1 Kings 2:1-12

When David’s time to die approached, he gave instructions to Solomon his son, saying, “I am going the way of all the earth [as dust to dust]. Be strong and prove yourself a man. Keep the charge of the LORD your God, [that is, fulfill your obligation to] walk in His ways, keep His statutes, His commandments, His precepts, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, so that you may succeed in everything that you do and wherever you turn, so that the LORD may fulfill His promise concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons are careful regarding their way [of life], to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and mind and with all their soul, you shall not fail to have a man (descendant) on the throne of Israel.’ Now you also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah [my sister] did to me, and what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner and to Amasa the son of Jether, [both of] whom he murdered; avenging the blood of war in [a time of] peace. And he put the [innocent] blood of war [of Abner and Amasa] on his belt that was around his waist, and on his sandals on his feet. So act in accordance with your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to Sheol (the place of the dead) in peace. But be gracious and kind to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who [have the honor to] eat at your table; for they met me [with kindness] when I fled from your brother Absalom. [2 Sam 17:27-29] And look, you have with you Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite of Bahurim; he is the one who cursed me with a sinister curse the day I went to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at the Jordan [on my return], and I swore to him by the LORD, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ But now do not let him go unpunished, for you are a wise man; and you will know what to do to him, and you will bring his gray head down to Sheol [covered] with blood.” So David lay down with his fathers [in death] and was buried in the City of David. The time that David reigned over Israel was forty years: he reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. Then Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established.

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