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. You 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 Torah of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do, and wherever you turn yourself.
4. Then the Lord may establish his word which he spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your children are careful of their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail you,’ he said, ‘a man on the throne of Israel.’
5. “Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, even 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 shoes that were on his feet.
6. Do therefore according to your wisdom, and don’t let his grey head go down to Sheol in peace.