1 Kings 1:5-25 — Legacy Standard Bible

⁵Now ^aAdonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” So ^bhe prepared for himself a chariot and horsemen and fifty men as runners before him. ⁶But his father had never ¹grieved him at any time by asking, “Why have you done so?” And he was also a very handsome man in form, and ²^,^ahe was born after Absalom. ⁷¹And he had conferred with ^aJoab the son of Zeruiah and with ^bAbiathar the priest; and following ^cAdonijah, they helped him. ⁸But ^aZadok the priest, ^bBenaiah the son of Jehoiada, ^cNathan the prophet, ^dShimei, Rei, and ^ethe mighty men who belonged to David, were not with Adonijah.

⁹And Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fatlings by the ¹stone of Zoheleth, which is beside ^aEn-rogel; and he invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the king’s servants. ¹⁰But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the mighty men, and ^aSolomon his brother.

Nathan Speaks to Bathsheba

¹¹Then Nathan spoke to ^aBathsheba 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? ¹²“So now come, please let me ^agive you counsel and provide escape for your life and the life of your son Solomon. ¹³“Go ¹at once to King David and say to him, ‘Have you not, my lord, O king, sworn to your maidservant, saying, “^aSurely Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’ ¹⁴“Behold, while you are still there speaking with the king, I will come in after you and fully confirm your words.”

¹⁵So Bathsheba went in to the king in the bedroom. Now ^athe king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was ministering to the king. ¹⁶Then Bathsheba bowed and prostrated herself ¹before the king. And the king said, “What ²do you wish?” ¹⁷And she said to him, “My lord, you swore to your maidservant by ¹Yahweh your God, saying, ‘^aSurely your son Solomon shall be king after me and he shall sit on my throne.’ ¹⁸“But now, behold, Adonijah is king; and now, my lord the king, you do not know it. ¹⁹“^aAnd he has sacrificed oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the king and Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army, but he has not invited Solomon your servant. ²⁰“As for you now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. ²¹“Otherwise it will be, ^aas soon as my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be considered ¹offenders.”

²²Behold, while she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in. ²³Then they told the king, saying, “Here is Nathan the prophet.” And then he came in before the king and prostrated himself ¹before the king with his ²face to the ground. ²⁴Then Nathan said, “My lord the king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne’? ²⁵“^aFor he has gone down today and has sacrificed oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s sons and the commanders of the army and Abiathar the priest, and behold, they are eating and drinking before him; and they say, ‘^bLong live King Adonijah!’