¹Now King David was old and advanced in years ; and they covered him with clothes, but he couldn’t keep warm .

²Therefore his servants said to him , “Let a young virgin be sought for my lord the king . Let her stand before the king , and cherish him ; and let her lie in your bosom , that my lord the king may keep warm .”

³So they sought for a beautiful young lady throughout all the borders of Israel , and found Abishag the Shunammite , and brought her to the king .

⁴The young lady was very beautiful ; and she cherished the king , and served him ; but the king didn’t know her intimately .

⁵Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself , saying, “I will be king .” Then he prepared him chariots and horsemen , and fifty men to run before him .

⁶His father had not displeased him at any time in saying, “Why have you done so ?” and he was also a very handsome man ; and he was born after Absalom.

⁷He conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest ; and they followed Adonijah and helped him .

⁸But Zadok the priest , Benaiah the son of Jehoiada , Nathan the prophet , Shimei , Rei , and the mighty men who belonged to David , were not with Adonijah.

⁹Adonijah killed sheep , cattle , and fatlings by the stone of Zoheleth , which is beside En Rogel; and he called all his brothers , the king ’s sons , and all the men of Judah , the king ’s servants ;

¹⁰but he didn’t call Nathan the prophet , and Benaiah , and the mighty men , and Solomon his brother.

¹¹Then Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon , saying, “Haven’t you heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith reigns , and David our lord doesn’t know it ?

¹²Now therefore come , please let me give you counsel , that you may save your own life and your son Solomon ’s life .

¹³Go in to King David , and tell him , ‘Didn’t you , my lord the king , swear to your servant, saying, “Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me , and he shall sit on my throne ”? Why then does Adonijah reign ?’

¹⁴Behold , while you are still talking there with the king , I will also come in after you and confirm your words .”[#1:14 “Behold”, from “”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.]

¹⁵Bathsheba went in to the king in his room . The king was very old ; and Abishag the Shunammite was serving the king .

¹⁶Bathsheba bowed and showed respect to the king . The king said, “What would you like?”

¹⁷She said to him , “My lord , you swore by the LORD your God to your servant, ‘Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me , and he shall sit on my throne .’[#1:17 When rendered in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, “” or “GOD” is the translation of God’s Proper Name (Hebrew “”, usually pronounced Yahweh).; #1:17 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “” (Elohim).]

¹⁸Now , behold , Adonijah reigns ; and you , my lord the king , don’t know it .

¹⁹He has slain cattle and fatlings and sheep in abundance , and has called all the sons of the king , Abiathar the priest , and Joab the captain of the army ; but he hasn’t called Solomon your servant .

²⁰You , my lord the king , the eyes of all Israel are on you , that you should tell them who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him .

²¹Otherwise it will happen , when my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be considered criminals .”

²²Behold , while she was still talking with the king , Nathan the prophet came in .

²³They told the king , saying, “Behold , Nathan the prophet !”

When he had come in before the king , he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground .

²⁴Nathan said, “My lord, King , have you said, ‘Adonijah shall reign after me , and he shall sit on my throne ’?

²⁵For he has gone down today , and has slain cattle , fatlings , and sheep in abundance , and has called all the king ’s sons , the captains of the army , and Abiathar the priest . Behold , they are eating and drinking before him , and saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’

²⁶But he hasn’t called me , even me your servant , Zadok the priest , Benaiah the son of Jehoiada , and your servant Solomon .

²⁷Was this thing done by my lord the king , and you haven’t shown to your servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him ?”

²⁸Then King David answered , “Call Bathsheba in to me .” She came into the king ’s presence and stood before the king .

²⁹The king vowed and said, “As the LORD lives , who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity ,

³⁰most certainly as I swore to you by the LORD , the God of Israel , saying, ‘Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me , and he shall sit on my throne in my place ;’ I will most certainly do this today .”

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

³²King David said , “Call to me Zadok the priest , Nathan the prophet , and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada .” They came before the king .

³³The king said to them , “Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride on my own mule , and bring him down to Gihon .

³⁴Let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel . Blow the trumpet , and say , ‘Long live King Solomon !’

³⁵Then come up after him , and he shall come and sit on my throne ; for he shall be king in my place . I have appointed him to be prince over Israel and over Judah .”

³⁶Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king , and said , “Amen. May the LORD , the God of my lord the king , say so .

³⁷As the LORD has been with my lord the king , even so may he be with Solomon , and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David .”

³⁸So Zadok the priest , Nathan the prophet , Benaiah the son of Jehoiada , and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David ’s mule , and brought him to Gihon .

³⁹Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the Tent, and anointed Solomon . They blew the trumpet ; and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon !”

⁴⁰All the people came up after him , and the people piped with pipes , and rejoiced with great joy , so that the earth shook with their sound .

⁴¹Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they had finished eating. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet , he said , “Why is this noise of the city being in an uproar ?”

⁴²While he yet spoke , behold , Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came ; and Adonijah said , “Come in ; for you are a worthy man , and bring good news .”

⁴³Jonathan answered Adonijah, “Most certainly our lord King David has made Solomon king .

⁴⁴The king has sent with him Zadok the priest , Nathan the prophet , Benaiah the son of Jehoiada , and the Cherethites and the Pelethites ; and they have caused him to ride on the king ’s mule .

⁴⁵Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon . They have come up from there rejoicing , so that the city rang again . This is the noise that you have heard .

⁴⁶Also , Solomon sits on the throne of the kingdom .

⁴⁷Moreover the king ’s servants came to bless our lord King David , saying, ‘May your God make the name of Solomon better than your name , and make his throne greater than your throne ;’ and the king bowed himself on the bed .

⁴⁸Also thus said the king , ‘Blessed be the LORD , the God of Israel , who has given one to sit on my throne today , my eyes even seeing it .’”

⁴⁹All the guests of Adonijah were afraid , and rose up , and each man went his way .

⁵⁰Adonijah was afraid because of Solomon ; and he arose , and went , and hung onto the horns of the altar .

⁵¹Solomon was told , “Behold , Adonijah fears King Solomon ; for , behold , he is hanging onto the horns of the altar , saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me first that he will not kill his servant with the sword .’”

⁵²Solomon said, “If he shows himself a worthy man , not a hair of his shall fall to the earth; but if wickedness is found in him , he shall die .”

⁵³So King Solomon sent , and they brought him down from the altar . He came and bowed down to King Solomon ; and Solomon said to him , “Go to your house .”