The Daily Audio Bible

2 And draw near do the days of David to die, and he chargeth Solomon his son, saying,

² `I am going in the way of all the earth, and thou hast been strong, and become a man,

³ and kept the charge of Jehovah thy God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commands, and His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, so that thou dost wisely all that thou dost, and whithersoever thou turnest,

⁴ so that Jehovah doth establish His word which He spake unto me, saying, If thy sons observe their way to walk before Me in truth, with all their heart, and with all their soul; saying, There is not cut off a man of thine from the throne of Israel.

⁵ `And also, thou hast known that which he did to me -- Joab son of Zeruiah -- that which he did to two heads of the hosts of Israel, to Abner son of Ner, and to Amasa son of Jether -- that he slayeth them, and maketh the blood of war in peace, and putteth the blood of war in his girdle, that [is] on his loins, and in his sandals that [are] on his feet;

⁶ and thou hast done according to thy wisdom, and dost not let his old age go down in peace to Sheol.

⁷ `And to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite thou dost do kindness, and they have been among those eating at thy table, for so they drew near unto me in my fleeing from the face of Absalom thy brother.

⁸ `And lo, with thee [is] Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite of Bahurim, and he reviled me -- a grievous reviling -- in the day of my going to Mahanaim; and he hath come down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swear to him by Jehovah, saying, I do not put thee to death by the sword;

⁹ and now, acquit him not, for a wise man thou [art], and thou hast known that which thou dost to him, and hast brought down his old age with blood to Sheol.'

¹⁰ And David lieth down with his fathers, and is buried in the city of David,

¹¹ and the days that David hath reigned over Israel [are] forty years, in Hebron he hath reigned seven years, and in Jerusalem he hath reigned thirty and three years.

¹² And Solomon hath sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom is established greatly,

¹³ and Adonijah son of Haggith cometh in unto Bath-Sheba, mother of Solomon, and she saith, `Is thy coming peace?' and he saith, `Peace.'

¹⁴ And he saith, `I have a word unto thee,' and she saith, `Speak.'

¹⁵ And he saith, `Thou hast known that the kingdom was mine, and towards me set their faces had all Israel for reigning, and the kingdom is turned round about, and is my brother's, for from Jehovah it was his;

¹⁶ and now, one petition I am asking of thee -- turn not back my face;' and she saith unto him, `Speak.'

¹⁷ And he saith, `Speak, I pray thee, to Solomon the king, for he doth not turn back thy face, and he doth give to me Abishag the Shunammite for a wife.'

¹⁸ And Bath-Sheba saith, `Good; I do speak for thee unto the king.'

¹⁹ And Bath-Sheba cometh in unto king Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, and the king riseth to meet her, and boweth himself to her, and sitteth on his throne, and placeth a throne for the mother of the king, and she sitteth at his right hand.

²⁰ And she saith, `One small petition I ask of thee, turn not back my face;' and the king saith to her, `Ask, my mother, for I do not turn back thy face.'

²¹ And she saith, `Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother for a wife.'

²² And king Solomon answereth and saith to his mother, `And why art thou asking Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? also ask for him the kingdom -- for he [is] mine elder brother -- even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab son of Zeruiah.'

²³ And king Solomon sweareth by Jehovah, saying, `Thus doth God to me, and thus He doth add -- surely against his soul hath Adonijah spoken this word;

²⁴ and now, Jehovah liveth, who hath established me, and causeth me to sit on the throne of David my father, and who hath made for me an house as He spake -- surely to-day is Adonijah put to death.'

²⁵ And king Solomon sendeth by the hand of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he falleth upon him, and he dieth.

²⁶ And to Abiathar the priest said the king, `To Anathoth go, unto thy fields; for a man of death thou [art], but in this day I do not put thee to death, because thou hast borne the ark of the Lord Jehovah before David my father, and because thou wast afflicted in all that my father was afflicted in.'

²⁷ And Solomon casteth out Abiathar from being priest to Jehovah, to fulfil the word of Jehovah which He spake concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

²⁸ And the report hath come unto Joab -- for Joab hath turned aside after Adonijah, though after Absalom he did not turn aside -- and Joab fleeth unto the tent of Jehovah, and layeth hold on the horns of the altar.

²⁹ And it is declared to king Solomon that Joab hath fled unto the tent of Jehovah, and lo, near the altar; and Solomon sendeth Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying, `Go, fall upon him.'

³⁰ And Benaiah cometh in unto the tent of Jehovah, and saith unto him, `Thus said the king, Come out;' and he saith, `Nay, but here I die.' And Benaiah bringeth back the king word, saying, `Thus spake Joab, yea, thus he answered me.'

³¹ And the king saith to him, `Do as he hath spoken, and fall upon him, and thou hast buried him, and turned aside the causeless blood which Joab shed, from off me, and from off the house of my father;

³² and Jehovah hath turned back his blood on his own head, who hath fallen on two men more righteous and better than he, and slayeth them with the sword, -- and my father David knew not -- Abner son of Ner, head of the host of Israel, and Amasa son of Jether, head of the host of Judah;

³³ yea, turned back hath their blood on the head of Joab, and on the head of his seed to the age; and for David, and for his seed, and for his house, and for his throne, there is peace unto the age, from Jehovah.'

³⁴ And Benaiah son of Jehoiada goeth up and falleth upon him, and putteth him to death, and he is buried in his own house in the wilderness,

³⁵ and the king putteth Benaiah son of Jehoiada in his stead over the host, and Zadok the priest hath the king put in the stead of Abiathar.

³⁶ And the king sendeth and calleth for Shimei, and saith to him, `Build for thee a house in Jerusalem, and thou hast dwelt there, and dost not go out thence any where;

³⁷ and it hath been, in the day of thy going out, and thou hast passed over the brook Kidron, thou dost certainly know that thou dost surely die -- thy blood is on thy head.'

³⁸ And Shimei saith to the king, `The word [is] good; as my lord the king hath spoken so doth thy servant do;' and Shimei dwelleth in Jerusalem many days.

³⁹ And it cometh to pass, at the end of three years, that flee do two of the servants of Shimei unto Achish son of Maachah, king of Gath, and they declare to Shimei, saying, `Lo, thy servants [are] in Gath;'

⁴⁰ and Shimei riseth, and saddleth his ass, and goeth to Gath, unto Achish, to seek his servants, and Shimei goeth and bringeth his servants from Gath.

⁴¹ And it is declared to Solomon that Shimei hath gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and doth return,

⁴² and the king sendeth and calleth for Shimei, and saith unto him, `Have I not caused thee to swear by Jehovah -- and I testify against thee, saying, In the day of thy going out, and thou hast gone anywhere, thou dost certainly know that thou dost surely die; and thou sayest unto me, The word I have heard [is] good?

⁴³ and wherefore hast thou not kept the oath of Jehovah, and the charge that I charged upon thee?'

⁴⁴ And the king saith unto Shimei, `Thou hast known all the evil that thy heart hath known, which thou didest to David my father, and Jehovah hath turned back thine evil on thy head,

⁴⁵ and king Solomon [is] blessed, and the throne of David is established before Jehovah unto the age.'

⁴⁶ And the king chargeth Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he goeth out and falleth on him, and he dieth, and the kingdom is established in the hand of Solomon.

3 And Solomon joineth in marriage with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and taketh the daughter of Pharaoh, and bringeth her in unto the city of David, till he completeth to build his own house, and the house of Jehovah, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.

² Only, the people are sacrificing in high places, for there hath not been built a house for the name of Jehovah till those days.

5 And a certain man, Ananias by name, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,

² and did keep back of the price -- his wife also knowing -- and having brought a certain part, at the feet of the apostles he laid [it].

³ And Peter said, `Ananias, wherefore did the Adversary fill thy heart, for thee to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back of the price of the place?

⁴ while it remained, did it not remain thine? and having been sold, in thy authority was it not? why [is] it that thou didst put in thy heart this thing? thou didst not lie to men, but to God;'

⁵ and Ananias hearing these words, having fallen down, did expire, and great fear came upon all who heard these things,

⁶ and having risen, the younger men wound him up, and having carried forth, they buried [him].

⁷ And it came to pass, about three hours after, that his wife, not knowing what hath happened, came in,

⁸ and Peter answered her, `Tell me if for so much ye sold the place;' and she said, `Yes, for so much.'

⁹ And Peter said unto her, `How was it agreed by you, to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? lo, the feet of those who did bury thy husband [are] at the door, and they shall carry thee forth;'

¹⁰ and she fell down presently at his feet, and expired, and the young men having come in, found her dead, and having carried forth, they buried [her] by her husband;

¹¹ and great fear came upon all the assembly, and upon all who heard these things.

¹² And through the hands of the apostles came many signs and wonders among the people, and they were with one accord all in the porch of Solomon;

¹³ and of the rest no one was daring to join himself to them, but the people were magnifying them,

¹⁴ (and the more were believers added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women,)

¹⁵ so as into the broad places to bring forth the ailing, and to lay [them] upon couches and mats, that at the coming of Peter, even [his] shadow might overshadow some one of them;

¹⁶ and there were coming together also the people of the cities round about to Jerusalem, bearing ailing persons, and those harassed by unclean spirits -- who were all healed.

¹⁷ And having risen, the chief priest, and all those with him -- being the sect of the Sadducees -- were filled with zeal,

¹⁸ and laid their hands upon the apostles, and did put them in a public prison;

¹⁹ and a messenger of the Lord through the night opened the doors of the prison, having also brought them forth, he said,

²⁰ `Go on, and standing, speak in the temple to the people all the sayings of this life;'

²¹ and having heard, they did enter at the dawn into the temple, and were teaching. And the chief priest having come, and those with him, they called together the sanhedrim and all the senate of the sons of Israel, and they sent to the prison to have them brought,

²² and the officers having come, did not find them in the prison, and having turned back, they told,

²³ saying -- `The prison indeed we found shut in all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors, and having opened -- within we found no one.'

²⁴ And as the priest, and the magistrate of the temple, and the chief priests, heard these words, they were doubting concerning them to what this would come;

²⁵ and coming near, a certain one told them, saying -- `Lo, the men whom ye did put in the prison are in the temple standing and teaching the people;'

²⁶ then the magistrate having gone away with officers, brought them without violence, for they were fearing the people, lest they should be stoned;

²⁷ and having brought them, they set [them] in the sanhedrim, and the chief priest questioned them,

²⁸ saying, `Did not we strictly command you not to teach in this name? and lo, ye have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and ye intend to bring upon us the blood of this man.'

²⁹ And Peter and the apostles answering, said, `To obey God it behoveth, rather than men;

³⁰ and the God of our fathers did raise up Jesus, whom ye slew, having hanged upon a tree;

³¹ this one God, a Prince and a Saviour, hath exalted with His right hand, to give reformation to Israel, and forgiveness of sins;

³² and we are His witnesses of these sayings, and the Holy Spirit also, whom God gave to those obeying him.'

³³ And they having heard, were cut [to the heart], and were taking counsel to slay them,

³⁴ but a certain one, having risen up in the sanhedrim -- a Pharisee, by name Gamaliel, a teacher of law honoured by all the people -- commanded to put the apostles forth a little,

³⁵ and said unto them, `Men, Israelites, take heed to yourselves about these men, what ye are about to do,

³⁶ for before these days rose up Theudas, saying, that himself was some one, to whom a number of men did join themselves, as it were four hundred, who was slain, and all, as many as were obeying him, were scattered, and came to nought.

³⁷ `After this one rose up, Judas the Galilean, in the days of the enrollment, and drew away much people after him, and that one perished, and all, as many as were obeying him, were scattered;

³⁸ and now I say to you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone, because if this counsel or this work may be of men, it will be overthrown,

³⁹ and if it be of God, ye are not able to overthrow it, lest perhaps also ye be found fighting against God.'

⁴⁰ And to him they agreed, and having called near the apostles, having beaten [them], they commanded [them] not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go;

⁴¹ they, indeed, then, departed from the presence of the sanhedrim, rejoicing that for his name they were counted worthy to suffer dishonour,

⁴² every day also in the temple, and in every house, they were not ceasing teaching and proclaiming good news -- Jesus the Christ.

125 A Song of the Ascents. Those trusting in Jehovah [are] as Mount Zion, It is not moved -- to the age it abideth.

² Jerusalem! mountains [are] round about her, And Jehovah [is] round about His people, From henceforth even unto the age.

³ For the rod of wickedness resteth not On the lot of the righteous, That the righteous put not forth on iniquity their hands.

⁴ Do good, O Jehovah, to the good, And to the upright in their hearts.

⁵ As to those turning [to] their crooked ways, Jehovah causeth them to go with workers of iniquity. Peace on Israel!

²⁵ There is a way right before a man, And its latter end -- ways of death.