1 Kings 3
3
1 Kings 3
1¶ And Solomon became a relative of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, for he took Pharaoh’s daughter to wife and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own house, and the house of the Lord and the wall of Jerusalem round about.
2Until then the people sacrificed in high places because there was still no house built unto the name of the Lord until those days.
3And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David, his father; only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.
4And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place; a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.
5¶ In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, Ask what you wish that I shall give thee.
6And Solomon said, Thou hast shown unto thy slave David, my father, great mercy, according to the way he walked before thee in truth and in righteousness and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great mercy that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.
7And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy slave king instead of David my father; and I am but a tender young man; I do not know how to go out or come in.
8And thy slave is in the midst of thy people whom thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.
9Give, therefore, thy slave a hearing heart to judge thy people that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this thy so great a people?
10And the speech pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing.
11And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing and hast not asked for thyself long life neither hast asked riches for thyself nor hast asked the life of thine enemies, but hast asked for thyself understanding to hear judgment,
12behold, I have done according to thy words: behold, I have given thee a wise and understanding heart so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
13And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and glory so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee in all thy days.
14And if thou wilt walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments as thy father David walked, then I will lengthen thy days.
15And when Solomon awoke, he beheld it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings and made a banquet for all his slaves.
16¶ In that season two women, that were harlots, came unto the king and stood before him.
17And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house, and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.
18And it came to pass the third day after I was delivered that this woman was delivered also and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, except the two of us in the house.
19And this woman’s child died in the night because she lay on top of him.
20And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me while thy handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom and laid her dead child in my bosom.
21And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead; but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I had given birth to.
22And the other woman said, No, but my son is alive, and thy son is dead. And this one said, No, but thy son is dead, and my son is alive. Thus they spoke before the king.
23Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that is alive, and thy son is dead. And the other saith, No; but thy son is dead, and my son is alive.
24And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.
25And the king said, Divide the living child in two and give half to the one and half to the other.
26Then the woman, of whom the living child was, spoke unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.
27Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it, for she is its mother.
28And all Israel heard of that judgment which the king had judged, and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to judge.
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The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International
1 Kings 3
3
Solomon’s Marriage
(2 Chronicles 1:1)
1Solomon became the son-in-law of Pharaoh (the king of Egypt). After marrying Pharaoh’s daughter, Solomon brought her to the City of David until he finished building his own house, the Lord’s house, and the wall around Jerusalem.
2The people were still sacrificing at other worship sites because a temple for the name of the Lord had not yet been built. 3Solomon loved the Lord and lived by his father David’s rules. However, he still sacrificed and burned incense at these other worship sites.
Solomon Requests Wisdom from God
(2 Chronicles 1:2–13)
4King Solomon went to Gibeon to sacrifice because it was the most important place of worship. Solomon sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings on that altar.
5In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. He said, “What can I give you?”
6Solomon responded, “You’ve shown great love to my father David, who was your servant. He lived in your presence with truth, righteousness, and commitment. And you continued to show him your great love by giving him a son to sit on his throne today.
7“Lord my God, although I’m young and inexperienced, you’ve made me king in place of my father David. 8I’m among your people whom you have chosen. They are too numerous to count or record. 9Give me a heart that listens so that I can judge your people and tell the difference between good and evil. After all, who can judge this great people of yours?”
10The Lord #3:10 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Greek; other Hebrew manuscripts “Lord.” was pleased that Solomon asked for this. 11God replied, “You’ve asked for this and not for a long life, or riches for yourself, or the death of your enemies. Instead, you’ve asked for understanding so that you can do what is right. 12So I’m going to do what you’ve asked. I’m giving you a wise and understanding heart so that there will never be anyone like you. 13I’m also giving you what you haven’t asked for—riches and honor—so that no other king will be like you as long as you live. 14And if you follow me and obey my laws and commands as your father David did, then I will also give you a long life.”
15Solomon woke up and realized it had been a dream. He went to Jerusalem and stood in front of the ark of the Lord’s promise. He sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings and held a banquet for all his officials.
Solomon’s Wisdom in Action
16A short time later two prostitutes came to the king and stood in front of him. 17One woman said to him, “Sir, this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth ⌞to a son⌟ while she was with me in the house. 18Two days later this woman also gave birth ⌞to a son⌟. We were alone. No one else was with us. Just the two of us were in the house. 19That night this woman’s son died because she rolled over on top of him. 20So she got up during the night and took my son, who was beside me, while I was asleep. She held him in her arms. Then she laid her dead son in my arms. 21When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, he was dead! I took a good look at him and realized that he wasn’t my son at all!”
22The other woman said, “No! My son is alive—your son is dead.”
The first woman kept on saying, “No! Your son is dead—my son is alive.” So they argued in front of the king.
23The king said, “This one keeps saying, ‘My son is alive—your son is dead,’ and that one keeps saying, ‘No! Your son is dead—my son is alive.’ ”
24So the king told his servants to bring him a sword. When they brought it, 25he said, “Cut the living child in two. Give half to the one and half to the other.”
26Then the woman whose son was still alive was deeply moved by her love for the child. She said to the king, “Please, sir, give her the living child. Please don’t kill him!”
But the other woman said, “He won’t be mine or yours. Cut him ⌞in two⌟.”
27The king replied, “Give the living child to the first woman. Don’t kill him. She is his mother.”
28All Israel heard about the decision the king made. They respected the king very highly, because they saw he possessed wisdom from God to do what was right.
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