⁴ The word of a king has authority; and who may say to him, What is this you are doing?

¹² If he puts out his hand to take, by whom may it be turned back? who may say to him, What are you doing?

¹ Let everyone put himself under the authority of the higher powers, because there is no power which is not of God, and all powers are ordered by God.

² For which reason everyone who puts himself against the authority puts himself against the order of God: and those who are against it will get punishment for themselves.

³ For rulers are not a cause of fear to the good work but to the evil. If you would have no fear of the authority, do good and you will have praise;

⁴ For he is the servant of God to you for good. But if you do evil, have fear; for the sword is not in his hand for nothing: he is God's servant, making God's punishment come on the evil-doer.

³⁵ And all the people of the earth are as nothing: he does his pleasure in the army of heaven and among the people of the earth: and no one is able to keep back his hand, or say to him, What are you doing?

¹⁸ He who says to a king, You are an evil-doer; and to rulers, You are sinners;

¹⁹ Who has no respect for rulers, and who gives no more attention to those who have wealth than to the poor, for they are all the work of his hands.

²⁰ But, O man, who are you, to make answer against God? May the thing which is made say to him who made it, Why did you make me so?

⁴ And I say to you, my friends, Have no fear of those who may put the body to death, and are able to do no more than that.

⁵ But I will make clear to you of whom you are to be in fear: of him who after death has power to send you to hell; yes, truly I say, Have fear of him.

¹⁵ Now if you are ready, on hearing the sound of the horn, pipe, harp, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe, and all sorts of instruments, to go down on your faces in worship before the image which I have made, it is well: but if you will not give worship, that same hour you will be put into a burning and flaming fire; and what god is there who will be able to take you out of my hands?

³¹ The war-horse, and the he-goat, and the king when his army is with him.

² The wrath of a king is like the loud cry of a lion: he who makes him angry does wrong against himself.

¹² The king's wrath is like the loud cry of a lion, but his approval is like dew on the grass.

¹² Truly, in saying this you are wrong; for God is greater than man.

¹³ Why do you put forward your cause against him, saying, He gives no answer to any of my words?

⁴⁶ So the king gave orders to Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada; and he went out and, falling on him, put him to death. And Solomon's authority over the kingdom was complete.

²⁹ And they said to King Solomon, Joab has gone in flight to the Tent of the Lord and is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, make an attack on him.

³⁰ And Benaiah came to the Tent of the Lord and said to him, The king says, Come out. And he said, No; but let death come to me here. And Benaiah went back to the king and gave him word of the answer which Joab had given.

³¹ And the king said, Do as he has said and make an attack on him there, and put his body into the earth; so that you may take away from me and from my family the blood of one put to death by Joab without cause.

³² And the Lord will send back his blood on his head, because of the attack he made on two men more upright and better than himself, putting them to the sword without my father's knowledge; even Abner, the son of Ner, captain of the army of Israel, and Amasa, the son of Jether, captain of the army of Judah.

³³ So their blood will be on the head of Joab, and on the head of his seed for ever; but for David and his seed and his family and the seat of his kingdom, there will be peace for ever from the Lord.

³⁴ So Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, went up, and falling on him, put him to death; and his body was put to rest in his house in the waste land.

²⁵ And King Solomon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and he made an attack on him and put him to death.