1 Kings 1:36-53
1:36 Benaiah son of Jehoiada responded
to the king: “So be it!
May the
Lord God of my master the king confirm it!
1:37 As the
Lord is with my master the king, so may he be with Solomon, and may he make him an even greater king than my master King David!”
1:38 So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites, and the Pelethites went down, put Solomon on King David’s mule, and led him to Gihon.
1:39 Zadok the priest took a horn filled with olive oil from the tent and poured it on Solomon; the trumpet was blown and all the people declared, “Long live King Solomon!”
1:40 All the people followed him up, playing flutes and celebrating so loudly they made the ground shake.
1:41 Now Adonijah and all his guests heard the commotion just as they had finished eating. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he asked, “Why is there such a noisy commotion in the city?”
1:42 As he was still speaking, Jonathan son of Abiathar the priest arrived. Adonijah said, “Come in, for an important man like you must be bringing good news.”
1:43 Jonathan replied to Adonijah: “No! Our master King David has made Solomon king.
1:44 The king sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites, and the Pelethites and they put him on the king’s mule.
1:45 Then Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed him king in Gihon. They went up from there rejoicing, and the city is in an uproar. That is the sound you hear.
1:46 Furthermore, Solomon has assumed the royal throne.
1:47 The king’s servants have even come to congratulate our master King David, saying, ‘May your God make Solomon more famous than you and make him an even greater king than you!’ Then the king leaned on the bed
1:48 and said this: ‘The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because today he has placed a successor on my throne and allowed me to see it.’”
1:49 All of Adonijah’s guests panicked; they jumped up and rushed off their separate ways.
1:50 Adonijah feared Solomon, so he got up and went and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar.
1:51 Solomon was told, “Look, Adonijah fears you; see, he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘May King Solomon solemnly promise me today that he will not kill his servant with the sword.’”
1:52 Solomon said, “If he is a loyal subject, not a hair of his head will be harmed, but if he is found to be a traitor, he will die.”
1:53 King Solomon sent men to bring him down from the altar. He came and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon told him, “Go home.”