, and who founded for me a dynasty as He promised—surely Adonijah shall be put to death today!” ²⁵ So King Solomon sent the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who struck down Adonijah, and he died. ²⁶ Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your fields in Anathoth. Even though you deserve to die, I will not put you to death at this time, since you carried the ark of the Lord GOD before my father David, and you suffered through all that my father suffered.” ²⁷ So Solomon banished Abiathar from the priesthood of the LORD and thus fulfilled the word that the LORD had spoken at Shiloh against the house of Eli. ²⁸ When the news reached Joab, who had conspired with Adonijah but not with Absalom, he fled to the tent of the LORD and took hold of the horns of the altar. ²⁹ It was reported to King Solomon: “Joab has fled to the tent of the LORD and is now beside the altar.” So Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, strike him down!” ³⁰ And Benaiah entered the tent of the LORD and said to Joab, “The king says, ‘Come out!’” But Joab replied, “No, I will die here.” So Benaiah relayed the message to the king, saying, “This is how Joab answered me.” ³¹ And the king replied, “Do just as he says. Strike him down and bury him, and so remove from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood that Joab shed. ³² The LORD will bring his bloodshed back upon his own head, for without the knowledge of my father David he struck down two men more righteous and better than he when he put to the sword Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army. ³³ Their blood will come back upon the heads of Joab and his descendants forever; but for David, his descendants, his house, and his throne, there shall be peace from the LORD forever.” ³⁴ So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up, struck down Joab, and killed him. He was buried at his own home in the wilderness. ³⁵ And the king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada in Joab’s place over the army, and he appointed Zadok the priest in Abiathar’s place. ³⁶ Then the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem and live there, but do not go anywhere else. ³⁷ On the day you go out and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will die; your blood will be on your own head.” ³⁸ “The sentence is fair,” Shimei replied. “Your servant will do as my lord the king has spoken.” And Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time. ³⁹ After three years, however, two of Shimei’s slaves ran away to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. And Shimei was told, “Look, your slaves are in Gath.” ⁴⁰ So Shimei saddled his donkey and set out to Achish at Gath in search of his slaves, and he brought them back from Gath. ⁴¹ When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned, ⁴² the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the LORD and warn you, ‘On the day you leave and go elsewhere, know for sure that you will die’? And you told me, ‘The sentence is fair; I will comply.’ ⁴³ So why have you not kept your oath to the LORD and the command that I gave you?” ⁴⁴ The king also said, “You know in your heart all the evil that you did to my father David. Therefore the LORD will bring your evil back upon your head. ⁴⁵ But King Solomon will be blessed and David’s throne will remain secure before the LORD forever.” ⁴⁶ Then the king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck Shimei down, and he died. Thus the kingdom was firmly established in the hand of Solomon.

²⁹ When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise to show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt,

¹⁹ Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, and commission him in their sight.

²⁸ But commission Joshua, encourage him, and strengthen him, for he will cross over ahead of the people and enable them to inherit the land that you will see.”

¹⁴ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, the time of your death is near. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the Tent of Meeting, so that I may commission him.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the Tent of Meeting.

²³ Then the LORD commissioned Joshua son of Nun and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land that I swore to give them, and I will be with you.”

¹ This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced upon the Israelites before his death.

²⁸ Therefore keep watch over yourselves and the entire flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of the Lord and of God, which He purchased with His own blood. ²⁹ For I know this, that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. ³⁰ Even from your own number, men will rise up and distort the truth to draw away disciples after them. ³¹ Therefore be alert and remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

¹⁸ Timothy, my child, I entrust you with this command in keeping with the previous prophecies about you, so that by them you may fight the good fight,

¹³ I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who made the good confession in His testimony before Pontius Pilate:

¹ I charge you, therefore, in the presence of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom:

⁶ For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.

¹³ I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of my body, ¹⁴ because I know that this tent will soon be laid aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. ¹⁵ And I will make every effort to ensure that after my departure, you will be able to recall these things at all times.

¹⁹ It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by carefully observing all the words of this instruction and these statutes. ²⁰ Then his heart will not be exalted above his countrymen, and he will not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or to the left, in order that he and his sons may reign many years over his kingdom in Israel.

⁶ Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.” ⁷ Then Moses called for Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance.

⁶ Be strong and courageous, for you shall give these people the inheritance of the land that I swore to their fathers I would give them. ⁷ Above all, be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe all the law that My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may prosper wherever you go.

¹⁴ Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know with all your heart and soul that not one of the good promises the LORD your God made to you has failed. Everything was fulfilled for you; not one promise has failed.

¹² Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and for the cities of our God. May the LORD do what is good in His sight.”

⁷ And now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in my father David’s place. But I am only a little child, not knowing how to go out or come in.

²⁰ David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do it. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will neither fail you nor forsake you before all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished.

²² For when only a few years are past I will go the way of no return.

²³ Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.

⁴⁸ What man can live and never see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah

¹³ When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man.

¹³ Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Be men of courage. Be strong.

¹⁰ Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.

¹² Let no one despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

¹ You therefore, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

²⁷ Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,

¹ Hear now, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live and may enter and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.

⁵ See, I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the LORD my God has commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land that you are about to enter and possess.

⁸ And what nation is great enough to have righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?

⁴⁵ These are the testimonies, statutes, and ordinances that Moses proclaimed to them after they had come out of Egypt,

¹ Then Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: Hear, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances that I declare in your hearing this day. Learn them and observe them carefully.

¹ These are the commandments and statutes and ordinances that the LORD your God has instructed me to teach you to follow in the land that you are about to enter and possess, ² so that you and your children and grandchildren may fear the LORD your God all the days of your lives by keeping all His statutes and commandments that I give you, and so that your days may be prolonged.

¹⁸ When he is seated on his royal throne, he must write for himself a copy of this instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.

⁹ So keep and follow the words of this covenant, that you may prosper in all you do.

⁷ Above all, be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe all the law that My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may prosper wherever you go. ⁸ This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in all you do.

⁵ But be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

⁵ So David marched out and prospered in everything Saul sent him to do, and Saul set him over the men of war. And this was pleasing in the sight of all the people, and of Saul’s officers as well.

¹⁴ and he continued to prosper in all his ways, because the LORD was with him.

³⁰ Every time the Philistine commanders came out for battle, David was more successful than all of Saul’s officers, so that his name was highly esteemed.

⁶ Then he placed garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to David and brought him tribute. So the LORD made David victorious wherever he went.

¹⁴ He placed garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites were subject to David. So the LORD made David victorious wherever he went.

⁷ And the LORD was with Hezekiah, and he prospered wherever he went. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to serve him.

¹² Above all, may the LORD give you insight and understanding when He puts you in command over Israel, so that you may keep the Law of the LORD your God. ¹³ Then you will succeed, if you carefully follow the statutes and ordinances that the LORD commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged.

⁸ So now in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God, keep and seek out all the commandments of the LORD your God, so that you may possess this good land and leave it as an inheritance to your descendants forever. ⁹ As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.

¹⁹ And give my son Solomon a whole heart to keep and carry out all Your commandments, decrees, and statutes, and to build Your palace for which I have made provision.”

²⁰ So this is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah. He did what was good and upright and true before the LORD his God. ²¹ He was diligent in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law and the commandments, in order to seek his God. And so he prospered.

² But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night. ³ He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.

⁷ The Law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy, making wise the simple.

² Blessed are those who keep His testimonies and seek Him with all their heart.

⁹⁸ Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are always with me. ⁹⁹ I have more insight than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation. ¹⁰⁰ I discern more than the elders, for I obey Your precepts.

¹¹¹ Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.

¹³⁸ The testimonies You have laid down are righteous and altogether faithful.

¹ My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; ² for they will add length to your days, years and peace to your life. ³ Never let loving devotion or faithfulness leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. ⁴ Then you will find favor and high regard in the sight of God and man.

⁴ “Remember the law of My servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances I commanded him for all Israel at Horeb.

¹ When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.

¹⁹ For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, in order that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has promised.”

³ If you follow My statutes and carefully keep My commandments,

⁵ And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

¹² If you listen to these ordinances and keep them carefully, then the LORD your God will keep His covenant and the loving devotion that He swore to your fathers.

¹² And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

¹³ So if you carefully obey the commandments I am giving you today, to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,

¹¹ and have done since the day I appointed judges over My people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. The LORD declares to you that He Himself will establish a house for you. ¹² And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³ He will build a house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. ¹⁴ I will be his Father, and he will be My son. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. ¹⁵ But My loving devotion will never be removed from him as I removed it from Saul, whom I moved out of your way. ¹⁶ Your house and kingdom will endure forever before Me, and your throne will be established forever.”

²⁵ And now, O LORD God, confirm forever the word You have spoken concerning Your servant and his house. Do as You have promised,

³ And Solomon loved the LORD and walked in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

¹⁴ So if you walk in My ways and keep My statutes and commandments, just as your father David did, I will prolong your days.”

²³ and said: “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth below, keeping Your covenant of loving devotion with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts.

²⁵ Therefore now, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for Your servant, my father David, what You promised when You said: ‘You will never fail to have a man to sit before Me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants guard their way to walk before Me as you have done.’

⁵ then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised your father David when I said, ‘You will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’

³ “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

³ So the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments, decrees, and statutes with all his heart and all his soul, and to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.

²⁵ Neither before nor after Josiah was there any king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, according to all the Law of Moses.

¹¹ And when your days are fulfilled and you go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹² He will build a house for Me, and I will establish his throne forever. ¹³ I will be his Father, and he will be My son. And I will never remove My loving devotion from him as I removed it from your predecessor. ¹⁴ But I will set him over My house and My kingdom forever, and his throne will be established forever.” ¹⁵ So Nathan relayed to David all the words of this entire vision.

⁹ But a son will be born to you who will be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; for his name will be Solomon, and I will grant to Israel peace and quiet during his reign. ¹⁰ He is the one who will build a house for My Name. He will be My son, and I will be his Father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’ ¹¹ Now, my son, may the LORD be with you, and may you succeed in building the house of the LORD your God, as He said you would.

⁵ And of all my sons—for the LORD has given me many sons—He has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel. ⁶ And He said to me, ‘Solomon your son is the one who will build My house and My courts, for I have chosen him as My son, and I will be his Father. ⁷ I will establish his kingdom forever, if he resolutely carries out My commandments and ordinances, as is being done this day.’

⁹ As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.

³ Now the LORD was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek out the Baals,

⁹ For the evildoers will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.

²² Surely those He blesses will inherit the land, but the cursed will be destroyed.

²⁹ I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure. ³⁰ If his sons forsake My law and do not walk in My judgments, ³¹ if they violate My statutes and fail to keep My commandments, ³² I will attend to their transgression with the rod, and to their iniquity with stripes. ³³ But I will not withdraw My loving devotion from him, nor ever betray My faithfulness. ³⁴ I will not violate My covenant or alter the utterance of My lips. ³⁵ Once and for all I have sworn by My holiness—I will not lie to David— ³⁶ his offspring shall endure forever, and his throne before Me like the sun, ³⁷ like the moon, established forever, a faithful witness in the sky.” Selah

¹¹ The LORD swore an oath to David, a promise He will not revoke: “One of your descendants I will place on your throne. ¹² If your sons keep My covenant and the testimony I will teach them, then their sons will also sit on your throne forever and ever.”

² For I will gather all the nations for battle against Jerusalem, and the city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be removed from the city.

³⁷ Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

⁶ Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord.

⁹ As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Remain in My love. ¹⁰ If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.

²⁰ But you, beloved, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God as you await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life.

²⁴ Now to Him who is able to keep them from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy—

¹⁸ The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was fleet of foot like a wild gazelle,

²⁷ When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pulled him aside into the gateway, as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner died on account of the blood of Joab’s brother Asahel.

³⁹ And I am weak this day, though anointed as king, and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too fierce for me. May the LORD repay the evildoer according to his evil!”

²⁵ Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra, the Ishmaelite who had married Abigail, the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah the mother of Joab.

⁵ Now the king had commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “Treat the young man Absalom gently for my sake.” And all the people heard the king’s orders to each of the commanders regarding Absalom.

¹² The man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels of silver were weighed out into my hands, I would not raise my hand against the son of the king. For we heard the king command you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’

¹⁴ But Joab declared, “I am not going to wait like this with you!” And he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak tree.

⁵ Then Joab went into the house and said to the king, “Today you have disgraced all your servants who have saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters, of your wives, and of your concubines. ⁶ You love those who hate you and hate those who love you! For you have made it clear today that the commanders and soldiers mean nothing to you. I know today that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead, it would have pleased you! ⁷ Now therefore get up! Go out and speak comfort to your servants, for I swear by the LORD that if you do not go out, not a man will remain with you tonight. This will be worse for you than all the adversity that has befallen you from your youth until now!”

¹⁰ Amasa was not on guard against the dagger in Joab’s hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach and spilled out his intestines on the ground. And Joab did not need to strike him again, for Amasa was dead. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bichri.

⁷ So Adonijah conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, who supported him.

¹⁸ But now, behold, Adonijah has become king, and you, my lord the king, did not know it. ¹⁹ And he has sacrificed an abundance of oxen, fattened calves, and sheep, and has invited all the other sons of the king, as well as Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army. But he did not invite your servant Solomon.

³² The LORD will bring his bloodshed back upon his own head, for without the knowledge of my father David he struck down two men more righteous and better than he when he put to the sword Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army.

³⁴ Moreover, your skirts are stained with the blood of the innocent poor, though you did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things

¹⁵ Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse,” says the LORD.

⁷ For the blood she shed is still within her; she poured it out on the bare rock; she did not pour it on the ground to cover it with dust. ⁸ In order to stir up wrath and take vengeance, I have placed her blood on the bare rock, so that it would not be covered.’

⁶ Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man his blood will be shed; for in His own image God has made mankind.

³⁸ But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If any harm comes to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”

³³ Do not pollute the land where you live, for bloodshed pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land on which the blood is shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

⁹ Now therefore, do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man. You know what you ought to do to him to bring his gray head down to Sheol in blood.”

²⁸ When the news reached Joab, who had conspired with Adonijah but not with Absalom, he fled to the tent of the LORD and took hold of the horns of the altar. ²⁹ It was reported to King Solomon: “Joab has fled to the tent of the LORD and is now beside the altar.” So Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, strike him down!” ³⁰ And Benaiah entered the tent of the LORD and said to Joab, “The king says, ‘Come out!’” But Joab replied, “No, I will die here.” So Benaiah relayed the message to the king, saying, “This is how Joab answered me.” ³¹ And the king replied, “Do just as he says. Strike him down and bury him, and so remove from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood that Joab shed. ³² The LORD will bring his bloodshed back upon his own head, for without the knowledge of my father David he struck down two men more righteous and better than he when he put to the sword Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army. ³³ Their blood will come back upon the heads of Joab and his descendants forever; but for David, his descendants, his house, and his throne, there shall be peace from the LORD forever.” ³⁴ So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up, struck down Joab, and killed him. He was buried at his own home in the wilderness.

²⁰ ‘Therefore I will indeed gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the calamity that I will bring on this place.’” So they brought her answer back to the king.

³⁷ Consider the blameless and observe the upright, for posterity awaits the man of peace.

²⁶ A wise king separates out the wicked and drives the threshing wheel over them.

¹⁷ A man burdened by bloodguilt will flee into the Pit; let no one support him.

¹¹ When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.

²² “There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”

² Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest, lying down in death.

²¹ “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

²⁰ No longer will a nursing infant live but a few days, or an old man fail to live out his years. For the youth will die at a hundred years, and he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.

⁷ “Do not be afraid,” said David, “for surely I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.”

¹⁰ You and your sons and servants are to work the ground for him and bring in the harvest, so that your master’s grandson may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, is always to eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

¹³ Then a messenger came to David and reported, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.” ¹⁴ And David said to all the servants with him in Jerusalem, “Arise and let us flee, or we will not escape from Absalom! We must leave quickly, or he will soon overtake us, heap disaster on us, and put the city to the sword.” ¹⁵ The king’s servants replied, “Whatever our lord the king decides, we are your servants.”

²⁷ When David came to Mahanaim, he was met by Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Machir son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim. ²⁸ They brought beds, basins, and earthen vessels, as well as wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils, ²⁹ honey, curds, sheep, and cheese from the herd for David and his people to eat. For they said, “The people have become hungry, exhausted, and thirsty in the wilderness.”

²⁸ For all the house of my grandfather deserves death from my lord the king, yet you have set your servant among those who eat at your table. What further right, then, do I have to keep appealing to the king?”

³¹ Now Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim to cross the Jordan with the king and send him on his way from there. ³² Barzillai was quite old, eighty years of age, and since he was a very wealthy man, he had provided for the king while he stayed in Mahanaim. ³³ The king said to Barzillai, “Cross over with me, and I will provide for you at my side in Jerusalem.” ³⁴ But Barzillai replied, “How many years of my life remain, that I should go up to Jerusalem with the king? ³⁵ I am now eighty years old. Can I discern what is good and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or drinks? Can I still hear the voice of singing men and women? Why should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king? ³⁶ Your servant could go with the king only a short distance past the Jordan; why should the king repay me with such a reward? ³⁷ Please let your servant return, that I may die in my own city near the tomb of my father and mother. But here is your servant Chimham. Let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him what is good in your sight.” ³⁸ The king replied, “Chimham will cross over with me, and I will do for him what seems good in your sight, and I will do for you whatever you desire of me.” ³⁹ So all the people crossed the Jordan, and then the king crossed over. The king kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and Barzillai returned home. ⁴⁰ Then the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham crossed over with him. All the troops of Judah and half the troops of Israel escorted the king.

¹⁰ Do not forsake your friend or your father’s friend, and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity; better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.

³⁷ Blessed are those servants whom the master finds on watch when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve and will have them recline at the table, and he himself will come and wait on them.

²⁸ You are the ones who have stood by Me in My trials. ²⁹ And I bestow on you a kingdom, just as My Father has bestowed one on Me, ³⁰ so that you may eat and drink at My table and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me. ²¹ To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

⁵ As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the family of the house of Saul was just coming out. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and as he approached, he kept yelling out curses. ⁶ He threw stones at David and at all the servants of the king, though the troops and all the mighty men were on David’s right and left. ⁷ And as he yelled curses, Shimei said, “Get out, get out, you worthless man of bloodshed! ⁸ The LORD has paid you back for all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned, and the LORD has delivered the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. See, you have come to ruin because you are a man of bloodshed!”

¹⁶ Then Shimei son of Gera, a Benjamite from Bahurim, hurried down with the men of Judah to meet King David, ¹⁷ along with a thousand men of Benjamin, as well as Ziba the steward of the house of Saul and his fifteen sons and twenty servants. They rushed down to the Jordan before the king ¹⁸ and crossed at the ford to carry over the king’s household and to do what was good in his sight. When Shimei son of Gera crossed the Jordan, he fell down before the king ¹⁹ and said, “My lord, do not hold me guilty, and do not remember your servant’s wrongdoing on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem. May the king not take it to heart. ²⁰ For your servant knows that I have sinned, so here I am today as the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.” ²¹ But Abishai son of Zeruiah said, “Shouldn’t Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD’s anointed?” ²² And David replied, “Sons of Zeruiah, what have I to do with you, that you should be my adversaries today? Should any man be put to death in Israel today? Am I not indeed aware that today I am king over Israel?” ²³ So the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” And the king swore an oath to him.

³⁶ Then the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem and live there, but do not go anywhere else. ³⁷ On the day you go out and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will die; your blood will be on your own head.” ³⁸ “The sentence is fair,” Shimei replied. “Your servant will do as my lord the king has spoken.” And Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time. ³⁹ After three years, however, two of Shimei’s slaves ran away to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. And Shimei was told, “Look, your slaves are in Gath.” ⁴⁰ So Shimei saddled his donkey and set out to Achish at Gath in search of his slaves, and he brought them back from Gath. ⁴¹ When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned, ⁴² the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the LORD and warn you, ‘On the day you leave and go elsewhere, know for sure that you will die’? And you told me, ‘The sentence is fair; I will comply.’ ⁴³ So why have you not kept your oath to the LORD and the command that I gave you?” ⁴⁴ The king also said, “You know in your heart all the evil that you did to my father David. Therefore the LORD will bring your evil back upon your head. ⁴⁵ But King Solomon will be blessed and David’s throne will remain secure before the LORD forever.” ⁴⁶ Then the king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck Shimei down, and he died. Thus the kingdom was firmly established in the hand of Solomon.

² and if you can swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then the nations will be blessed by Him, and in Him they will glory.”

³¹ sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. Then your servants will have brought the gray hair of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow.

⁷ You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain.

²⁸ You must not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people.

²³ But if you do not do this, you will certainly sin against the LORD—and be assured that your sin will find you out.

⁶ So act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace.

¹² behold, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has never been nor will ever be another like you.

²⁸ When all Israel heard of the judgment the king had given, they stood in awe of him, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.

²⁸ I would still dread all my sufferings; I know that You will not acquit me.

⁷ Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the City of David).

²¹ Otherwise, when my lord the king rests with his fathers, I and my son Solomon will be counted as criminals.”

¹ Later, Solomon formed an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt by marrying his daughter. Solomon brought her to the City of David until he had finished building his palace and the house of the LORD, as well as the wall around Jerusalem.

⁴³ And Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David. And his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.

⁷ So David took up residence in the fortress; that is why it was called the City of David.

²⁸ He died at a ripe old age, full of years, riches, and honor, and his son Solomon reigned in his place.

²⁹ Brothers, I can tell you with confidence that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

³⁶ For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep. His body was buried with his fathers and saw decay.

⁴ David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. ⁵ In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

²⁶ David son of Jesse was king over all Israel. ²⁷ The length of David’s reign over Israel was forty years—seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

¹² And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³ He will build a house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

²⁹ Now therefore, may it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You. For You, O Lord GOD, have spoken, and with Your blessing the house of Your servant will be blessed forever.”

⁴⁶ Moreover, Solomon has taken his seat on the royal throne.

²³ So Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king in place of his father David. He prospered, and all Israel obeyed him. ²⁴ All the officials and mighty men, as well as all of King David’s sons, pledged their allegiance to King Solomon. ²⁵ The LORD highly exalted Solomon in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him royal majesty such as had not been bestowed on any king in Israel before him.

¹ Now Solomon son of David established himself securely over his kingdom, and the LORD his God was with him and highly exalted him.

⁸ May he rule from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth. ⁹ May the nomads bow before him, and his enemies lick the dust. ¹⁰ May the kings of Tarshish and distant shores bring tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts. ¹¹ May all kings bow down to him and all nations serve him. ¹² For he will deliver the needy who cry out and the afflicted who have no helper. ¹³ He will take pity on the poor and needy and save the lives of the oppressed. ¹⁴ He will redeem them from oppression and violence, for their blood is precious in his sight. ¹⁵ Long may he live! May gold from Sheba be given him. May people ever pray for him; may they bless him all day long. ¹⁶ May there be an abundance of grain in the land; may it sway atop the hills. May its fruit trees flourish like the forests of Lebanon, and its people like the grass of the field. ¹⁷ May his name endure forever; may his name continue as long as the sun shines. In him may all nations be blessed; may they call him blessed. ¹⁸ Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds. ¹⁹ And blessed be His glorious name forever; may all the earth be filled with His glory. Amen and amen. ²⁰ Thus conclude the prayers of David son of Jesse.

¹² If your sons keep My covenant and the testimony I will teach them, then their sons will also sit on your throne forever and ever.”

⁴ So Samuel did what the LORD had said and went to Bethlehem. When the elders of the town met him, they trembled and asked, “Do you come in peace?” ⁵ “In peace,” he replied. “I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁵ At that time Adonijah, David’s son by Haggith, began to exalt himself, saying, “I will be king!” And he acquired chariots and horsemen and fifty men to run ahead of him. ⁶ (His father had never once reprimanded him by saying, “Why do you act this way?” Adonijah was also very handsome, born next after Absalom.) ⁷ So Adonijah conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, who supported him. ⁸ But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and David’s mighty men would not join Adonijah. ⁹ And Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fattened calves near the stone of Zoheleth, which is next to En-rogel. He invited all his royal brothers and all the men of Judah who were servants of the king. ¹⁰ But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the mighty men, or his brother Solomon.

⁵⁰ But Adonijah, in fear of Solomon, got up and went to take hold of the horns of the altar. ⁵¹ It was reported to Solomon: “Behold, Adonijah fears King Solomon, and he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon first swear to me not to put his servant to the sword.’” ⁵² And Solomon replied, “If he is a man of character, not a single hair of his will fall to the ground. But if evil is found in him, he will die.” ⁵³ So King Solomon summoned Adonijah down from the altar, and he came and bowed down before King Solomon, who said to him, “Go to your home.”

¹⁸ So a horseman rode off to meet Jehu and said, “This is what the king asks: ‘Have you come in peace?’” “What do you know about peace?” Jehu replied. “Fall in behind me.” And the watchman reported, “The messenger reached them, but he is not coming back.” ¹⁹ So the king sent out a second horseman, who went to them and said, “This is what the king asks: ‘Have you come in peace?’” “What do you know about peace?” Jehu replied. “Fall in behind me.” ²⁰ Again the watchman reported, “He reached them, but he is not coming back. And the charioteer is driving like Jehu son of Nimshi—he is driving like a madman!” ²¹ “Harness!” Joram shouted, and they harnessed his chariot. Then Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah set out, each in his own chariot, and met Jehu on the property of Naboth the Jezreelite. ²² When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, “Have you come in peace, Jehu?” “How can there be peace,” he replied, “as long as the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?”

¹⁷ And David went out to meet them, saying, “If you have come to me in peace to help me, my heart will be united with you; but if you have come to betray me to my enemies when my hands are free of violence, may the God of our fathers see it and judge you.” ¹⁸ Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, the chief of the Thirty, and he said: “We are yours, O David! We are with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, and peace to your helpers, for your God helps you.” So David received them and made them leaders of his troops.

⁵ Whatever house you enter, begin by saying, ‘Peace to this house.’ ⁶ If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you.

¹² Then the woman said, “Please, may your servant speak a word to my lord the king?” “Speak,” he replied.

⁴⁰ But Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Tell me, Teacher,” he said.

¹² And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.

²⁴ Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. So she gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. Now the LORD loved the child

⁶ Absalom did this to all the Israelites who came to the king for justice. In this way he stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

¹³ Then a messenger came to David and reported, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.”

¹⁸ “Not at all,” Hushai answered. “For the one chosen by the LORD, by the people, and by all the men of Israel—his I will be, and with him I will remain.

⁵ At that time Adonijah, David’s son by Haggith, began to exalt himself, saying, “I will be king!” And he acquired chariots and horsemen and fifty men to run ahead of him.

²⁵ For today he has gone down and sacrificed an abundance of oxen, fattened calves, and sheep, and has invited all the sons of the king, the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest. And behold, they are eating and drinking before him, saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’

⁹ But a son will be born to you who will be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; for his name will be Solomon, and I will grant to Israel peace and quiet during his reign. ¹⁰ He is the one who will build a house for My Name. He will be My son, and I will be his Father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’

³⁰ There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.

⁵ By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please. ⁶ So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I have even made the beasts of the field subject to him. ⁷ All nations will serve him and his son and grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will enslave him. ⁸ As for the nation or kingdom that does not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and does not place its neck under his yoke, I will punish that nation by sword and famine and plague, declares the LORD, until I have destroyed it by his hand.

²² He reveals the deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him.

¹⁰ For the sake of Your servant David, do not reject Your anointed one.

⁷ Two things I ask of You—do not refuse me before I die:

⁷ Meanwhile, Saul had a concubine named Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. So Ish-bosheth questioned Abner, “Why did you sleep with my father’s concubine?”

⁸ I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more.

² So his servants said to him, “Let us search for a young virgin for our lord the king, to attend to him and care for him and lie by his side to keep him warm.” ³ Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful girl, and they found Abishag the Shunammite and brought her to the king. ⁴ The girl was unsurpassed in beauty; she cared for the king and served him, but he had no relations with her.

¹⁵ The simple man believes every word, but the prudent man watches his steps.

¹² Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

³ Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must keep My Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.

³² You are to rise in the presence of the elderly, honor the aged, and fear your God. I am the LORD.

¹³ He also removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley.

⁹ The daughters of kings are among your honored women; the queen stands at your right hand, adorned with the gold of Ophir.

¹ A Psalm of David. The LORD said to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”

³³ He will place the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.

⁷ Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. ⁹ Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ And if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹ So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

³⁵ For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. ³⁶ A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’

²⁴ But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

¹⁹ Again, I tell you truly that if two of you on the earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven.

²⁰ Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and knelt down to make a request of Him. ²¹ “What do you want?” He inquired. She answered, “Declare that in Your kingdom one of these two sons of mine may sit at Your right hand, and the other at Your left.”

⁹ So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

³ When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to Him, “They have no more wine.” ⁴ “Woman, why does this concern us?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

¹³ And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If you ask Me for anything in My name, I will do it.

¹⁶ You did not choose Me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will remain—so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.

²¹ Ahithophel replied, “Sleep with your father’s concubines, whom he has left to keep the palace. When all Israel hears that you have become a stench to your father, then the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened.” ²² So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he slept with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.

³ Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful girl, and they found Abishag the Shunammite and brought her to the king.

⁵ At that time Adonijah, David’s son by Haggith, began to exalt himself, saying, “I will be king!” And he acquired chariots and horsemen and fifty men to run ahead of him. ⁶ (His father had never once reprimanded him by saying, “Why do you act this way?” Adonijah was also very handsome, born next after Absalom.) ⁷ So Adonijah conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, who supported him.

¹¹ Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that Adonijah son of Haggith has become king, and our lord David does not know it?

²⁴ “My lord the king,” said Nathan, “did you say, ‘Adonijah will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne’? ²⁵ For today he has gone down and sacrificed an abundance of oxen, fattened calves, and sheep, and has invited all the sons of the king, the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest. And behold, they are eating and drinking before him, saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’

² the third was Absalom the son of Maacah daughter of King Talmai of Geshur; the fourth was Adonijah the son of Haggith;

⁵ and these sons were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon. These four were born to him by Bathsheba daughter of Ammiel.

²² “You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus replied. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” “We can,” the brothers answered.

³⁸ “You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus replied. “Can you drink the cup I will drink, and be baptized with the baptism I will undergo?”

³ And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.

¹⁷ Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”

⁴⁴ And Saul declared, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if you, Jonathan, do not surely die!”

⁹ May God punish Abner, and ever so severely, if I do not do for David what the LORD has sworn to him:

³⁵ Then all the people came and urged David to eat something while it was still day, but David took an oath, saying, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!”

¹³ And say to Amasa, ‘Aren’t you my flesh and blood? May God punish me, and ever so severely, if from this time you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab!’”

¹⁰ Then Ben-hadad sent another message to Ahab: “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if enough dust remains of Samaria for each of my men to have a handful.”

³¹ He announced, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders through this day!”

⁸ They will be made to stumble, their own tongues turned against them. All who see will shake their heads.

⁹ May the heads of those who surround me be covered in the trouble their lips have caused.

⁶ A fool’s lips bring him strife, and his mouth invites a beating. ⁷ A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul.

¹² The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool consume him.

²² His master replied, ‘You wicked servant, I will judge you by your own words. So you knew that I am a harsh man, withdrawing what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow?

²¹ And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own.

²⁸ Please forgive your servant’s offense, for the LORD will surely make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because he fights the LORD’s battles. May no evil be found in you as long as you live.

¹¹ and have done since the day I appointed judges over My people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. The LORD declares to you that He Himself will establish a house for you.

²⁷ For You, O LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, have revealed this to Your servant when You said, ‘I will build a house for you.’ Therefore Your servant has found the courage to offer this prayer to You.

²⁹ And the king swore an oath, saying, “As surely as the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress,

⁵² And Solomon replied, “If he is a man of character, not a single hair of his will fall to the ground. But if evil is found in him, he will die.”

⁶ Solomon replied, “You have shown much loving devotion to Your servant, my father David, because he walked before You in faithfulness, righteousness, and uprightness of heart. And You have maintained this loving devotion by giving him a son to sit on his throne this very day. ⁷ And now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in my father David’s place. But I am only a little child, not knowing how to go out or come in.

⁹ Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel. Because of the LORD’s eternal love for Israel, He has made you king to carry out justice and righteousness.”

¹⁰ and have done since the day I appointed judges over My people Israel. And I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover, I declare to you that the LORD will build a house for you.

¹⁷ And as if this was a small thing in Your eyes, O God, You have spoken about the future of the house of Your servant and have regarded me as a man of great distinction, O LORD God.

²³ And now, O LORD, let the word You have spoken concerning Your servant and his house be established forever. Do as You have promised,

¹⁰ He is the one who will build a house for My Name. He will be My son, and I will be his Father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’

²³ So Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king in place of his father David. He prospered, and all Israel obeyed him.

⁸ Solomon replied to God: “You have shown much loving devotion to my father David, and You have made me king in his place. ⁹ Now, O LORD God, let Your promise to my father David be fulfilled. For You have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.

¹ A song of ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the LORD protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain.

¹¹ When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil. ¹² Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence. ¹³ Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.

²⁰ So he said to Jether, his firstborn, “Get up and kill them.” But the young man did not draw his sword; he was fearful because he was still a youth. ²¹ Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Get up and kill us yourself, for as the man is, so is his strength.” So Gideon got up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments from the necks of their camels.

³³ But Samuel declared: “As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal.

¹⁵ Then David summoned one of the young men and said, “Go, execute him!” So the young man struck him down, and he died.

¹² So David commanded his young men, and they killed Rechab and Baanah. They cut off their hands and feet and hung their bodies by the pool in Hebron, but they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in Abner’s tomb in Hebron.

¹⁸ Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priestly leaders.

³¹ And the king replied, “Do just as he says. Strike him down and bury him, and so remove from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood that Joab shed.

³⁴ So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up, struck down Joab, and killed him. He was buried at his own home in the wilderness.

⁴⁶ Then the king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck Shimei down, and he died. Thus the kingdom was firmly established in the hand of Solomon.

¹⁸ Anathoth, and Almon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

²⁰ But one of the sons of Ahimelech son of Ahitub escaped. His name was Abiathar, and he fled to David. ²¹ And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the LORD. ²² Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew that Doeg the Edomite was there that day, and that he was sure to tell Saul. I myself am responsible for the lives of everyone in your father’s house. ²³ Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks your life is seeking mine as well. You will be safe with me.”

⁶ (Now Abiathar son of Ahimelech had brought the ephod with him when he fled to David at Keilah.) ⁷ When Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, he said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he has trapped himself by entering a town with gates and bars.” ⁸ Then Saul summoned all his troops to go to war at Keilah and besiege David and his men. ⁹ When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod.”

¹⁶ This thing you have done is not good. As surely as the LORD lives, all of you deserve to die, since you did not protect your lord, the LORD’s anointed. Now look around. Where are the king’s spear and water jug that were by his head?”

⁵ David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan: “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die!

²⁴ Zadok was also there, and all the Levites with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until the people had passed out of the city. ²⁵ Then the king said to Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, He will bring me back and let me see both it and His dwelling place again. ²⁶ But if He should say, ‘I do not delight in you,’ then here I am; let Him do to me whatever seems good to Him.” ²⁷ The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a seer? Return to the city in peace—you with your son Ahimaaz, and Abiathar with his son Jonathan. ²⁸ See, I will wait at the fords of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” ²⁹ So Zadok and Abiathar returned the ark of God to Jerusalem and stayed there.

³⁵ And the king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada in Joab’s place over the army, and he appointed Zadok the priest in Abiathar’s place.

¹¹ David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab. ¹² And he said to them, “You are the heads of the Levitical families. You and your relatives must consecrate yourselves so that you may bring the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it.

³⁰ Cry aloud, O Daughter of Gallim! Listen, O Laishah! O wretched Anathoth!

¹ These are the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.

⁴² And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”

²⁸ You are the ones who have stood by Me in My trials.

⁴ Have you suffered so much for nothing, if it really was for nothing?

¹ Then the whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. And though the land was subdued before them,

²⁷ Then a man of God came to Eli and told him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to your father’s house when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh’s house? ²⁸ And out of all the tribes of Israel I selected your father to be My priest, to offer sacrifices on My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in My presence. I also gave to the house of your father all the offerings of the Israelites made by fire. ²⁹ Why then do you kick at My sacrifice and offering that I have prescribed for My dwelling place? You have honored your sons more than Me by fattening yourselves with the best of all the offerings of My people Israel.’ ³⁰ Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever. But now the LORD declares: Far be it from Me! For I will honor those who honor Me, but those who despise Me will be disdained. ³¹ Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that no older man will be left in your house. ³² You will see distress in My dwelling place. Despite all that is good in Israel, no one in your house will ever again reach old age. ³³ And every one of you that I do not cut off from My altar, your eyes will fail and your heart will grieve. All your descendants will die by the sword of men. ³⁴ And this sign shall come to you concerning your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: They will both die on the same day. ³⁵ Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest. He will do whatever is in My heart and mind. And I will build for him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed one for all time. ³⁶ And everyone left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a morsel of bread, pleading, “Please appoint me to some priestly office so that I can eat a piece of bread.”’”

¹² On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I have spoken about his family, from beginning to end. ¹³ I told him that I would judge his house forever for the iniquity of which he knows, because his sons blasphemed God and he did not restrain them. ¹⁴ Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, ‘The iniquity of Eli’s house shall never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’”

⁶⁰ He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had pitched among men.

¹² But go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for My Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. ¹³ And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and because I have spoken to you again and again but you would not listen, and I have called to you but you would not answer, ¹⁴ therefore what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears My Name, the house in which you trust, the place that I gave to you and your fathers.

⁵⁶ But this has all happened so that the writings of the prophets would be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted Him and fled.

³⁸ This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

²⁴ So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it. Instead, let us cast lots to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill the Scripture: “They divided My garments among them, and cast lots for My clothing.” So that is what the soldiers did.

²⁸ After this, knowing that everything had now been accomplished, and to fulfill the Scripture, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”

³⁶ Now these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of His bones will be broken.” ³⁷ And, as another Scripture says: “They will look on the One they have pierced.”

² Make a horn on each of its four corners, so that the horns are of one piece, and overlay it with bronze.

³⁵ Vengeance is Mine; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.”

² He sent out the troops, a third under Joab, a third under Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the troops, “I will surely march out with you as well.”

¹⁴ But Joab declared, “I am not going to wait like this with you!” And he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak tree. ¹⁵ And ten young men who carried Joab’s armor surrounded Absalom, struck him, and killed him.

⁵⁰ But Adonijah, in fear of Solomon, got up and went to take hold of the horns of the altar.

¹⁴ But if a man schemes and acts willfully against his neighbor to kill him, you must take him away from My altar to be put to death.

²⁵ So King Solomon sent the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who struck down Adonijah, and he died.

⁶ Slaughter the old men, the young men and maidens, the women and children; but do not go near anyone who has the mark. Now begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple.

¹⁷ For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?

⁵ And surely I will require the life of any man or beast by whose hand your lifeblood is shed. I will demand an accounting from anyone who takes the life of his fellow man: ⁶ Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man his blood will be shed; for in His own image God has made mankind.

¹² the elders of his city must send for him, bring him back, and hand him over to the avenger of blood to die. ¹³ You must show him no pity. You are to purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, that it may go well with you.

⁸ Accept this atonement, O LORD, for Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them.” And the bloodshed will be atoned for. ⁹ So you shall purge from among you the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the LORD.

²⁸ Afterward, David heard about this and said, “I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the LORD concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner.

²⁶ ‘As surely as I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons yesterday, declares the LORD, so will I repay you on this plot of ground, declares the LORD.’ Now then, according to the word of the LORD, pick him up and throw him on the plot of ground.”

⁴ When the islanders saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “Surely this man is a murderer. Although he was saved from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”

¹¹ Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.

²⁴ in order that the crime against the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come to justice and their blood be avenged on their brother Abimelech and on the leaders of Shechem, who had helped him murder his brothers.

⁵⁷ And God also brought all the wickedness of the men of Shechem back upon their own heads. So the curse of Jotham son of Jerubbaal came upon them.

²⁸ So Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you.

²⁶ As soon as Joab had left David, he sent messengers after Abner, who brought him back from the well of Sirah; but David was unaware of it. ²⁷ When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pulled him aside into the gateway, as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner died on account of the blood of Joab’s brother Asahel.

³⁷ So on that day all the troops and all Israel were convinced that the king had no part in the murder of Abner son of Ner.

¹¹ How much more, when wicked men kill a righteous man in his own house and on his own bed, shall I not now require his blood from your hands and remove you from the earth!”

⁹ “Are you well, my brother?” Joab asked Amasa. And with his right hand Joab grabbed Amasa by the beard to kiss him. ¹⁰ Amasa was not on guard against the dagger in Joab’s hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach and spilled out his intestines on the ground. And Joab did not need to strike him again, for Amasa was dead. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bichri.

⁵ Moreover, you know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me—what he did to Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether, the two commanders of the armies of Israel. He killed them in peacetime to avenge the blood of war. He stained with the blood of war the belt around his waist and the sandals on his feet.

⁴⁴ The king also said, “You know in your heart all the evil that you did to my father David. Therefore the LORD will bring your evil back upon your head.

¹³ but you have walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and have caused Judah and the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves, just as the house of Ahab prostituted itself. You have also killed your brothers, your father’s family, who were better than you.

¹⁹ So if it pleases the king, let him issue a royal decree, and let it be recorded in the laws of Persia and Media so that it cannot be repealed, that Vashti shall never again enter the presence of King Xerxes, and that her royal position shall be given to a woman better than she.

¹⁶ His trouble recoils on himself, and his violence falls on his own head.

²⁸ Afterward, David heard about this and said, “I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the LORD concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner. ²⁹ May it whirl over the heads of Joab and the entire house of his father, and may the house of Joab never be without one having a discharge or skin disease, or one who leans on a staff or falls by the sword or lacks food.”

²⁷ Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and your descendants forever!” And as Gehazi left his presence, he was leprous—as white as snow.

²⁹ I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure.

⁸ Every morning I will remove all the wicked of the land, that I may cut off every evildoer from the city of the LORD.

⁶ Set over him a wicked man; let an accuser stand at his right hand. ⁷ When he is tried, let him be found guilty, and may his prayer be regarded as sin. ⁸ May his days be few; may another take his position. ⁹ May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. ¹⁰ May his children wander as beggars, seeking sustenance far from their ruined homes. ¹¹ May the creditor seize all he owns, and strangers plunder the fruits of his labor. ¹² May there be no one to extend kindness to him, and no one to favor his fatherless children. ¹³ May his descendants be cut off; may their name be blotted out from the next generation. ¹⁴ May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and the sin of his mother never be blotted out. ¹⁵ May their sins always remain before the LORD, that He may cut off their memory from the earth.

⁵ Remove the wicked from the king’s presence, and his throne will be established in righteousness.

⁶ For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷ Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.

¹ Then a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit. ² The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD. ³ And He will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what His eyes see, and He will not decide by what His ears hear, ⁴ but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the wicked with the breath of His lips. ⁵ Righteousness will be the belt around His hips, and faithfulness the sash around His waist. ⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat; the calf and young lion and fatling will be together, and a little child will lead them. ⁷ The cow will graze with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. ⁸ The infant will play by the cobra’s den, and the toddler will reach into the viper’s nest. ⁹ They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the sea is full of water.

²⁵ All the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”

³¹ Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, ³³ and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!”

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men!”

⁶¹ These were in the wilderness: Beth-arabah, Middin, Secacah,

¹⁸ And Manasseh rested with his fathers and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzza. And his son Amon reigned in his place.

²⁰ And Manasseh rested with his fathers and was buried at his palace. And his son Amon reigned in his place.

¹ In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea

¹¹ “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned My wrath away from the Israelites; for he was zealous for My sake among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in My zeal. ¹² Declare, therefore, that I am granting him My covenant of peace. ¹³ It will be a covenant of permanent priesthood for him and his descendants, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites.”

³⁵ Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest. He will do whatever is in My heart and mind. And I will build for him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed one for all time.

²⁷ So Solomon banished Abiathar from the priesthood of the LORD and thus fulfilled the word that the LORD had spoken at Shiloh against the house of Eli.

⁴ Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

⁴ Eleazar was the father of Phinehas, Phinehas was the father of Abishua, ⁵ Abishua was the father of Bukki, Bukki was the father of Uzzi, ⁶ Uzzi was the father of Zerahiah, Zerahiah was the father of Meraioth, ⁷ Meraioth was the father of Amariah, Amariah was the father of Ahitub, ⁸ Ahitub was the father of Zadok, Zadok was the father of Ahimaaz, ⁹ Ahimaaz was the father of Azariah, Azariah was the father of Johanan, ¹⁰ Johanan was the father of Azariah, who served as priest in the temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem, ¹¹ Azariah was the father of Amariah, Amariah was the father of Ahitub, ¹² Ahitub was the father of Zadok, Zadok was the father of Shallum, ¹³ Shallum was the father of Hilkiah, Hilkiah was the father of Azariah, ¹⁴ Azariah was the father of Seraiah, and Seraiah was the father of Jehozadak. ¹⁵ Jehozadak went into captivity when the LORD sent Judah and Jerusalem into exile by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.

⁵⁰ These were the descendants of Aaron: Eleazar his son, Phinehas his son, Abishua his son, ⁵¹ Bukki his son, Uzzi his son, Zerahiah his son, ⁵² Meraioth his son, Amariah his son, Ahitub his son, ⁵³ Zadok his son, and Ahimaaz his son.

³ With the help of Eleazar’s descendant Zadok and Ithamar’s descendant Ahimelech, David divided them according to the offices of their service.

²² That day they ate and drank with great joy in the presence of the LORD. Then, for a second time, they designated David’s son Solomon as king, anointing him before the LORD as ruler, and Zadok as the priest.

²⁴ He shatters the mighty without inquiry and sets up others in their place.

⁸ May his days be few; may another take his position.

²⁰ “For it is written in the book of Psalms: ‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, ‘May another take his position.’

²⁴ But the king added, “He may return to his house, but he must not see my face.” So Absalom returned to his own house, but he did not see the king.

²⁸ Now Absalom lived in Jerusalem two years without seeing the face of the king.

⁵ As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the family of the house of Saul was just coming out. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and as he approached, he kept yelling out curses. ⁶ He threw stones at David and at all the servants of the king, though the troops and all the mighty men were on David’s right and left. ⁷ And as he yelled curses, Shimei said, “Get out, get out, you worthless man of bloodshed! ⁸ The LORD has paid you back for all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned, and the LORD has delivered the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. See, you have come to ruin because you are a man of bloodshed!” ⁹ Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head!”

⁵³ So King Solomon summoned Adonijah down from the altar, and he came and bowed down before King Solomon, who said to him, “Go to your home.”

⁸ Keep an eye on Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim who is with you. He called down bitter curses against me on the day I went to Mahanaim, but when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the LORD: ‘I will never put you to the sword.’ ⁹ Now therefore, do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man. You know what you ought to do to him to bring his gray head down to Sheol in blood.”

⁸ A king who sits on a throne to judge sifts out all evil with his eyes. ⁹ If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother; his blood shall be upon him.

¹⁹ If anyone goes out the door of your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head, and we will be innocent. But if a hand is laid on anyone with you in the house, his blood will be on our heads.

¹⁶ For David had said to the Amalekite, “Your blood be on your own head because your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I killed the LORD’s anointed.’”

²³ Everyone in the countryside was weeping loudly as all the people passed by. And as the king crossed the Kidron Valley, all the people also passed toward the way of the wilderness.

³³ Their blood will come back upon the heads of Joab and his descendants forever; but for David, his descendants, his house, and his throne, there shall be peace from the LORD forever.”

⁶ He brought the Asherah pole from the house of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, and there he burned it, ground it to powder, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.

¹⁶ So the priests went inside the house of the LORD to cleanse it, and they brought out to the courtyard all the unclean things that they found in the temple of the LORD. Then the Levites took these things and carried them out to the Kidron Valley.

⁴⁰ The whole valley of the dead bodies and ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley, to the corner of the Horse Gate to the east, will be holy to the LORD. It will never again be uprooted or demolished.”

¹³ He engages in usury and takes excess interest. Will this son live? He will not! Since he has committed all these abominations, he will surely die; his blood will be on his own head.

¹ After Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples across the Kidron Valley, where they entered a garden.

⁴ And the king of Israel replied, “Just as you say, my lord the king: I am yours, along with all that I have.”

¹⁹ But Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Will there not at least be peace and security in my lifetime?”

¹⁰ That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath.

² So David set out with his six hundred men and went to Achish son of Maoch, the king of Gath. ³ David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal.

²⁷ He who is greedy for unjust gain brings trouble on his household, but he who hates bribes will live.

¹⁵ And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

¹⁰ For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

³⁶ Then the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem and live there, but do not go anywhere else. ³⁷ On the day you go out and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will die; your blood will be on your own head.” ³⁸ “The sentence is fair,” Shimei replied. “Your servant will do as my lord the king has spoken.” And Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time.

⁴ who despises the vile but honors those who fear the LORD, who does not revise a costly oath,

²² But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

² At this, David summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not Israelites, but a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had taken an oath concerning them, but in his zeal for Israel and Judah, Saul had sought to kill them.)

¹² Moreover, the power of God was on the people in Judah to give them one heart to obey the command of the king and his officials according to the word of the LORD.

² Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.

¹⁸ He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Seeing that he gave his hand in pledge yet did all these things, he will not escape!’ ¹⁹ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘As surely as I live, I will bring down upon his head My oath that he despised and My covenant that he broke.

⁵ Therefore it is necessary to submit to authority, not only to avoid punishment, but also as a matter of conscience.

³⁹ On hearing that Nabal was dead, David said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has upheld my cause against the reproach of Nabal and has restrained His servant from evil. For the LORD has brought the wickedness of Nabal down upon his own head.” Then David sent word to Abigail, asking for her in marriage.

⁵ As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the family of the house of Saul was just coming out. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and as he approached, he kept yelling out curses. ⁶ He threw stones at David and at all the servants of the king, though the troops and all the mighty men were on David’s right and left. ⁷ And as he yelled curses, Shimei said, “Get out, get out, you worthless man of bloodshed! ⁸ The LORD has paid you back for all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned, and the LORD has delivered the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. See, you have come to ruin because you are a man of bloodshed!” ⁹ Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head!” ¹⁰ But the king replied, “What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah? If he curses me because the LORD told him, ‘Curse David,’ who can ask, ‘Why did you do this?’” ¹¹ Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, my own son, my own flesh and blood, seeks my life. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone and let him curse me, for the LORD has told him so. ¹² Perhaps the LORD will see my affliction and repay me with good for the cursing I receive today.” ¹³ So David and his men proceeded along the road as Shimei went along the ridge of the hill opposite him. As Shimei went, he yelled curses, threw stones, and flung dust at David.

³² The LORD will bring his bloodshed back upon his own head, for without the knowledge of my father David he struck down two men more righteous and better than he when he put to the sword Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army. ³³ Their blood will come back upon the heads of Joab and his descendants forever; but for David, his descendants, his house, and his throne, there shall be peace from the LORD forever.”

²² The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.

¹⁹ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘As surely as I live, I will bring down upon his head My oath that he despised and My covenant that he broke.

⁹ And it shall be like people, like priest. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.

⁹ When they heard this and were convicted by their conscience, they began to go away one by one, beginning with the older ones, until only Jesus was left, with the woman standing there.

¹⁵ So they show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts either accusing or defending them

²⁰ Even if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and He knows all things.

¹³ He will build a house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

²⁴ And now, as surely as the LORD lives—the One who established me, who set me on the throne of my father David, and who founded for me a dynasty as He promised—surely Adonijah shall be put to death today!”

⁶ For You grant him blessings forever; You cheer him with joy in Your presence.

¹⁷ May his name endure forever; may his name continue as long as the sun shines. In him may all nations be blessed; may they call him blessed.

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

⁴⁵ But King Solomon will be blessed and David’s throne will remain secure before the LORD forever.”

⁴ By justice a king brings stability to the land, but a man who exacts tribute demolishes it.