M'lakhim Alef (1 Ki) 3
3
1Shlomo formed an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt by marrying Pharaoh’s daughter. He brought her into the City of David, [where she lived] until he had finished building his own palace, the house of Adonai and the wall around Yerushalayim. 2The people, however, were still sacrificing on the high places, because no house had yet been built for the name of Adonai. 3Shlomo loved Adonai, living according to the regulations set forth by David his father; nevertheless, he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places.
4One time the king went to Giv‘on to sacrifice there, because that was the main high place. Shlomo offered a thousand burnt offerings on the altar there. 5At Giv‘on Adonai appeared to Shlomo in a dream at night; God said, “Tell me what I should give you.” 6Shlomo said, “You showed your servant David my father much grace, as he lived before you honestly and righteously, having an upright heart with you. You preserved this great grace for him by giving him a son to sit on his throne, as is the case today. 7So now, Adonai my God, you have made your servant king in the place of David my father; but I am a mere child — I don’t know how to lead! 8Moreover your servant is among your people, whom you chose, a great people so numerous that they cannot be counted. 9Therefore, give your servant an understanding heart able to administer justice to your people, so that I can discern between good and bad — for who is equal to judging this great people of yours?”
10What Shlomo had said in making this request pleased Adonai. 11God said to him, “Because you have made this request instead of asking long life or riches for yourself, or your enemies’ death, but rather asked for yourself understanding to discern justice; 12I am doing what you requested. I am giving you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has never been anyone like you, nor will there ever again be anyone like you. 13I am also giving you what you didn’t ask for, riches and honor greater than that of any other king throughout your life. 14More than that, if you will live according to my ways, obeying my laws and mitzvot like your father David, I will give you a long life.”
15Shlomo awoke and found it had been a dream. But he went to Yerushalayim, stood before the ark for the covenant of Adonai and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings. He also made a feast for all his servants.
16After this, there came to the king two women who were prostitutes. After presenting themselves to him, 17one of the women said, “My lord, I and this woman live in the same house; and when she was in the house, I gave birth to a baby. 18Three days after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. We were there together; there was no one else with us in the house except the two of us. 19During the night this woman’s child died, because she rolled over on top of it. 20So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from next to me, while your servant was sleeping, and put it in her arms; and she laid her dead child in my arms. 21When I awoke in the morning to feed my child from my breast, there it was, dead. But when I took a closer look later in the morning, why, it wasn’t my son at all — not the one I gave birth to!” 22The other woman broke in, “No! The living one is my son, and the dead one is your son!” The first one said, “No! The dead one is your son and the living one is my son!” This is how they spoke in the presence of the king.
23Then the king said, “This woman says, ‘The living one is my son; your son is the dead one’; while the other says, ‘No, the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.’ 24Bring me a sword,” said the king. They brought a sword to the king. 25The king said, “Cut the living child in two; give half to the one and half to the other.” 26At this, the woman to whom the living child belonged addressed the king, because she felt so strongly toward her son: “Oh, my lord, give her the living child; you mustn’t kill it!” But the other one said, “It will be neither yours nor mine. Divide it up!” 27Then the king answered, “Give the living child to the first woman, don’t kill it, because she is its mother.” 28All Isra’el heard of the decision the king had made and held the king in awe, for they saw that God’s wisdom was in him, enabling him to render justice properly.
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M'lakhim Alef (1 Ki) 3: CJB
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Learn More About Complete Jewish Bible1 Kings 3
3
Solomon Asks for Wisdom
1Solomon made an agreement with the king of Egypt by marrying his daughter. Solomon brought her to Jerusalem. At this time Solomon was still building his palace and the Temple of the Lord. He was also building a wall around Jerusalem. 2The Temple had not yet been finished. So people were still offering animal sacrifices at altars in many places of worship. 3Solomon showed that he loved the Lord. He did this by following the commands his father David had given him. But Solomon still used the many places of worship to offer sacrifices and to burn incense.
4King Solomon went to Gibeon to offer a sacrifice. He went there because it was the most important place of worship. He offered 1,000 burnt offerings on that altar. 5While he was at Gibeon, the Lord came to him in a dream during the night. God said, “Ask for anything you want. I will give it to you.”
6Solomon answered, “You were very kind to your servant, my father David. He obeyed you. He was honest and lived right. And you showed great kindness to him when you allowed his son to be king after him. 7Lord my God, you have allowed me to be king in my father’s place. But I am like a little child. I do not have the wisdom I need to do what I must do. 8I, your servant, am here among your chosen people. There are too many of them to count. 9So I ask that you give me wisdom. Then I can rule the people in the right way. Then I will know the difference between right and wrong. Without wisdom, it is impossible to rule this great people of yours.”
10The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked him for this. 11So God said to him, “You did not ask for a long life. And you did not ask for riches for yourself. You did not ask for the death of your enemies. Since you asked for wisdom to make the right decisions, 12I will give you what you asked. I will give you wisdom and understanding. Your wisdom will be greater than anyone has had in the past. And there will never be anyone in the future like you. 13Also, I will give you what you did not ask for. You will have riches and honor. During your life no other king will be as great as you. 14I ask you to follow me and obey my laws and commands. Do this as your father David did. If you do, I will also give you a long life.”
15Then Solomon woke up. He knew that God had talked to him in the dream. Then he went to Jerusalem and stood before the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord. There he gave burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord. After that, he gave a feast for all of his leaders and officers.
Solomon Makes a Wise Decision
16One day two women who were prostitutes came to Solomon. They stood before him. 17One of the women said, “My master, this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a baby while she was there with me. 18Three days later this woman also gave birth to a baby. No one else was in the house with us. There were only the two of us. 19One night this woman rolled over on her baby, and it died. 20So during the night she took my son from my bed while I was asleep. She carried him to her bed. Then she put the dead baby in my bed. 21The next morning I got up to feed my baby. But I saw that he was dead! Then I looked at him more closely. I saw that he was not my son.”
22But the other woman said, “No! The living baby is my son. The dead baby is yours!”
But the first woman said, “No! The dead baby is yours, and the living one is mine!” So the two women argued before the king.
23Then King Solomon said, “Each of you says the living baby is your own. And each of you says the dead baby belongs to the other woman.”
24Then King Solomon sent his servants to get a sword. When they brought it to him, 25he said, “Cut the living baby into two pieces. Give each woman half of the baby.”
26The real mother of the living child was full of love for her son. She said to the king, “Please, my master, don’t kill him! Give the baby to her!”
But the other woman said, “Neither of us will have him. Cut him into two pieces!”
27Then King Solomon said, “Give the baby to the first woman. Don’t kill him. She is the real mother.”
28When the people of Israel heard about King Solomon’s decision, they respected him very much. They saw he had wisdom from God to make the right decisions.
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