David Proclaims Solomon King

28 Then King David answered and said, “Call Bathsheba to me.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before the king. 29 And the king took an oath and said, x“As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from every distress, 30 yjust as I swore to you by the Lord God of Israel, saying, ‘Assuredly Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,’ so I certainly will do this day.”

31 Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and paid homage to the king, and said, z“Let my lord King David live forever!”

32 And King David said, “Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” So they came before the king. 33 The king also said to them, a“Take with you the servants of your lord, and have Solomon my son ride on my own bmule, and take him down to cGihon. 934 There let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet danoint him king over Israel; and eblow the horn, and say, 1‘Long live King Solomon!’ 35 Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, and he shall be king in my place. For I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah.”

36 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, f“Amen! May the Lord God of my lord the king say so too. 37 gAs the Lord has been with my lord the king, even so may He be with Solomon, and hmake his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.”

38 So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, iBenaiah the son of Jehoiada, the jCherethites, and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule, and took him to Gihon. 39 Then Zadok the priest took a horn of koil from the tabernacle and lanointed Solomon. And they blew the horn, mand all the people said, 2“Long live King Solomon!” 40 And all the people went up after him; and the people played the flutes and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth seemed to split with their sound.

41 Now Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the horn, he said, “Why is the city in such a noisy uproar?” 42 While he was still speaking, there came nJonathan, the son of Abiathar the priest. And Adonijah said to him, “Come in, for oyou are a prominent man, and bring good news.”

43 Then Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, “No! Our lord King David has made Solomon king. 44 The king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites; and they have made him ride on the king’s mule. 45 So Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon; and they have gone up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise that you have heard. 46 Also Solomon psits on the throne of the kingdom. 47 And moreover the king’s servants have gone to bless our lord King David, saying, q‘May God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and may He make his throne greater than your throne.’ rThen the king bowed himself on the bed. 48 Also the king said thus, ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has sgiven one to sit on my throne this day, while my eyes see tit!’ ”

49 So all the guests who were with Adonijah were afraid, and arose, and each one went his way.

50 Now Adonijah was afraid of Solomon; so he arose, and went and utook hold of the horns of the altar. 51 And it was told Solomon, saying, “Indeed Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon; for look, he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.’ ”

52 Then Solomon said, “If he proves himself a worthy man, vnot one hair of him shall fall to the earth; but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.” 53 So King Solomon sent them to bring him down from the altar. And he came and fell down before King Solomon; and Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.”

David’s Instructions to Solomon

2 Now athe days of David drew near that he should die, and he 1charged Solomon his son, saying: 2 b“I go the way of all the earth; cbe strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man. 3 And keep the charge of the Lord your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may dprosper in all that you do and wherever you turn; 4 that the Lord may efulfill His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, f‘If your sons take heed to their way, to gwalk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul,’ He said, h‘you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

5 “Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah idid to me, and what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to jAbner the son of Ner and kAmasa the son of Jether, whom he killed. And he shed the blood of war in peacetime, and put the blood of war on his belt that was around his waist, and on his sandals that were on his feet. 6 Therefore do laccording to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down to the grave in peace.

7 “But show kindness to the sons of mBarzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who neat at your table, for so othey came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother.

8 “And see, you have with you pShimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a malicious curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim. But qhe came down to meet me at the Jordan, and rI swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ 9 Now therefore, sdo not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man and know what you ought to do to him; but tbring his gray hair down to the grave with blood.”

Death of David

10 So uDavid 2rested with his fathers, and was buried in vthe City of David. 11 The period that David wreigned over Israel was forty years; seven years he reigned in Hebron, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years. 12 xThen Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and his kingdom was yfirmly established.