Solomon & The Temple

Then king Solomon swore by the Lord, saying: So and so may God do to me, and add more, if Adonias hath not spoken this word against his own life.

And now, as the Lord liveth, who hath established me, and placed me upon the throne of David, my father, and who hath made me a house, as he promised, Adonias shall be put to death this day.

And king Solomon sent by the hand of Banaias, the son of Joiada, who slew him, and he died.

And the king said also to Abiathar, the priest: Go to Anathoth, to thy lands, for indeed thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou didst carry the ark of the Lord God before David, my father, and hast endured trouble in all the troubles my father endured.

So Solomon cast out Abiathar from being the priest of the Lord, that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he spoke concerning the house of Heli in Silo.

And the news came to Joab, because Joab had turned after Adonias, and had not turned after Solomon: and Joab fled into the tabernacle of the Lord, and took hold on the horn of the altar.

And it was told king Solomon, that Joab was fled into the tabernacle of the Lord, and was by the altar: and Solomon sent Banaias, the son of Joiada, saying. Go, kill him.

And Banaias came to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him: Thus saith the king: Come forth. And he said: I will not come forth, but here I will die. Banaias brought word back to the king, saying: Thus saith Joab, and thus he answered me.

And the king said to him: Do as he hath said; and kill him, and bury him, and thou shalt remove the innocent blood which hath been shed by Joab, from me, and from the house of my father:

And the Lord shall return his blood upon his own head; because he murdered two men, just and better than himself: and slew them with the sword, my father, David, not knowing it; Abner, the son of Ner, general of the army of Israel, and Amasa, the son of Jether general of the army of Juda;

And their blood shall return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever. But to David and his seed, and his house, and to his throne, be peace for ever from the Lord.

So Banaias, the son of Joiada, went up, and setting upon him slew him, and he was buried in his house in the desert.

And the king appointed Banaias, the son of Joiada in his room over the army; and Sadoc, the priest, he put in the place of Abiathar.

The king also sent, and called for Semei, and said to him: Build thee a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there: and go not out from thence any where.

For on what day soever thou shalt go out, and shalt pass over the brook Cedron, know that thou shalt be put to death: thy blood shall be upon thy own head.

And Semei said to the king: The saying is good: as my lord the king hath said, so will thy servant do. And Semei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.

And it came to pass after three years, that the servants of Semei ran away to Achis, the son of Maacha, the king of Geth: and it was told Semei that his servants were gone to Geth.

And Semei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Achis, to Geth, to seek his servants, and he brought them out of Geth.

And it was told Solomon, that Semei had gone from Jerusalem to Geth, and was come back.

And sending he called for him, and said to him: Did I not protest to thee by the Lord, and tell thee before: On what day soever thou shalt go out and walk abroad any where, know that thou shalt die? And thou answeredst me: The word that I have heard is good.

Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the Lord, and the commandment that I laid upon thee?

And the king said to Semei: Thou knowest all the evil, of which thy heart is conscious, which thou didst to David, my father: the Lord hath returned thy wickedness upon thy own head.

And king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord for ever.

So the king commanded Banaias, the son of Joiada: and he went out and struck him; and he died.

And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon, and he made affinity with Pharao, the king of Egypt: for he took his daughter, and brought her into the city of David: until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.