26. King Solomon said to Abiathar the priest, “I should kill you too, but I will allow you to go back to your fields in Anathoth. I will not kill you at this time, because you helped carry the Ark of the Lord God while marching with my father David. And I know you shared in all the hard times with him.”
27. Then Solomon removed Abiathar from being the Lord’s priest. This happened as the Lord had said it would, when he was speaking in Shiloh about the priest Eli and his descendants.
28. When Joab heard about what had happened, he was afraid. He had supported Adonijah but not Absalom. So Joab ran to the Tent of the Lord and took hold of the corners of the altar.
29. Someone told King Solomon that Joab had run to the Tent of the Lord and was beside the altar. Then Solomon ordered Benaiah to go and kill him.
30. Benaiah went into the Tent of the Lord and said to Joab, “The king says, ‘Come out!’ ”But Joab answered, “No, I will die here.”So Benaiah went back to the king and told him what Joab had said.
31. Then the king ordered Benaiah, “Do as he says! Kill him there and bury him. Then my family and I will be free of the guilt of Joab, who has killed innocent people.
32. Without my father knowing it, he killed two men who were much better than he was—Abner son of Ner, the commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, the commander of Judah’s army. So the Lord will pay him back for those deaths.