Adonijah

the fourth, Adoniyah the son of Haggit; the fifth, Sh'fatyah the son of Avital;

Adoniyah the son of Haggit was beginning to claim that he would be king; to this end he organized chariots and horsemen, with fifty men to run ahead of him.

He conferred with Yo'av the son of Tz'ruyah and Evyatar the cohen; and they both supported Adoniyah.

But Tzadok the cohen, B'nayah the son of Y'hoyada, Natan the prophet, Shim'i, Re'i and David's elite guard were not on Adoniyah's side.

One day Adoniyah killed sheep, oxen and fattened calves at the Stone of Zochelet, by 'Ein-Rogel. He summoned all his brothers the king's sons, and all the men of Y'hudah the king's servants;

Natan went to Bat-Sheva the mother of Shlomo and said, "Haven't you heard that Adoniyah the son of Haggit has become king without the knowledge of David our lord?

Go, get in to see King David, and say to him, 'My lord, king, didn't you swear to your servant, "Your son Shlomo will be king after me; he will sit on my throne"? So why is Adoniyah king?'

But now, here is Adoniyah ruling as king; and you, my lord the king, don't know anything about it.

Natan said, "My lord king, did you say, 'Adoniyah is to be king after me; he will sit on my throne'?

For he has gone down today and killed oxen, fattened calves and sheep in great numbers; and he has summoned all the king's sons, the commanders of the army and Evyatar the cohen; right now they are eating and drinking in his presence and proclaiming, 'Long live King Adoniyah!'

Adoniyah and all his guests heard it while they were finishing their meal; but it was Yo'av who, when he heard the blast on the shofar, asked, "That noise - what's the meaning of this uproar in the city?"

While he was still speaking, there came Yonatan the son of Evyatar the cohen. Adoniyah said, "Come in! You're a worthy man, so you must be bringing good news!"

Yonatan answered Adoniyah, "The truth is, our lord King David has made Shlomo king.

At this all Adoniyah's guests grew frightened; they got up, everyone going his own way.

Adoniyah too was afraid because of Shlomo; he got up, went and took hold of the horns of the altar.

Shlomo was told, "Here, Adoniyah is terrified of King Shlomo; he has grabbed hold of the horns of the altar and is saying, 'First let King Shlomo swear to me that he will not have his servant executed.'"

when Adoniyah the son of Haggit came to Bat-Sheva the mother of Shlomo. She asked, "Have you come as a friend?" He answered, "Yes, as a friend."

So Bat-Sheva went to King Shlomo to speak to him on behalf of Adoniyah. The king rose to meet her and bowed down to her. Then he sat down on his throne and had a throne set up for the king's mother, so that she sat at his right.

She said, "Let Avishag the Shunamit be given to Adoniyah your brother as his wife."

King Shlomo answered his mother, "Why are you asking Avishag the Shunamit for Adoniyah? Ask the kingdom for him too! After all, he's my older brother! Yes, for him, and for Evyatar the cohen and for Yo'av the son of Tz'ruyah!"

Then King Shlomo swore by ADONAI, "May God do terrible things to me and worse if Adoniyah hasn't condemned himself to death with this request!

Now therefore, as ADONAI lives, who has established me, put me on the throne of David my father and set up a dynasty for me, as he promised, Adoniyah will certainly be put to death today."

When the news came to Yo'av, he fled to the tent of ADONAI and took hold of the horns of the altar; for Yo'av had given his support to Adoniyah, even though he had not supported Avshalom.

the third, Avshalom, the son of Ma'akhah the daughter of Talmai king of G'shur; the fourth, Adoniyah the son of Haggit;