Nathan said to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, “Has it been reported to you ¹  that Haggith’s son Adonijah has become king behind our master David’s back? ² 

Visit ¹  King David and say to him, ‘My master, O king, did you not solemnly promise ²  your servant, “Surely your son Solomon will be king after me; he will sit on my throne”? So why has Adonijah become king?’

I will keep ¹  today the oath I swore to you by the Lord God of Israel: ‘Surely Solomon your son will be king after me; he will sit in my place on my throne.’”

The king’s servants have even come to congratulate ¹  our master ²  King David, saying, ‘May your God ³  make Solomon more famous than you and make him an even greater king than you!’ ⁴  Then the king leaned ⁵  on the bed

“Note well, you still have to contend with Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, ¹  who tried to call down upon me a horrible judgment when I went to Mahanaim. ²  He came down and met me at the Jordan, and I solemnly promised ³  him by the Lord, ‘I will not strike you down ⁴  with the sword.’

When King Solomon heard ¹  that Joab had run to the tent of the Lord and was right there beside the altar, he ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada, ²  “Go, strike him down.”

When Benaiah arrived at the tent of the Lord, he said to him, “The king says, ‘Come out!’” But he replied, “No, I will die here!” So Benaiah sent word to the king and reported Joab’s reply. ¹ 

Three years later two of Shimei’s servants ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, “Look, your servants are in Gath.”

the king summoned ¹  Shimei and said to him, “You will recall ²  that I made you take an oath by the Lord, and I solemnly warned you, ‘If you ever leave and go anywhere, ³  know for sure that you will certainly die.’ You said to me, ‘The proposal is acceptable; I agree to it.’ ⁴ 

So I have decided ¹  to build a temple to honor the Lord ²  my God, as the Lord instructed my father David, ‘Your son, whom I will put on your throne in your place, is the one who will build a temple to honor me.’ ³ 

Hiram then sent this message to Solomon: “I received ¹  the message you sent to me. I will give you all the cedars and evergreens you need. ² 

Then I will allow your dynasty to rule over Israel permanently, ¹  just as I promised your father David, ‘You will not fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’ ² 

King Rehoboam consulted with the older advisers who had served ¹  his father Solomon when he had been alive. He asked them, ²  “How do you advise me to answer these people?”

They said to him, “Today if you show a willingness to help these people and grant their request, they will be your servants from this time forward.” ¹ 

He asked them, “How do you advise me ¹  to respond to these people who said to me, ‘Lessen the demands your father placed on us’?” ² 

and followed ¹  the advice of the younger ones. He said, “My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier. ²  My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh.” ³ 

When the king heard what the prophet ¹  cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam, standing at the altar, extended his hand ²  and ordered, ³  “Seize him!” The hand he had extended shriveled up ⁴  and he could not pull it back.

The old prophet then said, ¹  “I too am a prophet like you. An angel told me with the Lord’s authority, ²  ‘Bring him back with you to your house so he can eat and drink.’” ³  But he was lying to him. ⁴ 

and he cried out to the prophet from Judah, “This is what the Lord says, ‘You ¹  have rebelled against the Lord ²  and have not obeyed the command the Lord your God gave you.

After he buried him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the tomb where the prophet ¹  is buried; put my bones right beside his bones,