1 Kings 2
David’s Charge to Solomon
As David’s atime to die drew near, he charged Solomon his son, saying, 2 “aI am going the way of all the earth. bBe strong, therefore, and show yourself a man. 3 Keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, aaccording to what is written in the Law of Moses, that byou may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn, 4 so that athe Lord may carry out His promise which He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘bIf your sons are careful of their way, cto walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, dyou shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’
5 “Now you also know what Joab the ason of Zeruiah did to me, what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to bAbner the son of Ner, and to cAmasa the son of Jether, whom he killed; he also shed the blood of war in peace. And he put the blood of war on his belt about his waist, and on his sandals on his feet. 6 aSo act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down to Sheol in peace. 7 But ashow kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and blet them be among those who eat at your table; cfor they assisted me when I fled from Absalom your brother. 8 Behold, athere is with you Shimei the son of Gera the Benjamite, of Bahurim; now it was he who cursed me with a violent curse on the day I went to Mahanaim. But when bhe came down to me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ 9 Now therefore, do not let him go unpunished, afor you are a wise man; and you will know what you ought to do to him, and you will bring his gray hair down to Sheol with blood.”
Death of David
10 Then aDavid slept with his fathers and was buried in bthe city of David. 11 aThe days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: bseven years he reigned in Hebron and thirty-three years he reigned in Jerusalem. 12 And aSolomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established.
13 Now Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, “aDo you come peacefully?” And he said, “Peacefully.” 14 Then he said, “I have something to say to you.” And she said, “Speak.” 15 So he said, “You know that athe kingdom was mine and bthat all Israel expected me to be king; chowever, the kingdom has turned about and become my brother’s, dfor it was his from the Lord. 16 Now I am making one request of you; do not refuse me.” And she said to him, “Speak.” 17 Then he said, “Please speak to Solomon the king, for he will not refuse you, that he may give me aAbishag the Shunammite as a wife.” 18 Bathsheba said, “Very well; I will speak to the king for you.”
Adonijah Executed
19 So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king arose to meet her, bowed before her, and sat on his throne; then he ahad a throne set for the king’s mother, and bshe sat on his right. 20 Then she said, “I am making one small request of you; ado not refuse me.” And the king said to her, “Ask, my mother, for I will not refuse you.” 21 So she said, “aLet Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as a wife.” 22 King Solomon answered and said to his mother, “And why are you asking Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? aAsk for him also the kingdom—bfor he is my older brother—even for him, for cAbiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah!” 23 Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, “May God do so to me and more also, if Adonijah has anot spoken this word against his own life. 24 Now therefore, as the Lord lives, who has established me and set me on the throne of David my father and awho has made me a house as He promised, surely Adonijah shall be put to death today.” 25 So King Solomon asent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him so that he died.
26 Then to Abiathar the priest the king said, “aGo to Anathoth to your own field, bfor you deserve to die; but I will not put you to death at this time, because cyou carried the ark of the Lord God before my father David, and because dyou were afflicted in everything with which my father was afflicted.” 27 So Solomon dismissed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, in order to fulfill athe word of the Lord, which He had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.
Joab Executed
28 Now the news came to Joab, afor Joab had followed Adonijah, balthough he had not followed Absalom. And Joab fled to the tent of the Lord and ctook hold of the horns of the altar. 29 It was told King Solomon that Joab had fled to the tent of the Lord, and behold, he is beside the altar. Then Solomon asent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “bGo, fall upon him.” 30 So Benaiah came to the tent of the Lord and said to him, “Thus the king has said, ‘Come out.’” But he said, “No, for I will die here.” And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, “Thus spoke Joab, and thus he answered me.” 31 The king said to him, “aDo as he has spoken and fall upon him and bury him, bthat you may remove from me and from my father’s house the blood which Joab shed without cause. 32 aThe Lord will return his blood on his own head, bbecause he fell upon two men more righteous and better than he and killed them with the sword, while my father David did not know it: cAbner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and dAmasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. 33 aSo shall their blood return on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever; but to David and his descendants and his house and his throne, may there be peace from the Lord forever.” 34 Then aBenaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and fell upon him and put him to death, and he was buried at his own house bin the wilderness. 35 aThe king appointed Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in his place, and the king appointed bZadok the priest cin the place of Abiathar.
Shimei Executed
36 Now the king sent and called for aShimei and said to him, “Build for yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, and do not go out from there to any place. 37 For on the day you go out and across over the brook Kidron, you will know for certain that you shall surely die; byour blood shall be on your own head.” 38 Shimei then said to the king, “The word is good. As my lord the king has said, so your servant will do.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.
39 But it came about at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away ato Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, “Behold, your servants are in Gath.” 40 Then Shimei arose and saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish to look for his servants. And Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath. 41 It was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had returned. 42 So the king sent and called for Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord and solemnly warn you, saying, ‘You will know for certain that on the day you depart and go anywhere, you shall surely die’? And you said to me, ‘The word which I have heard is good.’ 43 Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord, and the command which I have laid on you?” 44 The king also said to Shimei, “aYou know all the evil which you acknowledge in your heart, which you did to my father David; therefore bthe Lord shall return your evil on your own head. 45 But King Solomon shall be blessed, and athe throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever.” 46 aSo the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and fell upon him so that he died.
bThus the kingdom was established in the hands of Solomon.
1 Chronicles 29
Offerings for the Temple
Then King David said to the entire assembly, “My son Solomon, whom alone God has chosen, ais still young and inexperienced and the work is great; for bthe temple is not for man, but for the Lord God. 2 Now awith all my ability I have provided for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold, and the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, onyx stones and inlaid stones, stones of antimony and stones of various colors, and all kinds of precious stones and alabaster in abundance. 3 Moreover, in my delight in the house of my God, the treasure I have of gold and silver, I give to the house of my God, over and above all that I have already provided for the holy temple, 4 namely, a3,000 talents of gold, of bthe gold of Ophir, and 7,000 talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the buildings; 5 of gold for the things of gold and of silver for the things of silver, that is, for all the work done by the craftsmen. Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the Lord?”
6 Then athe rulers of the fathers’ households, and the princes of the tribes of Israel, and the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with bthe overseers over the king’s work, offered willingly; 7 and for the service for the house of God they gave 5,000 talents and 10,000 adarics of gold, and 10,000 talents of silver, and 18,000 talents of brass, and 100,000 talents of iron. 8 Whoever possessed precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord, in care of aJehiel the Gershonite. 9 Then the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly, for they made their offering to the Lord awith a whole heart, and King David also rejoiced greatly.
David’s Prayer
10 So David blessed the Lord in the sight of all the assembly; and David said, “Blessed are You, O Lord God of Israel our father, forever and ever. 11 aYours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. 12 aBoth riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and bin Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone. 13 Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name.
14 “But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You. 15 For awe are sojourners before You, and tenants, as all our fathers were; bour days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope. 16 O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy name, it is from Your hand, and all is Yours. 17 Since I know, O my God, that aYou try the heart and bdelight in uprightness, I, in the integrity of my heart, have willingly offered all these things; so now with joy I have seen Your people, who are present here, make their offerings willingly to You. 18 O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, our fathers, preserve this forever in the intentions of the heart of Your people, and direct their heart to You; 19 and agive to my son Solomon a perfect heart to keep Your commandments, Your testimonies and Your statutes, and to do them all, and bto build the temple, for which I have made provision.”
20 Then David said to all the assembly, “Now bless the Lord your God.” And aall the assembly blessed the Lord, the God of their fathers, and bbowed low and did homage to the Lord and to the king.
Sacrifices
21 On the next day athey made sacrifices to the Lord and offered burnt offerings to the Lord, 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams and 1,000 lambs, with their drink offerings and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. 22 So they ate and drank that day before the Lord with great gladness.
Solomon Again Made King
And they made Solomon the son of David king aa second time, and they banointed him as ruler for the Lord and Zadok as priest. 23 Then aSolomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father; and he prospered, and all Israel obeyed him. 24 All the officials, the mighty men, and also all the sons of King David pledged allegiance to King Solomon. 25 aThe Lord highly exalted Solomon in the sight of all Israel, and bbestowed on him royal majesty which had not been on any king before him in Israel.
26 Now aDavid the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. 27 aThe period which he reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned in Hebron seven years and in Jerusalem thirty-three years.
Death of David
28 Then he died in aa ripe old age, bfull of days, riches and honor; and his son Solomon reigned in his place. 29 Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the chronicles of aSamuel the seer, in the chronicles of bNathan the prophet and in the chronicles of cGad the seer, 30 with all his reign, his power, and the circumstances which came on him, on Israel, and on all the kingdoms of the lands.
Romans 7
Believers United to Christ
Or do you not know, abrethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? 2 For athe married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. 3 So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.
4 Therefore, my brethren, you also were amade to die bto the Law cthrough the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were ain the flesh, the sinful passions, which were baroused by the Law, were at work cin the members of our body to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we have been areleased from the Law, having bdied to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in cnewness of dthe Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.
7 aWhat shall we say then? Is the Law sin? bMay it never be! On the contrary, cI would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “dYou shall not covet.” 8 But sin, ataking opportunity bthrough the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for capart from the Law sin is dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; 10 and this commandment, which was ato result in life, proved to result in death for me; 11 for sin, ataking an opportunity bthrough the commandment, cdeceived me and through it killed me. 12 aSo then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
13 Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? aMay it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.
The Conflict of Two Natures
14 For we know that the Law is aspiritual, but I am aof flesh, bsold cinto bondage to sin. 15 For what I am doing, aI do not understand; for I am not practicing bwhat I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. 16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with athe Law, confessing that the Law is good. 17 So now, ano longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my aflesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For athe good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, aI am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
21 I find then athe principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in athe inner man, 23 but I see aa different law in the members of my body, waging war against the blaw of my mind and making me a prisoner of cthe law of sin which is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from athe body of this bdeath? 25 aThanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh bthe law of sin.
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