1 Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat. ² Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and cherish him; and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat. ³ So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the borders of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king. ⁴ And the damsel was very fair; and she cherished the king, and ministered to him; but the king knew her not.

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⁵ Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. ⁶ And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he was also a very goodly man; and he was born after Absalom. ⁷ And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest: and they following Adonijah helped him. ⁸ But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men that belonged to David, were not with Adonijah. ⁹ And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fatlings by the stone of Zoheleth, which is beside En-rogel; and he called all his brethren, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the king’s servants: ¹⁰ but Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he called not.

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¹¹ Then Nathan spake unto Bath-sheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign, and David our lord knoweth it not? ¹² Now therefore come, let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel, that thou mayest save thine own life, and the life of thy son Solomon. ¹³ Go and get thee in unto king David, and say unto him, Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear unto thy handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? why then doth Adonijah reign? ¹⁴ Behold, while thou yet talkest there with the king, I also will come in after thee, and confirm thy words.

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¹⁵ And Bath-sheba went in unto the king into the chamber: and the king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite was ministering unto the king. ¹⁶ And Bath-sheba bowed, and did obeisance unto the king. And the king said, What wouldest thou? ¹⁷ And she said unto him, My lord, thou swarest by Jehovah thy God unto thy handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne. ¹⁸ And now, behold, Adonijah reigneth; ^‍and thou, my lord the king, knowest it not: ¹⁹ and he hath ^‍slain oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the host; but Solomon thy servant hath he not called. ²⁰ And thou, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. ²¹ Otherwise it will come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted ^‍offenders.

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²² And, lo, while she yet talked with the king, Nathan the prophet came in. ²³ And they told the king, saying, Behold, Nathan the prophet. And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground. ²⁴ And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? ²⁵ For he is gone down this day, and hath ^‍slain oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the king’s sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and say, Long live king Adonijah. ²⁶ But me, even me thy servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and thy servant Solomon, hath he not called. ²⁷ Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not showed unto thy servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?

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²⁸ Then king David answered and said, Call to me Bath-sheba. And she came into the king’s presence, and stood before the king. ²⁹ And the king sware, and said, As Jehovah liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity, ³⁰ verily as I sware unto thee by Jehovah, the God of Israel, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead; verily so will I do this day. ³¹ Then Bath-sheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did obeisance to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live for ever.

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³² And king David said, Call to me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king. ³³ And the king said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon: ³⁴ and let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel; and blow ye the trumpet, and say, Long live king Solomon. ³⁵ Then ye shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead; and I have appointed him to be prince over Israel and over Judah. ³⁶ And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, Amen: Jehovah, the God of my lord the king, say so too. ³⁷ As Jehovah hath been with my lord the king, even so be he with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king David.

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³⁸ So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, went down, and caused Solomon to ride upon king David’s mule, and brought him to Gihon. ³⁹ And Zadok the priest took the horn of oil out of the Tent, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, Long live king Solomon. ⁴⁰ And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.

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⁴¹ And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar? ⁴² While he yet spake, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came: and Adonijah said, Come in; for thou art a worthy man, and bringest good tidings. ⁴³ And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Verily our lord king David hath made Solomon king: ⁴⁴ and the king hath sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and they have caused him to ride upon the king’s mule; ⁴⁵ and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon; and they are come up from thence rejoicing, so that the city rang again. This is the noise that ye have heard. ⁴⁶ And also Solomon sitteth on the throne of the kingdom. ⁴⁷ And moreover the king’s servants came to bless our lord king David, saying, Thy God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne: and the king bowed himself upon the bed. ⁴⁸ And also thus said the king, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who hath given one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it.

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⁴⁹ And all the guests of Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and went every man his way. ⁵⁰ And Adonijah feared because of Solomon; and he arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar. ⁵¹ And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah feareth king Solomon; for, lo, he hath laid hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me first that he will not slay his servant with the sword. ⁵² And Solomon said, If he shall show himself a worthy man, there shall not a hair of him fall to the earth; but if wickedness be found in him, he shall die. ⁵³ So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and did obeisance to king Solomon; and Solomon said unto him, Go to thy house.

4 And as they spake unto the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, ² being sore troubled because they taught the people, and proclaimed in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. ³ And they laid hands on them, and put them in ward unto the morrow: for it was now eventide. ⁴ But many of them that heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

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⁵ And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem; ⁶ and Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest. ⁷ And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, By what power, or in what name, have ye done this? ⁸ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders, ⁹ if we this day are examined concerning a good deed done to an impotent man, ^‍by what means this man is made whole; ¹⁰ be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even in ^‍him doth this man stand here before you whole. ¹¹ He is ^‍the stone which was set at nought of you the builders, which was made the head of the corner. ¹² And in none other is there salvation: for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved.

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¹³ Now when they beheld the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. ¹⁴ And seeing the man that was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. ¹⁵ But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, ¹⁶ saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable ^‍miracle hath been wrought through them, is manifest to all that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it. ¹⁷ But that it spread no further among the people, let us threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. ¹⁸ And they called them, and charged them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. ¹⁹ But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it is right in the sight of God to hearken unto you rather than unto God, judge ye: ²⁰ for we cannot but speak the things which we saw and heard. ²¹ And they, when they had further threatened them, let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people; for all men glorified God for that which was done. ²² For the man was more than forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was wrought.

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²³ And being let go, they came to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said unto them. ²⁴ And they, when they heard it, lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, O Lord, ^‍thou that didst make the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that in them is: ²⁵ who by the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our father David thy servant, didst say,

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^‍Why did the Gentiles rage,
And the peoples imagine vain things?
²⁶ The kings of the earth set themselves in array,
And the rulers were gathered together,
Against the Lord, and against his Anointed:

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²⁷ for of a truth in this city against thy holy Servant Jesus, whom thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, were gathered together, ²⁸ to do whatsoever thy hand and thy council foreordained to come to pass. ²⁹ And now, Lord, look upon their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants to speak thy word with all boldness, ³⁰ while thou stretchest forth thy hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of thy holy ^‍Servant Jesus. ³¹ And when they had prayed, the place was shaken wherein they were gathered together; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

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³² And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and soul: and not one of them said that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. ³³ And with great power gave the apostles their witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. ³⁴ For neither was there among them any that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, ³⁵ and laid them at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto each, according as any one had need.

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³⁶ And Joseph, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas (which is, being interpreted, Son of exhortation), a Levite, a man of Cyprus by race, ³⁷ having a field, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

Praise for rescue from enemies.

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A Song of Ascents; of David.

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124 If it had not been Jehovah who was on our side,
Let Israel now say,
² If it had not been Jehovah who was on our side,
When men rose up against us;
³ Then they had swallowed us up alive,
When their wrath was kindled against us:
⁴ Then the waters had overwhelmed us,
The stream had gone over our soul;
⁵ Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.
⁶ Blessed be Jehovah,
Who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.
⁷ Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers:
The snare is broken, and we are escaped.
⁸ Our help is in the name of Jehovah,
Who made heaven and earth.

²⁴ Pleasant words are as a honeycomb,
Sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.

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