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When Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and 13 his kingdom was well established; Adonias, son of Aggith, went to Bersabe, the mother of Solomon, and bowed to her. 14 Whereupon she said to him, Is thy coming peaceable? And

he said, It is peaceable. I have something to say to thee. And 15 she said to him, Say on. Then he said to her, Thou knowest that the kingdom belonged to me, and that all Israel looked on me as king. But the kingdom is transferred, and become my brother's, because it was his from the Lord. Now therefore I 16 have a favour to ask of thee, do not refuse it. And Bersabe 17 said to him, Proceed. Then he said to her, Speak, I pray thee

to Solomon, for he will not refuse thee, that he may give me 18 Abisag, the Somanite, for a wife. Thereupon Bersabe said, 19 Well, I will speak to the king for thee. So Bersabe went to

king Solomon, to speak to him concerning Adonias. And the king arose to meet her, and saluted her, and when he sat down on the throne, there was a throne set for the king's mother, and 20 she sat on his right hand, and said to him, I have a small fa

vour to ask of thee, do not refuse me. And the king said to her, 21 Ask it, my mother, I will not reject thee. Then she said, I pray

thee, let Abisag, the Somanite, be given to thy brother Ado22 nias for a wife. Whereupon king Solomon in reply to his mother, said, But why hast thou asked Abisag for Adonias? Ask for him the kingdom also; for he is my elder brother, and Abiathar is his priest, and Joab, son of Saruia, his captain ge23 neral, and his friend. Then king Solomon swore by the Lord,

saying, God do so to me and more also, if Adonias hath not 24 spoken this against his own life. Now therefore as the Lord liveth, who hath prepared me, and set me on the throne of my father David, and hath made for me a house, as he hath spoken, 25 Adonias shall this day be put to death. So king Solomon sent 26 by the hand of Banaias, son of Jodae, and he slew him. And

when Adonias was dead, on the very same day, the king said to Abiathar, Begone speedily to thy fields at Anathoth, for thou art this day a condemned man, but I will not put thee to death, because thou didst carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord before my father, and hast shared in all the afflictions with 27 which my father was afflicted. So Solomon expelled Abiathar from being the priest of the Lord, so that the word of the Lord

was fulfilled, which he spoke against the house of Eli at 28 Selom. Now when the news came to Joab, son of Saruia, be

cause he had been of Adonias' party, and not a follower of Solomon, therefore Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and 29 took hold of the horns of the altar. And when they told Solomon, saying, Joab hath fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and behold he hath hold of the horns of the altar, king Solomon sent to Joab, saying, What is the matter with thee, that thou hast fled to the altar. Thereupon Joab said, Because I was afraid of thee, therefore I fled to the Lord. Then Solomon sent Banaias, son of Jodae, saying, Go, and kill him, and bury him. 30 So Banaias, son of Jodae, went to Joab, to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him, Thus saith the king, Come out. And Joab said, I will not go out, for I will die here. Upon which Banaias, son of Jodae, returned and told the king, say31 ing, Thus did Joab say, and thus he answered me; and the king said to him, Go and do to him as he hath spoken. Kill him, and bury him, and take away this day, the blood which 32 he shed without cause, from me and my father's house. The Lord indeed hath turned the blood of his iniquity on his head. Because he fell upon two men more righteous, and better than himself, and slew them with the sword, and my father David knew not of their blood, namely Abenner, son of Ner, the captain general of Israel, and Amessai, son of Jether, the cap33 tain general of Juda; therefore their blood is returned on his own head, and on the head of his seed forever. But on David, and his seed, and on his house, and his throne, let there be peace from the Lord forever. So Banaias, son of Jodae, went up, and fell upon Joab; and when he had slain him, he buried him, 35 at his house in the wilderness; and the king set Banaias, son of Jodae, over the army in his stead.

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Now the regal government was established at Jerusalem, and the king made Sadok the priest, the first priest, in the room of Abiathar. And Solomon, son of David, reigned over Israel and Juda at Jerusalem. And the Lord gave Solomon understanding, and comprehensive wisdom, and an enlargement of heart, like the sand on the sea shore; so that the knowledge of Solomon was enlarged far above the knowledge of all the ancients, and above all the wise men of Egypt. And he took

the daughter of Pharao, and brought her to the city of David, until he finished building his own house, and the house of the Lord, which he did first, and also the wall of Jerusalem round about. These he began, and finished in seven years; for he had seventy thousand men who carried burdens, and eighty thousand hewers of stone on the mountains. And Solomon made the sea, and its supporters, and the great lavers, and the pillars, and the fountain in the court. And over the brazen sea he built the turreted shelter for it, and cut a canal through the city of David. And when Pharao's daughter went up out of the city of David into her house, which he had built for her, he then built the citadel. And Solomon offered, every year, three whole burnt offerings, and peace offerings, on the altar which he built for the Lord, and he burned incense before the Lord, and finished the house. Now the chiefs who were set over the works of Solomon were three thousand six hundred. They superintended the people who performed the works. He built also Assour, and Magdo, and Gazer, and upper Baithoron, and Ballath. But this was after he had built the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about. After finishing these he built the cities above mentioned.

Now while David was still alive he gave a charge to Solomon, saying, Behold thou hast with thee Semei, son of Gera, a descendant of the seed of Jemini of Chebron. He cursed me with a bitter curse when I was marching to Camps. But he came down to the Jordan to meet me, therefore I swore to him by the Lord saying, Thou shalt not be put to death with the sword. Now thou art not to hold him guiltless. As thou art a wise man thou thyself therefore wilt know what to do to him, and wilt bring down his grey hairs to the grave with blood. 36 Therefore the king sent for Semei, and said to him, Build thy

self a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and thou shalt not 37 go out thence any where. For be assured that on the day thou

goest out, and crossest the brook Kedron, thou shalt be put to death. Thy blood shall be on thy own head. And the king 38 caused him to take an oath that day. And Semei said to the king, Good is the word which thou my lord the king hast spoken. Thy servant will do so. Accordingly Semei dwelt in Je39 rusalem three years. But it happened, that after the three years,

two slaves of Semei ran away to Angchus son of Maacha king of Geth. And when Semei was told that his slaves were at Geth, he arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Geth to Ang40 chus to seek them. And when he had gone, and brought them 41 back from Geth, Solomon was informed that Semei had gone 42 from Jerusalem to Geth, and brought back his slaves. Upon

which the king sent for Semei, and said to him, Did I not adjure thee by the Lord, and protest to thee saying, Be assured that on the day thou goest out of Jerusalem to any place what43 ever thou shalt surely die? Why then hast thou not kept the

oath of the Lord, and the command which I enjoined thee? 44 Moreover the king said to Semei, Thou knowest all thy wick

edness, and thy heart is privy to all that thou didst to my father David, therefore the Lord hath turned thy wickedness on thy 45 own head; and king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne 46 of David shall be established before the Lord forever. Then king Solomon gave orders to Banaias, son of Jodae, and he went and slew him.

Now king Solomon was very prudent and wise; and Juda 46 and Israel were exceedingly numerous, like the sand on the sea shore for multitude, eating, and drinking, and rejoicing. And Solomon was chief among all the kingdoms, and they brought him gifts, and served him all the days of his life. And Solomon began opening the fastnesses of Libanus, and he built Thermai in the wilderness. And this was Solomon's allowance for dinner, thirty cores of fine flour, and sixty cores of barley meal; ten beeves stall fed, and twenty beeves from the pasture, and one hundred sheep, besides hinds, fallow deer, and choice fatted fowls; for he was supreme over all the country on this side the river, from Raphi to Gaza, over all the kings bordering on the river, and he was at peace with all around him; so that Juda and Israel dwelt securely, every one under his own vine and under his own fig tree, eating and drinking, and feasting, from Dan to Bersabee, all the days of Solomon. And these were Solomon's principal officers, Azarias son of Sadok was priest, and Ornias son of Nathan was chief over the overseers; and Edramen was steward; and Suba scribe, and Basa son of Achithalam, recorder, and Abi son of Joab, captain general of the army; and Achire son of Edrai was at the head of the board

of works; and Banaias son of Jodae was captain of the guards; and Kashur son of Nathan, counsellor. And Solomon had four thousand breeding mares for carriages, and twelve thousand horses. And he was supreme over all the kings from the river to the land of the Philistines, and even to the borders of Egypt. Now Solomon son of David reigned over Israel and Juda in Jerusalem; but the people were in the practice of burning incense on the high places, because till this time there was not 3 a house built to the Lord. And Solomon loved the Lord, to

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walk in the statutes of his father David; but he sacrificed and 4 burned incense on the high places. So he arose and went to Gabaon because it was the highest and greatest to sacrifice there. And when Solomon had offered there a whole burnt offering of a thousand victims upon the altar at Gabaon, the Lord 5 appeared to him that night in a dream, and said to him, Ask 6 for thyself any favour. Thereupon Solomon said, Thou hast shewn great kindness to thy servant David my father. As he walked before thee in truth and righteousness and in uprightness of heart with thee, thou therefore hast kept for him this 7 great kindness to set his son on his throne as at this day. Now therefore, O Lord my God, as thou hast appointed me thy servant in the room of my father David, and I am but a little child 8 and know not how to go out and come in, and thy servant is in the midst of thy people whom thou hast chosen, an immense 9 people which cannot be numbered, give therefore to thy servant a heart to hear and to judge thy people righteously, and to discern between good and evil; for who can judge this thy peo10 ple, this great people which is so numerous? And it was well

pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon made this re11 quest; therefore the Lord said to him, Because thou hast asked this of me, and hast not asked for thyself many days, nor riches, nor the life of thine enemies, but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment, behold I have granted thy re2 quest-behold I have given thee a wise and understanding heart, so that before thee there hath not been one like thee, nor 3 after thee shall there arise one like thee. Moreover I have given

thee what thou didst not ask, riches and glory; so that there 4 hath not been among kings a man like thee. And if thou wilt.

walk in my ways to keep my commandments and my statutes,