21. “Allow your brother Adonijah to marry Abishag,” she answered.
22. Solomon said:What? Let my elder brother marry Abishag? You may as well ask me to let him rule the kingdom! And why don't you ask such favours for Abiathar and Joab?
23. I swear in the name of the Lord that Adonijah will die because he asked for this! If he doesn't, I pray that God will severely punish me.
24. The Lord made me king in my father's place and promised that the kings of Israel would come from my family. Yes, I swear by the living Lord that Adonijah will die today.
25. “Benaiah,” Solomon shouted, “go and kill Adonijah.” So Adonijah died.
26. Solomon sent for Abiathar the priest and said:Abiathar, go back home to Anathoth! You ought to be killed too, but I won't do it now. When my father David was king, you were in charge of the sacred chest, and you went through a lot of hard times with my father.
27. But I won't let you be a priest of the Lord any more.And so the promise that the Lord had made at Shiloh about the family of Eli came true.
28. Joab had not helped Absalom try to become king, but he had helped Adonijah. So when Joab learnt that Adonijah had been killed, he ran to the sacred tent and grabbed hold of the corners of the altar for protection.
29. When Solomon heard about this, he sent someone to ask Joab, “Why did you run to the altar?”Joab sent back his answer, “I was afraid of you, and I ran to the Lord for protection.”Then Solomon shouted, “Benaiah, go and kill Joab!”
30. Benaiah went to the sacred tent and yelled, “Joab, the king orders you to come out!”“No!” Joab answered. “Kill me right here.”Benaiah went back and told Solomon what Joab had said.
31-32. Solomon replied:Do what Joab said. Kill him and bury him! Then my family and I won't be responsible for what he did to Abner the commander of Israel's army and to Amasa the commander of Judah's army. He killed those innocent men without my father knowing about it. Both of them were better men than Joab. Now the Lord will make him pay for those murders.
33. Joab's family will always suffer because of what he did, but the Lord will always bless David's family and his kingdom with peace.
34. Benaiah went back and killed Joab. His body was taken away and buried near his home in the desert.