5. Then Adonijah son of [David's wife] Haggith exalted himself, saying, I [the eldest living son] will be king. And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, with fifty men to run before him.
6. David his father had never in his life displeased him by asking, Why have you done so? He was also a very attractive man and was born after Absalom.
7. He conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah [David's half sister] and with Abiathar the priest, and they followed Adonijah and helped him.
8. But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and David's mighty men did not side with Adonijah.
9. Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fatlings by the Stone of Zoheleth, which is beside [the well] En-rogel; and he invited all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the royal officials of Judah.
10. But Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the mighty men, and Solomon his brother he did not invite.
11. Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, Have you not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, reigns and David our lord does not know it?
12. Come now, let me advise you how to save your own life and your son Solomon's.
13. Go to King David and say, Did you not, my lord, O king, swear to your handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? Why then does Adonijah reign?
14. Behold, while you are still talking there with the king, I also will come in after you and confirm your words.
15. So Bathsheba went in to the king in his chamber. Now the king was very old and feeble, and Abishag the Shunammite was ministering to [him].
16. Bathsheba bowed and did obeisance to the king. The king said, What do you wish?
17. And she said to him, My lord, you swore by the Lord your God to your handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me and sit upon my throne.
18. And now, behold, Adonijah is reigning, and, my lord the king, you do not know it.
19. He has sacrificed oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king's sons and Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army. But he did not invite Solomon your servant.
20. Now, my lord O king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to tell who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after you.
21. Otherwise, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, I and my son Solomon shall be counted as offenders.
22. While she was still talking with the king, Nathan the prophet also came in.
23. The king was told, Here is Nathan the prophet. And when he came before the king, he bowed himself before him with his face to the ground.
24. And Nathan said, My lord the king, have you said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne?