8. And lo there is with thee Shimei, Gera's son, a Benjaminite of Bahurim, who reviled me grievously in the day I went to Mahanaim; but as he came to meet me at Jordan, and I sware to him by the Eternal, saying, I will not put thee to death. 9. Now, therefore, thou wilt not hold him guiltless; for thou art a wise man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do to him; but his hoary head thou wilt bring to the grave with blood.

10. Then David slept with his fathers, being bu ried in the city of David. 11. He reigned over Israel forty years; seven in Hebron, and thirty-three in Jerusalem.

12. Then Solomon sat on David his father's throne; and it was firmly established.

13. Now Adonijah, Haggith's son, came to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, who said, Comest thou peaceably? he said, Yes. 14. And I have somewhat to say to thee. So she said, Say on. 15. Then he said, Thou knowest the kingship was mine, and that all Israel regarded me as their king; howbeit, it turned out otherwise, and became my brother's; being his from the Eternal's appointment. 16. Let me now ask one petition of thee, deny me not. Then she said to him, Say on. 17. So he said, Speak, I pray thee, to king Solomon (who will not refuse thee) that he give me Abishag the Shunamite to wife. 18. Then Bath-sheba said, Well, I will speak to him for thee.

19. So she went to speak to him for Adonijah, And the king rose up to meet her, and bowing to her, sat down on his throne. He caused a throne to be set for his mother, to sit on his right hand. 20. Then she said, I desire one small request of thee, I pray thee refuse me not. Then he said, Ask, my mother, for I will not refuse thee. 21. So she said, Let Abishag the Shunamite be given to Adonijah thy brother to wife. 22. But he said to

his mother, Why dost thou ask her for Adonijah? ask for him the kingship also, (as he is mine elder brother); even for him, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab, Zeruiah's son. 23. Then Solomon sware by the Eternal, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah have not spoken this proposal against his own life.. 24. Now, therefore, as the Eternal liveth, who established me on David my fa ther's throne, and given me progeny, as he promised, Adonijah shall die this day. 25. So he sent Benaiah, Jehoiadah's son; who slew him.

26. And to Abiathar the priest the king said, Go to Anathoth, to thine own estate, for thou art worthy of death; but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou barest the ark of the Eternal God before David my father, and wast in all his afflictions. 27. So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest to the Eternal, and fulfilled the word which the Eternal spake in Shiloh, concerning the house of Eli..

28. When all these tidings came to Joab, (who had gone after Adonijah, tho' not after Absalom), he fled to the Eternal's tabernacle, and took hold of the horns of the altar. 29. Now it was told Solomon that Joab had fled thither, and was by the altar: then he sent Benaiah, Jehoiada's son, saying, Go slay him. 30. So Benaiah came thither, and said to him, Thus saith the king, Come forth. But he said, Nay, I will die here. Then Benaiah informed the king.. 31. Then the king said, Do as he hath said; slay him, and bury him, to remove the innocent blood he shed, from me, and from my father's house. 32. The Eternal will return his blood on his own head, who slew two men more righteous and better than he, my father David not knowing it, to wit, Abner, Ner's son, chief captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa, Jether's son, chief captain of the host of Judah. 33. Their blood shall therefore return on his, and on the heads of his.

race for ever; but on David, and his race, and his house, and his throne, shall there be perpetual prosperity from the Eternal. 34. So Benaiah, Jehoiada's son, went up, and slew him; and he was buried at his own house in the wilderness.

35. Then the king put Benaiah, Jehoiada's son, in his room over the host; and Zadok the priest in Abiathar's room.

36. Then the king sent for Shimei, and said to him, Build thee an house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and go not out thence any where: 37. For on the day thou goest out, or passest over the brook Kidron, thou shalt surely die: thy blood shall be on thine own head. 38. Then Shimei said, The saying is good; as my lord king hath said, so will thy servant do. So Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days. 39. But at the end of three years, two of Shimei's servants run away to Achish, son of Maachah, king of Gath; and it was told Shimei that his servants were in Gath. 40. Then he saddled his ass, and went to Gath to seek his servants, and brought them back. 41. But it was told Solomon that Shimei went from Jerusalem to Gath, and was returned. 42. Then he sent for him, and said, Did I not adjure thee by the Eternal, and protested to thee, saying, Know certainly on the day thou goest out abroad any where, thou shalt surely die? And thou saidst to me, The sentence is just. 43. Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the Eternal, and my command. command. 44. He said moreover to him, Thou knowest all the evil of which thine heart is conscious, that thou didst to David my father; therefore the Eternal shall return thy wickedness on thine own head: 45. But king Solomon shall be blessed, and David's throne shall be established before the Eternal perpetually. 46. So the king commanded Benaiah, Jehoiada's son,who went out and slew him. Now the kingship was established in Solomon's hand.

CHAP. III.

SOLOMON MARRIETH PHARAOH'S DAUGHTER.

SOLOMON made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, by marrying his daughter, whom he brought into the city of David, till he had finished building his own house, and the Eternal's house, and the wall around Jerusalem. 2. The people sacrificed only in high places, because there was no house built to the Eternal's name, till those days. 3. And tho' Solomon loved the Eternal, walking in the or dinances of David his father, yet he sacrificed and burnt incense on high places. 4. So the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, that being the great high place; he offered a thousand burnt-offerings on that altar.

5. At Gibeon the Eternal appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. 6. Then Solomon said, Thou hast shewed thy servant David my father great favour, accord. ing as he walked before thee in sincerity, justice, and uprightness of heart, with thee; thou hast kept for him this great kindness to give him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7. And now, O Eternal my God, as thou hast made thy servant king, instead of David my father; and I am a very young man; and know not how to conduct myself. 8. And as thy servant is in the midst of thy chosen people, a great people, that cannot be numbered for multitude; 9. Give, therefore, thy servant a discerning mind, to do justice to thy people, that I may discern between right and wrong, for how else can I do justice to so great a people, as this people of thine.

10. The request pleased the Eternal that Solomon made. 11. Then God said to him, Because thou hast asked this, and hast not asked long life, nor riches, nor the life of thine enemies; but dis

cernment to do justice; 12. Behold I have granted thy request, giving thee a wise and an understanding heart above all that were before thee, or that shall be after thee. 13. I have also given thee riches and honour above all other kings, tho' thou askest them not. 14. And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my ordinances and commands, as thy fa ther David did, then I will lengthen thy days. 15. Now Solomon awoke, being sensible of his dream, he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the Eternal's covenaut, and offered burnt-offerings and thank-offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.

16. Then two women that were harlots came and stood before the king. 17. The one said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I brought forth a child with her in the house, 18. And the third day after, this woman was delivered also; and there was no other with us in the house. 19. But this woman's child died in the night, because she overlaid it.. 20. Then she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid her dead child in my bosom. 21. And when I rose in the morning to suckle the child, behold it was dead; but having in day light examined it, behold it was not my son, The other woman said, Nay, but the living is son, and the dead is thy son: but this gainsaid her. Thus they debated before the k king.

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23. Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and the dead is thy son; and the other saith, Nay, but thy son is dead, and my son is the living. 24. Then he said, Bring me a sword. And they did so. 25. Then he said, Divide the living child in two, and give to each a half, 26. Then the mother of the living child's bowels were moved for her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and, slay it not; but the other said, Let it be neither thine nor mine, but divide it. 27. Then the king said, Give her the liy

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