1. When King David was old and advanced in years, though they covered him with blankets he could not get warm.
2. His servants therefore said to him, “Let a young virgin be sought to attend my lord the king, and to nurse him. If she sleeps with you, my lord the king will be warm.”
3. So they sought for a beautiful girl throughout the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunamite. So they brought her to the king.
4. The girl was very beautiful indeed, and she nursed the king and took care of him. But the king did not have relations with her.
5. Adonijah, son of Haggith, boasted, “I shall be king!” and he provided himself with chariots, horses, and a retinue of fifty to go before him.
6. Yet his father would never antagonize him by asking, “Why are you doing this?” Adonijah was also very handsome, and next in age to Absalom by the same mother.
7. He consulted with Joab, son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest, and they became Adonijah’s supporters.
8. However, Zadok the priest, Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei and Rei, and David’s warriors did not support Adonijah.
9. Adonijah slaughtered sheep, oxen, and fatlings at the stone Zoheleth near En-rogel and invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the royal officials of Judah;
10. but he did not invite Nathan the prophet, or Benaiah, or the warriors, or Solomon his brother.
11. Then Nathan said to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother: “Have you not heard that Adonijah, son of Haggith, has become king, and our lord David does not know?
12. Come now, let me advise you so that you may save your life and the life of your son Solomon.
13. Go, visit King David, and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord king, swear to your handmaid: Your son Solomon shall be king after me; it is he who shall sit upon my throne? Why, then, has Adonijah become king?’
14. And while you are still there speaking to the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words.”
15. So Bathsheba visited the king in his room. The king was very old, and Abishag the Shunamite was caring for the king.
16. Bathsheba bowed in homage to the king. The king said to her, “What do you wish?”