I Kings 3
3
Solomon Requests Wisdom
1Now #1 Kin. 7:8; 9:24Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and married Pharaoh’s daughter; then he brought her #2 Sam. 5:7to the City of David until he had finished building his #1 Kin. 7:1own house, and #1 Kin. 6the house of the Lord, and #1 Kin. 9:15, 19the wall all around Jerusalem. 2#(Deut. 12:2–5, 13, 14); 1 Kin. 11:7; 22:43Meanwhile the people sacrificed at the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days. 3And Solomon #(Rom. 8:28)loved the Lord, #(1 Kin. 3:6, 14)walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.
4Now #1 Kin. 9:2; 2 Chr. 1:3the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, #1 Chr. 16:39; 21:29for that was the great high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5#1 Kin. 9:2; 11:9; 2 Chr. 1:7At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon #Num. 12:6; Matt. 1:20; 2:13in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?”
6#2 Chr. 1:8And Solomon said: “You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he #1 Kin. 2:4; 9:4; 2 Kin. 20:3walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You #2 Sam. 7:8–17; 1 Kin. 1:48have 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 instead of my father David, but I am a #1 Chr. 22:5; Jer. 1:6, 7little child; I do not know how #Num. 27:17; 2 Sam. 5:2to go out or come in. 8And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You #(Ex. 19:6; Deut. 7:6)have chosen, a great people, too #Gen. 13:6; 15:5; 22:17numerous to be numbered or counted. 9#2 Chr. 1:10; (James 1:5)Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart #Ps. 72:1, 2to judge Your people, that I may #2 Sam. 14:17; Is. 7:15; (Heb. 5:14)discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”
10The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. 11Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have #(James 4:3)not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, 12#(1 John 5:14, 15)behold, I have done according to your words; #1 Kin. 4:29–31; 5:12; 10:24; Eccl. 1:16see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. 13And I have also #(Matt. 6:33; Eph. 3:20)given you what you have not asked: both #1 Kin. 4:21, 24; 10:23; 1 Chr. 29:12riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. 14So #(1 Kin. 6:12)if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, #1 Kin. 15:5as your father David walked, then I will #Ps. 91:16; Prov. 3:2lengthen your days.”
15Then Solomon #Gen. 41:7awoke; and indeed it had been a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, offered up burnt offerings, offered peace offerings, and #Gen. 40:20; 1 Kin. 8:65; Esth. 1:3; Dan. 5:1; Mark 6:21made a feast for all his servants.
Solomon’s Wise Judgment
16Now two women who were harlots came to the king, and #Num. 27:2stood before him. 17And one woman said, “O my lord, this woman and I dwell in the same house; and I gave birth while she was in the house. 18Then it happened, the third day after I had given birth, that this woman also gave birth. And we were together; no one was with us in the house, except the two of us in the house. 19And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. 20So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. 21And when I rose in the morning to nurse my son, there he was, dead. But when I had examined him in the morning, indeed, he was not my son whom I had borne.”
22Then the other woman said, “No! But the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.”
And the first woman said, “No! But the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.”
Thus they spoke before the king.
23And the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son, who lives, and your son is the dead one’; and the other says, ‘No! But your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’ ” 24Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. 25And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other.”
26Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for #Gen. 43:30; Is. 49:15; Jer. 31:20; Hos. 11:8she yearned with compassion for her son; and she said, “O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him!”
But the other said, “Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him.”
27So the king answered and said, “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him; she is his mother.”
28And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered; and they feared the king, for they saw that the #1 Kin. 3:9, 11, 12; 2 Chr. 1:12; Dan. 1:17; (Col. 2:2, 3)wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.
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I Kings 3: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
1 Kings 3
3
The Lord Makes Solomon Wise
(2 Chronicles 1.1-13)
1Solomon signed a treaty with the king of Egypt and married his daughter. She lived in the older part of Jerusalem#3.1 the older … Jerusalem: Hebrew “the city of David.” until the palace, the Lord's temple, and the wall around Jerusalem were completed.
2At that time, there was no temple for worshiping the Lord, and everyone offered sacrifices at the local shrines.#3.2 local shrines: The Hebrew text has “high places,” which were local places to worship God or foreign gods. 3Solomon loved the Lord and followed his father David's instructions, but Solomon also offered sacrifices and burned incense at the shrines.
4 #
Ws 9.1-18. The most important shrine was in Gibeon, and Solomon had offered more than 1,000 sacrifices on that altar.
5One night while Solomon was in Gibeon, the Lord God appeared to him in a dream and said, “Solomon, ask for anything you want, and I will give it to you.”
6Solomon answered:
My father David, your servant, was honest and did what you commanded. You were always loyal to him, and you gave him a son who is now king. 7Lord God, I'm your servant, and you've made me king in my father's place. But I'm very young and know so little about being a leader. 8And now I must rule your chosen people, even though there are too many of them to count.
9Please make me wise and teach me the difference between right and wrong. Then I will know how to rule your people. If you don't, there is no way I could rule this great nation of yours.
10-11God said:
Solomon, I'm pleased that you asked for this. You could have asked to live a long time or to be rich. Or you could have asked for your enemies to be destroyed. Instead, you asked for wisdom to make right decisions. 12So I'll make you wiser than anyone who has ever lived or ever will live.
13I'll also give you what you didn't ask for. You'll be rich and respected as long as you live, and you'll be greater than any other king. 14If you obey me and follow my commands, as your father David did, I'll let you live a long time.
15Solomon woke up and realized that God had spoken to him in the dream. He went back to Jerusalem and stood in front of the sacred chest, where he offered sacrifices to please the Lord#3.15 sacrifices to please the Lord: See Leviticus 1.1-17. and sacrifices to ask his blessing.#3.15 sacrifices to ask his blessing: See Leviticus 3.1-17. Then Solomon gave a feast for his officials.
Solomon Makes a Difficult Decision
16One day two women#3.16 women: Hebrew “prostitutes.” came to King Solomon, 17and one of them said:
Your Majesty, this woman and I live in the same house. Not long ago my baby was born at home, 18and three days later her baby was born. Nobody else was there with us.
19One night while we were all asleep, she rolled over on her baby, and he died. 20Then while I was still asleep, she got up and took my son out of my bed. She put him in her bed, then she put her dead baby next to me.
21In the morning when I got up to feed my son, I saw that he was dead. But when I looked at him in the light, I knew he wasn't my son.
22“No!” the other woman shouted. “He was your son. My baby is alive!”
“The dead baby is yours,” the first woman yelled. “Mine is alive!”
They argued back and forth in front of Solomon, 23until finally he said, “Both of you say this live baby is yours. 24Someone bring me a sword.”
A sword was brought, and Solomon ordered, 25“Cut the baby in half! That way each of you can have part of him.”
26“Please don't kill my son,” the baby's mother screamed. “Your Majesty, I love him very much, but give him to her. Just don't kill him.”
The other woman shouted, “Go ahead and cut him in half. Then neither of us will have the baby.”
27Solomon said, “Don't kill the baby.” Then he pointed to the first woman, “She is his real mother. Give the baby to her.”
28Everyone in Israel was amazed when they heard how Solomon had made his decision. They realized that God had given him wisdom to judge fairly.
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© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.