This text is part of:
Search the Perseus Catalog for:
View text chunked by:
[351]
Now, as Bathsheba was speaking, the keeper of the king's chambers
told him that Nathan desired to see him. And when the king had commanded
that he should be admitted, he came in, and asked him whether he had ordained
Adonijah to be king, and delivered the government to him, or not; for that
he had made a splendid supper, and invited all his sons, except Solomon;
as also that he had invited Joab, the captain of his host, [and Abiathar
the high priest,] who are feasting with applauses, and many joyful sounds
of instruments, and wish that his kingdom may last for ever; but he hath
not invited me, nor Zadok the high priest, nor Benaiah the captain
of the guards; and it is but fit that all should know whether this be done
by thy approbation or not. When Nathan had said thus, the king commanded
that they should call Bathsheba to him, for she had gone out of the room
when the prophet came. And when Bathsheba was come, David said, "I
swear by Almighty God, that thy son Solomon shall certainly he king, as
I formerly swore; and that he shall sit upon my throne, and that this very
day also." So Bathsheba worshipped him, and wished him a long life;
and the king sent for Zadok the high priest, and Benaiah the captain of
the guards; and when they were come, he ordered them to take with them
Nathan the prophet, and all the armed men about the palace, and to set
his son Solomon upon the king's mule, and to carry him out of the city
to the fountain called Gihon, and to anoint him there with the holy oil,
and to make him king. This he charged Zadok the high priest, and Nathan
the prophet, to do, and commanded them to follow Solomon through the midst
of the city, and to sound the trumpets, and wish aloud that Solomon the
king may sit upon the royal throne for ever, that so all the people may
know that he is ordained king by his father. He also gave Solomon a charge
concerning his government, to rule the whole nation of the Hebrews, and
particularly the tribe of Judah, religiously and righteously. And when
Benaiah had prayed to God to be favorable to Solomon, without any delay
they set Solomon upon the mule, and brought him out of the city to the
fountain, and anointed him with oil, and brought him into the city again,
with acclamations and wishes that his kingdom might continue a long time:
and when they had introduced him into the king's house, they set him upon
the throne; whereupon all the people betook themselves to make merry, and
to celebrate a festival, dancing and delighting themselves with musical
pipes, till both the earth and the air echoed with the multitude of the
instruments of music.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.