1 Kings 3
3
Solomon’s Rule Consolidated
1Then Solomon formed a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her to the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem. 2The people were still sacrificing on the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days.
3Now Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. 4The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place; Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, “Ask what you wish Me to give you.”
Solomon’s Prayer
6Then Solomon said, “You have shown great lovingkindness to Your servant David my father, according as he walked before You in #Or faithfulnesstruth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward You; and You have reserved for him this great lovingkindness, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted. 9So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”
God’s Answer
10It was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. 11God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice, 12behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you. 13I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days. 14If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will prolong your days.”
15Then Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and made peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.
Solomon Wisely Judges
16Then two women who were harlots came to the king and stood before him. 17The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. 18It happened on the third day after I gave birth, that this woman also gave birth to a child, and we were together. There was no stranger with us in the house, only the two of us in the house. 19This woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on it. 20So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead son in my bosom. 21When I rose in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead; but when I looked at him carefully in the morning, behold, he was not my son, whom I had borne.” 22Then the other woman said, “No! For the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.” But the first woman said, “No! For the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.” Thus they spoke before the king.
23Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son who is living, and your son is the dead one’; and the other says, ‘No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’ ” 24The king said, “Get me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. 25The king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” 26Then the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for she was deeply stirred over her son and said, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him!” 27Then the king said, “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother.” 28When all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had handed down, they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.
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1 Kings 3: NASB1995
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1 Kings 3
3
Solomon Asks for Wisdom
1Solomon made a peace treaty with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, by marrying his daughter. Solomon brought her to the City of David. This was when Solomon was still building his palace, the Temple of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem. 2The Temple to honor the Lord had not yet been finished, so people were still making animal sacrifices on altars at the high places. 3Solomon showed that he loved the Lord by obeying everything his father David told him to do, except that Solomon continued to go to the high places to offer sacrifices and to burn incense.
4King Solomon went to Gibeon to offer a sacrifice because that was the most important high place. He offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5While Solomon was at Gibeon, the Lord came to him at night in a dream. God said, “Solomon, ask me what you want me to give you.”
6Solomon answered, “You were very kind and loyal to your servant, my father David. He was faithful to you and lived a good, honest life. And you showed him the greatest kindness when you let his son take his place as king. 7Lord my God, you have made me the king in my father’s place, but I am like a small child. I don’t have the wisdom I need to do what I must do. 8I am your servant here among your chosen people. There are so many that they cannot be counted. 9So I ask you to give me the wisdom to rule and judge them well and to help me know the difference between right and wrong. Without such great wisdom, it would be impossible to rule this great nation.”
10The Lord was happy that Solomon asked for wisdom. 11So God said to him, “You did not ask for long life and riches for yourself. You did not ask for the death of your enemies. You asked for the wisdom to listen and make the right decisions. 12So I will give you what you asked for. I will make you wise and intelligent. I will make you wiser than anyone who ever lived or ever will live. 13And I will also give you what you did not ask for. You will have riches and honor all your life. There will be no other king in the world as great as you. 14And I will give you a long life if you follow me and obey my laws and commands as your father David did.”
15Solomon woke up and knew that God had spoken to him in the dream. Then Solomon went to Jerusalem and stood before the Box of the Lord’s Agreement. He offered a burnt offering and fellowship offerings to the Lord and then gave a party for all of his officials.
Proof of Solomon’s Wisdom
16One day two prostitutes came to Solomon and stood before the king. 17One of the women said, “Sir, this woman and I live in the same house. We were both pregnant and ready to give birth to our babies. I had my baby while she was there with me. 18Three days later she also gave birth to her baby. There was no one else in the house with us, just the two of us. 19One night while this woman was asleep with her baby, the baby died. 20That night while I was asleep, she took my son from my bed and carried him to her bed. Then she put the dead baby in my bed. 21In the morning I woke up and was about to feed the baby when I saw he was dead. When I looked at him more closely, I saw that he was not my baby.”
22But the other woman said, “No! The dead baby is yours, and the one still alive is mine!”
But the first woman said, “No, you are wrong! The dead baby is yours! The one that is still alive is mine.” So the two women argued in front of the king.
23Then King Solomon said, “Each of you says that the living baby is your own and that the dead baby belongs to the other woman.” 24Then King Solomon sent his servant to get a sword. 25He told the servant, “Cut the living baby in two and give one half of the baby to each woman.”
26The second woman said, “Yes, cut him in two. Then neither of us will have him.” But the first woman, the real mother, loved her son and said to the king, “Please, sir, don’t kill the baby! Give him to her.”
27Then King Solomon said, “Stop, don’t kill the baby. Give him to this woman. She is the real mother.”
28The people of Israel respected the king when they heard about this decision. They saw he had the wisdom of God#3:28 the wisdom of God Or “very great wisdom.” to make the right decisions.
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