1 Kings 3
3
Solomon Asks God for Wisdom
1Solomon and Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, agreed to help each other. So Solomon married Pharaoh’s daughter. He brought her to the City of David. She stayed there until he finished building his palace, the Lord’s temple, and the wall around Jerusalem. 2But the people continued to offer sacrifices at the high places where they worshiped. That’s because a temple hadn’t been built yet where the Lord would put his Name. 3Solomon showed his love for the Lord. He did it by obeying the laws his father David had taught him. But Solomon offered sacrifices at the high places. He also burned incense there.
4King Solomon went to the city of Gibeon to offer sacrifices. That’s where the most important high place was. There he offered 1,000 burnt offerings on the altar. 5The Lord appeared to Solomon at Gibeon. He spoke to him in a dream during the night. God said, “Ask for anything you want me to give you.”
6Solomon answered, “You have been very kind to my father David, your servant. That’s because he was faithful to you. He did what was right. His heart was honest. And you have continued to be very kind to him. You have given him a son to sit on his throne this day.
7“Lord my God, you have now made me king. You have put me in the place of my father David. But I’m only a little child. I don’t know how to carry out my duties. 8I’m here among the people you have chosen. They are a great nation. They are more than anyone can count. 9So give me a heart that understands. Then I can rule over your people. I can tell the difference between what is right and what is wrong. Who can possibly rule over this great nation of yours?”
10The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for that. 11So God said to him, “You have not asked to live for a long time. You have not asked to be wealthy. You have not even asked to have your enemies killed. Instead, you have asked for wisdom. You want to do what is right and fair when you judge people. Because that is what you have asked for, 12I will give it to you. I will give you a wise and understanding heart. So here is what will be true of you. There has never been anyone like you. And there never will be. 13And that is not all. I will give you what you have not asked for. I will give you wealth and honor. As long as you live, no other king will be as great as you are. 14Live the way I want you to. Obey my laws and commands, just as your father David did. Then I will let you live for a long time.” 15Solomon woke up. He realized he had been dreaming.
He returned to Jerusalem. He stood in front of the ark of the Lord’s covenant. He sacrificed burnt offerings and friendship offerings. Then he gave a feast for all his officials.
A Wise Ruling
16Two prostitutes came to the king. They stood in front of him. 17One of them said, “Pardon me, my master, this woman and I live in the same house. I had a baby while she was there with me. 18Three days after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone. There wasn’t anyone in the house but the two of us.
19“During the night this woman’s baby died. It happened because she was lying on top of him. 20So she got up in the middle of the night. She took my son from my side while I was asleep. She put him by her breast. Then she put her dead son by my breast. 21The next morning, I got up to nurse my son. But he was dead! I looked at him closely in the morning light. And I saw that it wasn’t my baby.”
22The other woman said, “No! The living baby is my son. The dead one belongs to you.”
But the first woman said, “No! The dead baby is yours. The living one belongs to me.” So they argued in front of the king.
23The king said, “One of you says, ‘My son is alive. Your son is dead.’ The other one says, ‘No! Your son is dead. Mine is alive.’ ”
24He continued, “Bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought to him. 25Then he gave an order. He said, “Cut the living child in two. Give half to one woman and half to the other.”
26The woman whose son was alive was filled with deep love for her son. She said to the king, “My master, please give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!”
But the other woman said, “Neither one of us will have him. Cut him in two!”
27Then the king made his decision. He said, “Give the living baby to the first woman. Don’t kill him. She’s his mother.”
28All the Israelites heard about the decision the king had given. That gave them great respect for him. They saw that God had given him wisdom. They knew that Solomon would do what was right and fair when he judged people.
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1 Kings 3: NIrV
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1 Kings 3
3
Solomon Asks for Wisdom
2Ch 1:2–13
1#1Ki 9:24; 2Sa 5:7Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He married Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her to the City of David until he finished building his palace, the house of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem. 2#1Ki 22:43; Dt 12:2–5The people were sacrificing at the high places, because no house had yet been built for the name of the Lord. 3#Dt 6:5; Ps 31:23Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, though he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.
4#1Ch 16:39; 21:29The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place, and he offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5#1Ki 9:2; Nu 12:6; Mt 1:20While he was in Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night, and He said, “Ask what you want from Me.”
6#1Ki 1:48; 9:4Solomon answered, “You have shown great mercy to your servant David my father, because he walked before You in faithfulness, righteousness, and uprightness of heart toward You. And You have shown him great kindness in giving him a son to sit on his throne this day.
7#Nu 27:17; 1Ch 29:1“Now, O Lord, my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, and I am still a little child and do not know how to go out or come in. 8#Ge 15:5; 13:16And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, so numerous that they cannot be numbered or counted. 9#2Sa 14:17; Ps 72:1–2Give Your servant therefore an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and bad, for who is able to judge among so great a people?”
10It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. 11God said to him, “Because you have asked this and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the lives of your enemies, but have asked for yourself wisdom so that you may have discernment in judging, 12#1Ki 5:12; Ecc 1:16I now do according to your words. I have given you a wise and an understanding heart, so that there has never been anyone like you in the past, and there shall never arise another like you. 13#1Ki 4:21–24; Pr 3:16I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no kings will compare to you all of your days. 14#Ps 91:16; Pr 3:2If you will walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and My commandments as your father David did, then I will lengthen your days.” 15#Ge 41:7; 1Ki 8:65Solomon awoke and found it was a dream.
Then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings and made a feast for all of his servants.
The Wisdom of Solomon
16#Nu 27:2At that time, two women who were prostitutes came and stood before the king. 17The first woman said, “O my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I bore a child with her in the house. 18Three days after I gave birth, she also had a child, and we were together. There was no one else with us in the house, only the two of us were in the house.
19“Then this woman’s child died during the night because she rolled over on it. 20She got up at midnight and took my son from beside me while your servant slept and laid him at her bosom and laid her dead child at my bosom. 21When I rose in the morning to feed my child, it was dead. But when I looked closely in the morning light, I recognized that it was not my son whom I bore.”
22The other woman said, “No, the living is my son, and the dead is your son.”
And she said, “No, the dead is your son, and the living is my son.” Thus they spoke before the king.
23Then the king said, “One says, ‘This is my son who lives, and your son is the dead,’ and the other says, ‘No, but your son is dead, and my son is the living.’ ”
24So the king said, “Bring me a sword.” And 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.”
26#Ge 43:30; Isa 49:15Then the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for she yearned with compassion for her son, and she said, “O my lord, give her the living child, and do not kill it.”
But the other said, “Let it be neither mine nor yours and divide it.”
27Then the king answered and said, “Give her the living child, and do not slay it. She is its mother.”
28#Col 2:3; Ezr 7:25All Israel heard of the king’s judgment, and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to execute sound judgment.
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