Wisdom's Foundation, Kingdoms Rise and Fall

1. Now king David was old and advanced in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he couldn’t keep warm. 2. Therefore his servants said to him, “Let a young virgin be sought for my lord the king. Let her stand before the king, and cherish him; and let her lie in your bosom, that my lord the king may keep warm.” 3. So they sought for a beautiful young lady throughout all the borders of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 4. The young lady was very beautiful; and she cherished the king, and served him; but the king didn’t know her intimately. 5. Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” Then he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. 6. His father had not displeased him at any time in saying, “Why have you done so?” and he was also a very handsome man; and he was born after Absalom. 7. He conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest; and they followed Adonijah and helped him. 8. But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and the mighty men who belonged to David, were not with Adonijah. 9. Adonijah killed sheep, cattle, and fatlings by the stone of Zoheleth, which is beside En Rogel; and he called all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the king’s servants; 10. but he didn’t call Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother. 11. Then Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, “Haven’t you heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith reigns, and David our lord doesn’t know it? 12. Now therefore come, please let me give you counsel, that you may save your own life, and your son Solomon’s life. 13. Go in to king David, and tell him, ‘Didn’t you, my lord, king, swear to your servant, saying, “Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne?” Why then does Adonijah reign?’ 14. Behold, while you are still talking there with the king, I will also come in after you and confirm your words.” 15. Bathsheba went in to the king in his room. The king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite was serving the king. 16. Bathsheba bowed, and showed respect to the king. The king said, “What would you like?” 17. She said to him, “My lord, you swore by Yahweh your God to your servant, ‘Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.’ 18. Now, behold, Adonijah reigns; and you, my lord the king, don’t know it. 19. He has slain cattle and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has called all the sons of the king, Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the army; but he hasn’t called Solomon your servant. 20. You, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, that you should tell them who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. 21. Otherwise it will happen, when my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be considered criminals.” 22. Behold, while she was still talking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in. 23. They told the king, saying, “Behold, Nathan the prophet!” When he had come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground. 24. Nathan said, “My lord, king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne?’ 25. For he has gone down today, and has slain cattle, fatlings, and sheep in abundance, and has called all the king’s sons, the captains of the army, and Abiathar the priest. Behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and saying, ‘Long live king Adonijah!’ 26. But he hasn’t called me, even me your servant, Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon. 27. Was this thing done by my lord the king, and you haven’t shown to your servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?” 28. Then king David answered, “Call Bathsheba in to me.” She came into the king’s presence and stood before the king. 29. The king swore, and said, “As Yahweh lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity, 30. most certainly as I swore to you by Yahweh, the God of Israel, saying, ‘Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place;’ I will most certainly do this today.” 31. Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and showed respect to the king, and said, “Let my lord king David live forever!” 32. King David said, “Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” They came before the king. 33. The king said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon. 34. Let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel. Blow the trumpet, and say, ‘Long live king Solomon!’ 35. Then come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne; for he shall be king in my place. I have appointed him to be prince over Israel and over Judah.” 36. Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, “Amen. May Yahweh, the God of my lord the king, say so. 37. As Yahweh has been with my lord the king, even so may he be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king David.” 38. So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on king David’s mule, and brought him to Gihon. 39. Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the Tent, and anointed Solomon. They blew the trumpet; and all the people said, “Long live king Solomon!” 40. All the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth shook with their sound. 41. Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they had finished eating. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, “Why is this noise of the city being in an uproar?” 42. While he yet spoke, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came; and Adonijah said, “Come in; for you are a worthy man, and bring good news.” 43. Jonathan answered Adonijah, “Most certainly our lord king David has made Solomon king. 44. The king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and they have caused him to ride on the king’s mule. 45. Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon. They have come up from there rejoicing, so that the city rang again. This is the noise that you have heard. 46. Also, Solomon sits on the throne of the kingdom. 47. Moreover the king’s servants came to bless our lord king David, saying, ‘May your God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and make his throne greater than your throne;’ and the king bowed himself on the bed. 48. Also thus said the king, ‘Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who has given one to sit on my throne today, my eyes even seeing it.’” 49. All the guests of Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and each man went his way. 50. Adonijah was afraid because of Solomon; and he arose, and went, and hung onto the horns of the altar. 51. Solomon was told, “Behold, Adonijah fears king Solomon; for, behold, he is hanging onto the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let king Solomon swear to me first that he will not kill his servant with the sword.’” 52. Solomon said, “If he shows himself a worthy man, not a hair of his shall fall to the earth; but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.” 53. So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. He came and bowed down to king Solomon; and Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.” 1. Now the days of David came near that he should die; and he commanded Solomon his son, saying, 2. “I am going the way of all the earth. You be strong therefore, and show yourself a man; 3. and keep the instruction of Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, according to that which is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do, and wherever you turn yourself. 4. Then Yahweh may establish his word which he spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your children are careful of their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail you,’ he said, ‘a man on the throne of Israel.’ 5. “Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, even what he did to the two captains of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war on his sash that was around his waist, and in his shoes that were on his feet. 6. Do therefore according to your wisdom, and don’t let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace. 7. But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table; for so they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother. 8. “Behold, there is with you Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim; but he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by Yahweh, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ 9. Now therefore don’t hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man; and you will know what you ought to do to him, and you shall bring his gray head down to Sheol with blood.” 10. David slept with his fathers, and was buried in David’s city. 11. The days that David reigned over Israel were forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 12. Solomon sat on David his father’s throne; and his kingdom was firmly established. 13. Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. She said, “Do you come peaceably?” He said, “Peaceably. 14. He said moreover, I have something to tell you.” She said, “Say on.” 15. He said, “You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign. However the kingdom is turned around, and has become my brother’s; for it was his from Yahweh. 16. Now I ask one petition of you. Don’t deny me.” She said to him, “Say on.” 17. He said, “Please speak to Solomon the king (for he will not tell you ‘no’), that he give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife.” 18. Bathsheba said, “Alright. I will speak for you to the king.” 19. Bathsheba therefore went to king Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. The king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself to her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a throne to be set for the king’s mother; and she sat on his right hand. 20. Then she said, “I ask one small petition of you; don’t deny me.” The king said to her, “Ask on, my mother; for I will not deny you.” 21. She said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as wife.” 22. King Solomon answered his mother, “Why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also; for he is my elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.” 23. Then king Solomon swore by Yahweh, saying, “God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life. 24. Now therefore as Yahweh lives, who has established me, and set me on my father David’s throne, and who has made me a house as he promised, surely Adonijah shall be put to death today.” 25. King Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell on him, so that he died. 26. To Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to Anathoth, to your own fields; for you are worthy of death. But I will not at this time put you to death, because you bore the Lord Yahweh’s ark before David my father, and because you were afflicted in all in which my father was afflicted.” 27. So Solomon thrust Abiathar out from being priest to Yahweh, that he might fulfill Yahweh’s word, which he spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh. 28. This news came to Joab; for Joab had followed Adonijah, although he didn’t follow Absalom. Joab fled to Yahweh’s Tent, and held onto the horns of the altar. 29. King Solomon was told, “Joab has fled to Yahweh’s Tent, and behold, he is by the altar.” Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, fall on him.” 30. Benaiah came to Yahweh’s Tent, and said to him, “Thus says the king, ‘Come out!’” He said, “No; but I will die here.” Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, “Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.” 31. The king said to him, “Do as he has said, and fall on him, and bury him; that you may take away the blood, which Joab shed without cause, from me and from my father’s house. 32. Yahweh will return his blood on his own head, because he fell on two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword, and my father David didn’t know it: Abner the son of Ner, captain of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the army of Judah. 33. So their blood will return on the head of Joab, and on the head of his offspring forever. But for David, for his offspring, for his house, and for his throne, there will be peace forever from Yahweh.” 34. Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and fell on him, and killed him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. 35. The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army; and the king put Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar. 36. The king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem, and live there, and don’t go anywhere else. 37. For on the day you go out and pass over the brook Kidron, know for certain that you will surely die. Your blood will be on your own head.” 38. Shimei said to the king, “What you say is good. As my lord the king has said, so will your servant do.” Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days. 39. At the end of three years, two of Shimei’s slaves ran away to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. They told Shimei, saying, “Behold, your slaves are in Gath.” 40. Shimei arose, saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish, to seek his slaves; and Shimei went, and brought his slaves from Gath. 41. Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had come again. 42. The king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, “Didn’t I adjure you by Yahweh, and warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain, that on the day you go out, and walk anywhere else, you shall surely die?’ You said to me, ‘The saying that I have heard is good.’ 43. Why then have you not kept the oath of Yahweh, and the commandment that I have instructed you with?” 44. The king said moreover to Shimei, “You know in your heart all the wickedness that you did to David my father. Therefore Yahweh will return your wickedness on your own head. 45. But king Solomon will be blessed, and David’s throne will be established before Yahweh forever.” 46. So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out, and fell on him, so that he died. The kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon. 1. Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into David’s city, until he had finished building his own house, Yahweh’s house, and the wall around Jerusalem. 2. However the people sacrificed in the high places, because there was not yet a house built for Yahweh’s name. 3. Solomon loved Yahweh, walking in the statutes of David his father; except that he sacrificed and burned incense in the high places. 4. The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5. In Gibeon, Yahweh appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask for what I should give you.” 6. Solomon said, “You have shown to your servant David my father great loving kindness, because he walked before you in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with you. You have kept for him this great loving kindness, that you have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today. 7. Now, Yahweh my God, you have made your servant king instead of David my father. I am just a little child. I don’t know how to go out or come in. 8. Your servant is among your people which you have chosen, a great people, that can’t be numbered or counted for multitude. 9. Give your servant therefore an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this great people of yours?” 10. This request pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. 11. God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have you asked for riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice; 12. behold, I have done according to your word. Behold, I have given you a wise and understanding heart; so that there has been no one like you before you, and after you none will arise like you. 13. I have also given you that which you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you for all your days. 14. If you will walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.” 15. Solomon awoke; and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of Yahweh’s covenant, and offered up burnt offerings, offered peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants. 16. Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king, and stood before him. 17. The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house. I delivered a child with her in the house. 18. The third day after I delivered, this woman delivered also. We were together. There was no stranger with us in the house, just us two in the house. 19. This woman’s child died in the night, because she lay on it. 20. She arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. 21. When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, it was dead; but when I had looked at it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, whom I bore.” 22. The other woman said, “No; but the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.” The first one said, “No; but the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.” Thus they spoke before the king. 23. Then the king said, “One says, ‘This is my son who lives, and your son is the dead;’ and the other says, ‘No; but your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’” 24. The king said, “Get me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. 25. The king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.” 26. Then the woman whose the living child was spoke to the king, for her heart yearned over her son, and she said, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and in no way kill him!” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours. Divide him.” 27. Then the king answered, “Give her the living child, and definitely do not kill him. She is his mother.” 28. All Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king; for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do justice.

1. Then I stood on the sand of the sea. I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads. On his horns were ten crowns, and on his heads, blasphemous names. 2. The beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. 3. One of his heads looked like it had been wounded fatally. His fatal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled at the beast. 4. They worshiped the dragon, because he gave his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” 5. A mouth speaking great things and blasphemy was given to him. Authority to make war for forty-two months was given to him. 6. He opened his mouth for blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his dwelling, those who dwell in heaven. 7. It was given to him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. Authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation was given to him. 8. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been killed. 9. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10. If anyone is to go into captivity, he will go into captivity. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, he must be killed. Here is the endurance and the faith of the saints. 11. I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke like a dragon. 12. He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. He makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. 13. He performs great signs, even making fire come down out of the sky to the earth in the sight of people. 14. He deceives my own people who dwell on the earth because of the signs he was granted to do in front of the beast; saying to those who dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast who had the sword wound and lived. 15. It was given to him to give breath to it, to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause as many as wouldn’t worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16. He causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slave, to be given marks on their right hands, or on their foreheads; 17. and that no one would be able to buy or to sell, unless he has that mark, the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18. Here is wisdom. He who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is six hundred sixty-six. 1. I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him a number, one hundred forty-four thousand, having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads. 2. I heard a sound from heaven, like the sound of many waters, and like the sound of a great thunder. The sound which I heard was like that of harpists playing on their harps. 3. They sing a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the one hundred forty-four thousand, those who had been redeemed out of the earth. 4. These are those who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed by Jesus from among men, the first fruits to God and to the Lamb. 5. In their mouth was found no lie, for they are blameless. 6. I saw an angel flying in mid heaven, having an eternal Good News to proclaim to those who dwell on the earth, and to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 7. He said with a loud voice, “Fear the Lord, and give him glory; for the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and the springs of waters!” 8. Another, a second angel, followed, saying, “Babylon the great has fallen, which has made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality.” 9. Another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead, or on his hand, 10. he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. 11. The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name. 12. Here is the perseverance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” 13. I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them.” 14. I looked, and behold, a white cloud; and on the cloud one sitting like a son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. 15. Another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Send your sickle, and reap; for the hour to reap has come; for the harvest of the earth is ripe!” 16. He who sat on the cloud thrust his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. 17. Another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven. He also had a sharp sickle. 18. Another angel came out from the altar, he who has power over fire, and he called with a great voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Send your sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for the earth’s grapes are fully ripe!” 19. The angel thrust his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vintage of the earth, and threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God. 20. The wine press was trodden outside of the city, and blood came out of the wine press, even to the bridles of the horses, as far as one thousand six hundred stadia. 1. I saw another great and marvelous sign in the sky: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them God’s wrath is finished. 2. I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who overcame the beast, his image, and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. 3. They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God, the Almighty! Righteous and true are your ways, you King of the nations. 4. Who wouldn’t fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you only are holy. For all the nations will come and worship before you. For your righteous acts have been revealed.” 5. After these things I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. 6. The seven angels who had the seven plagues came out, clothed with pure, bright linen, and wearing golden sashes around their breasts. 7. One of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. 8. The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power. No one was able to enter into the temple, until the seven plagues of the seven angels would be finished.

1. He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2. I will say of Yahweh, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.” 3. For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly pestilence. 4. He will cover you with his feathers. Under his wings you will take refuge. His faithfulness is your shield and rampart. 5. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day; 6. nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that wastes at noonday. 7. A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near you. 8. You will only look with your eyes, and see the recompense of the wicked. 9. Because you have made Yahweh your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place, 10. no evil shall happen to you, neither shall any plague come near your dwelling. 11. For he will put his angels in charge of you, to guard you in all your ways. 12. They will bear you up in their hands, so that you won’t dash your foot against a stone. 13. You will tread on the lion and cobra. You will trample the young lion and the serpent underfoot. 14. “Because he has set his love on me, therefore I will deliver him. I will set him on high, because he has known my name. 15. He will call on me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him, and honor him. 16. I will satisfy him with long life, and show him my salvation.”