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of crimes worthy of death, especially in this last plot. And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD, and caught hold on the horns of the altar in Gibeon, hoping for security and pardon there, 29 as Adonijah had. And it was told king Solomon that Joab was fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD; and, behold, [he is] by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, 30 Go, fall upon him. And Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the LORD, and said unto him, Thus saith the king, Come forth. And he said, Nay; but I will die here; perhaps intending to bring reproach on Solomon for staining the tabernacle with blood. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said 31 Joab, and thus he answered me. And the king, who was determined to show that no place, however sacred, should secure a murderer from justice, as the law appointed, said unto him, Do as he hath said, and fall upon him, and bury him; that thou mayest take away the innocent blood which Joab shed, from me, and from the house of my father, wipe off the reflection of having spared him, from David's character, and prevent the evil that 32 might come upon his family for it. And the LORD shall return his blood upon his own head, who fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, my father David not knowing [thereof, to wit,] Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, 33 captain of the host of Judah. Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever: but upon David, and upon his seed, and upon his house, and upon his throne, shall there be peace for ever from the LORD, 34 So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell upon him, and slew him and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness; he had an honourable burial suitable to his rank and charae35 ter. And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host and Zadok the priest did the king put in the room of Abiathar.

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And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him, Build thee an house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and go not 37 forth thence any whither. For it shall be, [that] on the day thou goest out, and passest over the brook Kidron, thou shalt know for certain that thou shalt surely die: thy blood shall be 38 upon thine own head.* And Shimei said unto the king, The saying [is] good as my lord the king hath said, so will thy servant do. And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days. 39 And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away unto Achish son of Maachah king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, Behold, thy servants 40 [be] in Gath. And Shimei, thinking that Solomon had forgotten the injunction, or would not adhere strictly to it, arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants: and

Solomon knowing Shimei to be a man of a turbulent spirit, confined him to Jerusalem and a mile about it, for so far Kidron was from it, that he might not have an opportunity to sow sedition among the tribes, and that his conduct might be narrowly watched.

Shimei went, without asking leave of the king, and brought his 41 servants from Gath. And it was told Solomon that Shimei had 42 gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and was come again. And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him, Did I not make thee to swear by the LORD, and protested unto thee, saying, Know for a certain, on the day thou goest out, and walkest abroad any whither, that thou shalt surely die? and thou saidst 43 unto me, The word [that] I have heard [is] good. Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the LORD, and the commandment that I have charged thee with? He was doubly guilty, in disobeying the king, when put on his good behaviour, and of break44 ing a solemn oath. The king said moreover to Shimei, Thou knowest all the wickedness which thine heart is privy to, that thou didst to David my father; upon what wicked and malicious principles he had cursed his father: therefore the LORD shall 45 return thy wickedness upon thine own head. And king Solomon [shall be] blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD for ever; the Lord had turned Shimei's 46 curses into a blessing. So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; which went out, and fell upon him, that he died.* And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon, by the removal of those wicked and turbulent men,

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REFLECTIONS.

E see, that the greatest and best of men go the way of all the earth. Neither wealth, nor power, nor piety, shield from death; it is appointed unto all men; and it becomes us seriously to think of it, and be prepared for this awful journey. There are but two different ways after death, to heaven, or hell.

2. Good men cannot spend their dying breath better, than in giving a solemn charge to their children. Parents should be solicitous to do it then, when their words will make a peculiar impressjon, and when children will be more likely to attend to them and keep their charge, and the charge of God, as the only way to prosperity for both worlds. If we keep God's charge, we may hope he will continue his mercies to us, as to our fathers, and perform all his promises, on which he hath caused us to hope.

3. Observe the just and righteous judgments of God upon cruel and ambitious men. Adonijah, Joab, and Shimei did not take warning, but proceeded in their aspiring designs, till they came to a shameful end. A little contentment, meekness, and humility, had saved their lives. They might have lived easy and happy, and died in peace. But the justice of God and Solomon overtook them, and returned their violent doings on their own heads. In the lowest stations of life, if men would live easy and comfortable, the way is very plain, that is, to be contented and humble. Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

• Executions were not then done by an officer appointed for the purpose, but by some great men about the court, as in this instance by the greatest officer in the army.

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4. A grateful sense of kindnesses received should never be löst. We should return it while we live, and be desirous that our children should return it to our benefactors, or to their offspring. Thus David requited Barzillai's kindness. It is a wise and useful maxim of Solomon, Thine own friend, and thy father's friend, forget not.

CHAP. III.

Givés a general account of Solomon's marriage and religion; his prayer, and God's gracious answer to it; and his wise decision of a difficult case.

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ND Solomon, to fix himself more strongly in his government, made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter to wife,* and Solomon brought her into the city of David, (here she dwelt till he built a house for her) until he had made an end of building his own house, and the . house of the LORD, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.

Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the LORD, until those days: there was no fault in the worship, but in the place. It was a patriarchal custom, but not so much regarded now, for those high 3 places had been abused by idolatry. And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father only he sacrificed and burned incense in high places, which David his father had not done. And the king went to Gibeon, where the tabernacle was, to sacrifice there; for that [was] the great high I place, the chief resort for people to worship: a thousand [burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar, the brazen al

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tar of Moses. He went there with the nobles and great men to worship, and thank God for his peaceable settlement on the throne. 5 In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; in that night after he had offered up his sacrifices: and God, to try his inclination, said, Ask what I shall give thee.t 6 And Solomon said, Thou hast showed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee: and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as [it is] this day. 7 And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I [am but] a little child: I know not [how] to go out or come in. He acknowledges his ignorance and weakness; he was now about twenty years old, and but a little child with respect to skill about public affairs. He knew

It is probable she was a proselyte to the Jewish religion, and therefore the marriage was not sinful: for no mention is made of the gods of Egypt among those by whom Solomon was seduced; see ch. ix. and this is confirmed by the forty fifth Psalm.

This gracious offer had no doubt been the subject of his daily prayer, and of his most serious thoughts; and therefore he immediately offers this excellent prayer, which he begins with a thankful acknowledgment of the mercies he had received.

8 not how to rule and behave wisely for want of experience. And thy servant [is] in the midst of thy people, which thou hast chosen, a great people that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude; they were God's chosen people, therefore he would expect peculiar care to be taken of them; and they were a great people, 9 consequently great abilities were required to rule them. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad, have wisdom to behave suitable to my station and the services I am to be employed in for who is able to judge this thy so great a people, without 10 divine, assistance and guidance? And the speech pleased the LORD, that Solomon had asked this thing; it was a token of a virtuous mind and a public spirit, of concern for the glory of God, 11 and the good of Israel. And God said unto him, because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself those things that men are generally fond of, long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast 12 asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; Behold, I have done according to thy words; lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. God immediately granted his request, infused into his mind more sagacity and wisdom than he would naturally have had, and suck 13 as was superior to all others. And I have also given thee, as a token of my particular favour, and my approbation of this prayer, that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days thou shalt excel all the kings of the earth in riches and re14 nown. And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will 15 lengthen thy days.* And Solomon awoke ; and, behold, [it was] a dream. He understood and heard it as distinctly as if he had been awake; nor did he know, till he awoke, that it was a dream. By this, God signified to him the acceptance of his daily prayers and Solomon knew he intended to convince him of his favour and acceptance. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to thank God for this exceeding great favour, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants, the nobles and officers feasted on the peace offerings.

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Then came there two women, [that were] harlots, or innkeepers, the word signifies both, unto the king, and stood before him to plead their own cause; probably the cause had been brought before to some inferior court, who had been puzzled with it, and there17 fore it was now brought to the king. And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was 18 delivered of a child with her in the house. And it came to pass

Le his great wisdom should make him proud, careless, and presumptuous, God only makes a conditional promise as to the length of his days, but the other were given absolute ty and immediately.'

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the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we [were] together; [there was] no stranger 19 with us in the house, save we two in the house. And this wo20 man's child died in the night; because she overlaid it. And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom ; fearing the disgrace of overlaying her child, 21 she stole mine from me. And when I arose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, when it was perfect daylight, behold, it 22 was not my son, which I did bear. And the other woman said, Nay; but the living [is] my son, and the dead [is] thy son. And this said, No; but the dead [is] thy son, and the living [is] my son. Thus they spake before the king, the one affirming, and the other denying it. It was a difficult case; the children were much of the same age, there was no witness, one of the mothers acknowledged she was asleep, and the reputation of both were 23 much alike. Then said the king, The one saith, This [is] my son that liveth, and thy son [is] the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son [is] the dead, and my son [is] the living; we must therefore try some other method to decide the controversy. 24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a 25 sword before the king. And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. He knew this was the best way to end the dispute, for, which ever the real mother was, her affections would work so strongly, as not to suffer the child to be divided; thus nature unravelled what reason 26 could not. Then spake the woman whose the living child [was] unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, [but] divide [it.] The true mother would rather part with the child than have it destroyed; the other, having no love to the child, but envying her companion the possession of what she had lost, made her at first 27 steal the child, and now willing to have it slain. Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it she [is] the mother thereof. It appeared by her love and pity that she was not the careless mother of the smothered child, but the real mother of the living one, who could not bear to see it slain. 28 And 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 judgment. This great sagacity, and wise determination, raised his reputation, and promoted among all the people a reverence for him.

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REFLECTIONS.

1. THE experience our fathers have had of the mercy and God, should encourage us to pray and

hope, v. 6. Children may plead their parents' piety, and God's

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