Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but remains forever. Psalm 125:1

1 Kings 2

David Instructs Solomon

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. Be strong therefore and show yourself a man, ³ and keep the instruction of the Lord 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. ⁴ Then the Lord may establish his word which he spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your descendants are careful of their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail to be a man on the throne of Israel.’

⁵ Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, 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 sandals that were on his feet. ⁶ Do therefore according to your wisdom and do not let his gray head go to the grave 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 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 the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ ⁹ Now therefore do not 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 to the grave with blood.”

The Death of David

¹⁰ David rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. ¹¹ The days that David reigned over Israel were 40 years. He reigned seven years in Hebron, and he reigned 33 years in Jerusalem. ¹² Solomon sat on the throne of David, his father, and his kingdom was firmly established.

Solomon’s Reign 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, “Speak.”

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 the Lord. ¹⁶ Now I ask one petition of you. Do not deny me.”

She said to him, “Speak.” 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, “All right. I will speak to the king on your behalf.”

The Execution of Adonijah

¹⁹ Bathsheba therefore went to king Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. The king rose up to meet her and bowed to her and sat down on his throne and had a throne set up for the king’s mother, and she sat at his right hand. ²⁰ Then she said, “I ask one small petition of you. Do not deny me.”

The king said to her, “Ask, 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, for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.”

²³ Then king Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, “May God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life. ²⁴ Now therefore as the Lord 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 struck him down 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 Ark of the Lord God before David my father and because you suffered every time my father suffered.” ²⁷ So Solomon cast Abiathar out from being priest to the Lord, that he might fulfill the word of the Lord, which he spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

The Execution of Joab

²⁸ This news came to Joab, for Joab had followed Adonijah, although he did not follow Absalom. Joab fled to the Tabernacle of the Lord and held onto the horns of the altar. ²⁹ King Solomon was told, “Joab has fled to the Tabernacle of the Lord, and he is by the altar.” Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, strike him down.”

³⁰ Benaiah came to the Tabernacle of the Lord and said to him, “The king says, ‘Come out!’ ”
He said, “No; but I will die here.”

Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, “This is what Joab said, and this is how he answered me.”

³¹ The king said to him, “Do as he has said and strike him down and bury him, that you may take away the blood, which Joab shed without cause, from me and from my father’s house. ³² The Lord will return his blood on his own head, because he struck two men down, more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword, and my father David did not know of 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 the Lord.”

³⁴ Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and struck 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.

The Execution of Shimel

³⁶ The king sent for Shimei and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, and do not go anywhere else. ³⁷ For on the day you go out and cross 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, “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 back.

⁴² The king sent for Shimei and said to him, “Didn’t I make you swear by the Lord 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, ‘What you have said, and I have heard, is good.’ ⁴³ Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord 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 the Lord will return your wickedness on your own head. ⁴⁵ But king Solomon will be blessed, and David’s throne will be established before the Lord forever.” ⁴⁶ So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck Shimei so that he died.

The kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.

Acts 5

Ananias and Sapphira

¹ But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira, his wife, sold a possession ² and kept back part of the price, his wife also being aware of it, then brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. ³ But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the price of the land? ⁴ While you kept it, did it not remain your own? After it was sold, was it not in your power? How is it that you have conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God.”

⁵ Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and died. Great fear came on all who heard these things. ⁶ The young men arose and wrapped him up, and they carried him out and buried him. ⁷ About three hours later, his wife, not knowing what had happened, came in. ⁸ Peter answered her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.”
She said, “Yes, for so much.”

⁹ But Peter asked her, “How is it that you have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? The feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”

¹⁰ She fell down immediately at his feet and died. The young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her by her husband. ¹¹ Great fear came on the whole assembly and on all who heard these things.

The Apostles Heal Many

¹² By the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. They were all with one accord in Solomon’s Colonnade. ¹³ None of the rest dared to join them, however the people honored them. ¹⁴ More believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women. ¹⁵ They carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and mattresses, so that as Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them. ¹⁶ The multitude also came together from the cities around Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

The Apostles Arrested and Freed

¹⁷ But the high priest rose up and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy ¹⁸ and laid hands on the apostles, then put them in public custody. ¹⁹ But an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors by night and brought them out and said, ²⁰ “Go stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.”

²¹ When they heard this, they entered into the temple about daybreak and taught. But the high priest came and those who were with him and called the council together. and all the senate of the Israelites, and sent to the prison to have them brought to them. ²² But the officers who came did not find them in the prison. They returned and reported, ²³ “We found the prison shut and locked and the guards standing before the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside!”

The Apostles Before the Council

²⁴ Now when the high priest, the captain of the temple, and the chief priests heard these words, they were very perplexed about them and what might become of this. ²⁵ One came and told them, “The men whom you put in prison are in the temple, standing and teaching the people.” ²⁶ Then the captain went with the officers and brought them without violence, for they were afraid that the people might stone them.

²⁷ When they had brought them, they set them before the council. The high priest questioned them, ²⁸ saying, “Didn’t we strictly command you not to teach in this name? You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood on us.”

²⁹ But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. ³⁰ The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you killed, hanging him on a tree. ³¹ God exalted him with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins. ³² We are his witnesses of these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Gamaliel’s Counsel

³³ But when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and were determined to kill them. ³⁴ But one stood up in the council, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, honored by all the people, and commanded to put the apostles out for a little while.

³⁵ He said to them, “You men of Israel, be careful concerning these men, what you are about to do. ³⁶ For before these days Theudas rose up, making himself out to be somebody, to whom a number of men, about 400, joined themselves. He was slain, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. ³⁷ After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the enrollment and drew away some people after him. He also perished, and all who followed him were scattered abroad. ³⁸ Now I tell you, withdraw from these men and leave them alone. For if this counsel or this work is of men, it will be overthrown. ³⁹ But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow it, and you would be found even to be fighting against God!”

⁴⁰ They agreed with him. Summoning the apostles, they beat them and commanded them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. ⁴¹ They therefore departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for Jesus’ name.

⁴² Every day, in the temple and at home, they never stopped teaching and preaching Jesus, the Messiah.

Psalm 125

The Lord Surrounds His People

A Song of Ascents.

¹ Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved, but remains forever.
² As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds his people from this time forward and forevermore.
³ For the scepter of wickedness will not remain over the allotment of the righteous;
so that the righteous will not use their hands to do evil.
⁴ Do good, Lord, to those who are good,
to those who are upright in their hearts.
⁵ But as for those who turn away to their crooked ways,
the Lord will lead them away with the workers of iniquity.
Peace be on Israel.

Proverbs 16:25

²⁵ There is a way which seems right to a man,
but in the end it leads to death.

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