Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from 1 Kings chapters
1 and 2, as well as 1 Chronicles chapter 21.
1 Kings chapter 1. Now King David was old, advanced
in years, and they put covers on him, but he
could not get warm. Therefore his servants said
to him, Let a young woman, a virgin, be sought
for our lord the king, and let her stand before
the king, and let her care for him, and let her
lie in your bosom, that our lord the king may
be warm. So they sought for a lovely young woman
throughout all the territory of Israel, and found
Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the
king. The young woman was very lovely, and she
cared for the king and served him, but the king
did not know her. Then Adonijah the son of Haggith
exalted himself, saying, I will be king. And
he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen
and fifty men to run before him. And his father
had not rebuked him at any time by saying, Why
have you done so? He was also very good -looking.
His mother had borne him after Absalom. Then
he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and
with Abiathar the priest, and they followed and
helped Adonijah. But Zadok the priest, Benaiah
the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei,
And Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fattened
cattle by the stone of Zohelet, which is by Ein
Rogel. He also invited all his brothers, the
king's sons, and all the men of Judah, the king's
servants. But he did not invite Nathan the prophet,
Benaiah, the mighty men, or Solomon his brother.
So Nathan spoke to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon,
saying, Have you not heard that Adonijah, the
son of Haggith, has become king, and David our
lord does not know it? Come, please, let me now
give you advice, that you may save your own life
and the life of your son Solomon. Go immediately
to King David and say to him, Did you not, my
lord, O king, swear to your maidservant, saying,
Assuredly your son Solomon shall reign after
me, and he shall sit on my throne? Why then has
Adonijah become king? Then, while you are still
talking there with the king, I also will come
in after you and confirm your words. So Bathsheba
went into the chamber to the king. Now the king
was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was
serving the king. And Bathsheba bowed and did
homage to the king. Then the king said, What
is your wish? Then she said to him, My lord,
you swore by the lord your god to your maidservant,
saying, Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign
after me, and he shall sit on my throne. So now
look, Adonijah has become king, and now my lord
the king, you do not know about it. He has sacrificed
oxen and fatted cattle and sheep in abundance,
and has invited all the sons of the king, Abiathar
the priest, and Joab the commander of the army.
But Solomon your servant, he has not invited.
And as for you, my lord, O 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. Otherwise it will happen, when my
lord the king rests with his fathers, that I
and my son Solomon will be counted as offenders.
And just then, while she was still talking with
the king, Nathan the prophet also came in. So
they told the king, saying, Here is Nathan the
prophet. And when he came in before the king,
he bowed down before the king with his face to
the ground. And Nathan said, My lord, O king,
have you said Adonijah shall reign after me,
and he shall sit on my throne? For he has gone
down today and has sacrificed oxen and fattened
cattle and sheep in abundance, and has invited
all the king's sons and the commanders of the
army and Abiathar the priest. And look, they
are eating and drinking before him, and they
say, Long live King Adonijah. But he has not
invited me, me your servant, nor Zadok the priest,
nor Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, nor your servant
Solomon. Has this thing been done by my lord
the king? And you have not told your servant
who should sit on the throne of my lord the king
after him? Then King David answered and said,
Call Bathsheba to me. So she came into the king's
presence and stood before the king. And the king
took an oath and said, As the Lord lives, who
has redeemed my life from every distress, just
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. Then
Bathsheba bowed her face to the earth and paid
homage to the king and said, Let my lord King
David live forever. 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. The king also said to them, Take with
you the servants of your lord, and have Solomon
my son ride on my own mule, and take him down
to Gihon. There led Zadok the priest and Nathan
the prophet anoint him king over Israel, and
blow the horn and say, Long live King Solomon.
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. Benaiah the son of Jehoiada
answered the king and said, Amen, may the Lord
God of my lord the king say so too. As 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. So Zadok
the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son
of Jehoiada, the Caratites and the Pelletites,
went down and had Solomon ride on king David's
mule and took him to Gihon. Then Zadok the priest
took a horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed
Solomon. And they blew the horn, and all the
people said, Long live King Solomon! 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. 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? While
he was still speaking, there came Jonathan the
son of Abiathar the priest, and Adonijah said
to him, Come in, for you are a prominent man,
and bring good news. Then Jonathan answered and
said to Adonijah, No, our lord king David has
made Solomon king. The king has sent with him
Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah
the son of Jehoiada, the Caratites and the Pelletites,
and they have made him ride on the king's mule.
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
an uproar. This is the noise that you have heard.
Also Solomon sits on the throne of the kingdom.
And moreover the king's servants have gone to
bless our lord king David, saying, May God make
the name of Solomon better than your name, and
may he make his throne greater than your throne.
Then the king bowed himself on the bed. Also
the king said thus, Blessed be the Lord God of
Israel, who has given one to sit on my throne
this day, while my eyes see it. So all the guests
who were with Adonijah were afraid, and arose,
and each one went his way. Now Adonijah was afraid
of Solomon, so he arose and went and took hold
of the horns of the altar. 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 by
the sword. Then Solomon said, If he proves himself
a worthy man, not one hair of him shall fall
to the earth. But if wickedness is found in him,
he shall die. 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. Chapter 2 Now the days
of David drew near that he should die, and he
charged Solomon his son, saying, I go the way
of all the earth. Be strong, therefore, and prove
yourself a man, 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 prosper in all that you do and wherever you
turn, that the Lord may fulfill his word which
he spoke concerning me, saying, If your sons
take heed to their way, to walk before me in
truth with all their heart and with all their
soul, he said, You shall not lack a man on the
throne of Israel. Moreover, you know also what
Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me. and what he
did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel,
to Abner the son of Nir, and Amasa 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. Therefore
do according to your wisdom, and do not let his
gray hair go down to the grave in peace. But
show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite,
and let them be among those who eat at your table.
For so they came to me when I fled from Absalom
your brother. And see, you have with you Shimei
the son of Gerah, a Benjamite from Bahurim, who
cursed me with a malicious curse in the day when
I went to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet
me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord,
saying, I will not put you to death by the sword.
Now therefore do not hold him guiltless, for
you are a wise man and know what you ought to
do to him. But bring his gray hair down to the
grave with blood. So David rested with his fathers
and was buried in the city of David. The period
that David reigned over Israel was 40 years.
Seven years he reigned in Hebron, and in Jerusalem
he reigned 33 years. Then Solomon sat on the
throne of his father David, and his kingdom was
firmly established. Now Adonijah the son of Haggith
came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. So she
said, Do you come peaceably? And he said, Peaceably.
Moreover he said, I have something to say to
you. And she said, Say it. Then he said, You
know that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel
had set their expectations on me that I should
reign. However, the kingdom has been turned over
and has become my brother's, for it was his from
the Lord. Now I ask one petition of you, do not
deny me. And she said to him, Say it. Then he
said, Please speak to King Solomon, for he will
not refuse you, that he may give me Abishag the
Shunammite as wife. So Bathsheba said, Very well,
I will speak for you to the king. Bathsheba therefore
went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah.
And the king rose up to meet her and bowed down
to her and sat down on his throne and had a throne
set for the king's mother. So she sat at his
right hand. Then she said, I desire one small
petition of you, do not refuse me. And the king
said to her, ask it my mother, for I will not
refuse you. So she said, let Abishag the Shunammite
be given to Adonijah your brother as wife. And
king Solomon answered and said to his mother,
now why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for
Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also, for he
is my older brother. For him... and for Abiathar
the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.
Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying,
May God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah
has not spoken this word against his own life.
Now therefore, as the Lord lives, who has confirmed
me and set me on the throne of David my father,
and who has established a house for me, as he
promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today.
So King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the
son of Jehoiada, and he struck him down, and
he died. And to Abiathar the priest, the king
said, Go to Anatol. to your own fields, for you
are deserving of death. But I will not put you
to death at this time, because you carried the
ark of the Lord God before my father David, and
because you were afflicted every time my father
was afflicted. So Solomon removed Abiathar from
being priest to the Lord, that he might fulfill
the word of the Lord which he spoke concerning
the house of Eli at Shiloh. Then news came to
Joab, for Joab had defected to Adonijah, though
he had not defected to Absalom. So Joab fled
to the tabernacle of the Lord and took hold of
the horns of the altar. And King Solomon was
told, Joab has fled to the tabernacle of the
Lord, there he is by the altar. Then Solomon
sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go
strike him down. So Benaiah went to the tabernacle
of the Lord and said to him, Thus says the king,
Come out. And he said, No, but I will die here.
And Benaiah brought back word to the king, saying,
Thus says Joab, and thus he answered me. Then
the king said to him, Do as he has said, and
strike him down and bury him. that you may take
away from me and from the house of my father
the innocent blood which Joab shed. So the Lord
will return his blood on his head, because he
struck down two men more righteous and better
than he, and killed them with the sword, Abner
the son of Ner, the commander of the army of
Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, the commander
of the army of Judah, though my father David
did not know it. Their blood shall therefore
return upon the head of Joab and upon the head
of his descendants forever. But upon David and
his descendants, upon his house and his throne,
There shall be peace forever from the Lord. So
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and struck
and killed him, and he was buried in his own
house in the wilderness. The king put Benaiah
the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army,
and the king put Zadok the priest in the place
of Abiathar. Then the king sent and called for
Shimei and said to him, Build yourself a house
in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out
from there anywhere, for it shall be on the day
you go out and cross the brook Kidron, know for
certain you shall surely die. Your blood shall
be on your own head. And Shimei said to the king,
The saying is good. As my lord the king has said,
so your servant will do. So Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem
many days. Now it happened at the end of three
years that two slaves of Shimei ran away to Achish
the son of Macca king of Gath. And they told
Shimei saying, Look, your slaves are in Gath.
So Shimei arose, saddled his donkey, and went
to Achish at Gath to seek his slaves. And Shimei
went and brought his slaves from Gath. And Solomon
was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem
to Gath and had come back. Then the king sent
and called for Shimei and said to him, Did I
not make you swear by the Lord and warn you,
saying, Know for certain that on the day you
go out and travel anywhere, you shall surely
die? And he said to me, The word I have heard
is good. Why then have you not kept the oath
of the Lord and the commandment that I gave you?
The king said moreover to Shimei, You know as
your heart acknowledges all the wickedness that
you did to my father David. Therefore the Lord
will return your wickedness on your own head.
But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne
of David shall be established before the Lord
forever. So the king commanded Benaiah the son
of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck him down,
and he died. Thus the kingdom was established
in the hand of Solomon. Now Satan stood up against
Israel, and moved David to number Israel. So
David said to Joab and to the leaders of the
people, Go number Israel from Beersheba to Dan,
and bring the number of them to me that I may
know it. And Joab answered, May the Lord make
his people a hundred times more than they are.
But my lord the king, are they not all my lord's
servants? Why then does my lord require this
thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt in Israel?
Nevertheless, the king's word prevailed against
Joab. Therefore Joab departed and went throughout
all Israel and came to Jerusalem. Then Joab gave
the sum of the number of the people to David.
All Israel had 1 ,100 ,000 men who drew the sword,
and Judah had 470 ,000 men who drew the sword.
But he did not count Levi and Benjamin among
them, for the king's word was abominable to Joab.
And God was displeased with this thing. Therefore
he struck Israel. So David said to God, I have
sinned greatly because I have done this thing.
But now I pray, take away the iniquity of your
servant, for I have done very foolishly. Then
the Lord said to Gad, David's seer. saying go
and tell David saying thus says the Lord I offer
you three things choose one of them for yourself
that I may do it to you so Gad came to David
and said to him thus says the Lord choose for
yourself either three years of famine or three
months to be defeated by your foes with the sword
of your enemies overtaking you or else for three
days the sword of the Lord the plague in the
land with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout
all the territory of Israel now consider what
answer I should take back to him who sent me
And David said to Gad, I am in great distress.
Please let me fall into the hand of the Lord,
for his mercies are very great, but do not let
me fall into the hand of man. So the Lord sent
a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men
of Israel fell. And God sent an angel to Jerusalem
to destroy it. As he was destroying, the Lord
looked and relented of the disaster, and said
to the angel who was destroying, It is enough.
Now restrain your hand. And the angel of the
Lord stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the
Jebusite. Then David lifted his eyes and saw
the angel of the Lord standing between earth
and heaven, having in his hand a drawn sword
stretched out over Jerusalem. So David and the
elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces.
And David said to God, Was it not I who commanded
the people to be numbered? I am the one who has
sinned and done evil indeed. But these sheep,
what have they done? Let your hand, I pray, O
Lord my God, be against me and my father's house,
but not against your people, that they should
be plagued. Therefore the angel of the Lord commanded
Gad to say to David that David should go and
erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor
of Ornan the Jebusite. So David went up at the
word of Gad, which he had spoken in the name
of the Lord. Now Ornan turned and saw the angel,
and his four sons who were with him hid themselves.
But Ornan continued threshing wheat. So David
came to Ornan, and Ornan looked and saw David.
And he went out from the threshing floor and
bowed before David with his face to the ground.
Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place
of this threshing floor, that I may build an
altar on it to the Lord. You shall grant it to
me at the full price, that the plague may be
withdrawn from the people. But Ornan said to
David, Take it to yourself and let my lord the
king do what is good in his eyes. Look, I also
give you the oxen for burnt offerings, the threshing
implements for wood, and the wheat for the grain
offering. I give it all. Then King David said
to Ornan, No, but I will surely buy it for the
full price, for I will not take what is yours
for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings with
that which cost me nothing. So David gave Ornan
six hundred shekels of gold by weight for the
place. And David built there an altar to the
Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings,
and called on the Lord. And he answered him from
heaven by fire on the altar of burnt offering.
So the Lord commanded the angel, and he returned
his sword to its sheath. At that time, when David
saw that the Lord had answered him on the threshing
floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there.
For the tabernacle of the Lord and the altar
of the burnt offering which Moses had made in
the wilderness were at that time at the high
place in Gibeon. But David could not go before
it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the
sword of the angel of the Lord. I hope you enjoyed
today's reading as much as I did. And I look
forward to seeing you again tomorrow to continue
on our journey. God bless you and have a great
day.