1 Kings 3
3
1 And so the kingdom was confirmed in the hand of Solomon, and he was joined with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, by affinity. For he took his daughter, and he led her into the city of David, until he completed building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem all around.
2 But still the people immolated in the high places. For no temple had been built to the name of the Lord, even to that day.
3 Now Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the precepts of David, his father, except that he immolated in the high places, and he burned incense.
4 And so, he went away to Gibeon, so that he might immolate there; for that was the greatest high place. Solomon offered upon that altar, at Gibeon, one thousand victims as holocausts.
5 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon, through a dream in the night, saying, "Request whatever you wish, so that I may give it to you."
6 And Solomon said: "You have shown great mercy to your servant David, my father, because he walked in your sight in truth and justice, and with an upright heart before you. And you have kept your great mercy for him, and you have given him a son sitting upon his throne, just as it is this day.
7 And now, O Lord God, you have caused your servant to reign in place of David, my father. But I am a small child, and I am ignorant of my entrance and departure.
8 And your servant is in the midst of the people that you have chosen, an immense people, who are not able to be numbered or counted because of their multitude.
9 Therefore, give to your servant a teachable heart, so that he may be able to judge your people, and to discern between good and evil. For who will be able to judge this people, your people, who are so many?"
10 And the word was pleasing before the Lord, that Solomon had requested this kind of thing.
11 And the Lord said to Solomon: "Since you have requested this word, and you have not asked for many days or for wealth for yourself, nor for the lives of your enemies, but instead you have requested for yourself wisdom in order to discern judgment:
12 behold, I have done for you according to your words, and I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so much so that there has been no one like you before you, nor anyone who will rise up after you.
13 But also the things for which you did not ask, I have given to you, namely wealth and glory, so that no one has been like you among the kings in the all days before.
14 And if you will walk in my ways, and keep my precepts and my commandments, just as your father walked, I will lengthen your days."
15 Then Solomon awakened, and he understood that it was a dream. And when he had arrived in Jerusalem, he stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and he offered holocausts and made victims of peace offerings, and he held a great feast for all his servants.
16 Then two women harlots went to the king, and they stood before him.
17 And one of them said: "I beg you, my lord, I and this woman were living in one house, and I gave birth, with her in the room.
18 Then, on the third day after I gave birth, she also gave birth. And we were together, with no other person with us in the house, only the two of us.
19 Then this woman's son died in the night. For while sleeping, she smothered him.
20 And rising up in the silent depths of the night, she took my son from my side, while I, your handmaid, was sleeping, and she set him in her bosom. Then she placed her dead son in my bosom.
21 And when I had arisen in the morning, so that I might give milk to my son, he appeared to be dead. But gazing upon him more diligently in the light of day, I realized that he was not mine, whom I had born."
22 And the other woman responded: "It is not such as you say. Instead, your son is dead, but mine is alive." To the contrary, she said: "You are lying. For my son lives, and your son is dead." And in this manner, they were contending before the king.
23 Then said the king: "This one says, 'My son is alive, and your son is dead.' And the other responds, 'No, instead your son is dead, but mine lives.' "
24 Therefore the king said, "Bring a sword to me." And when they had brought a sword before the king,
25 he said, "Divide the living infant in two parts, and give a half part to the one and a half part to the other."
26 But the woman, whose son was alive, said to the king, for her heart was moved concerning her son, "I beg you, my lord, give the living infant to her, and do not kill him." To the contrary, the other said, "Let it be neither for me, nor for you, instead divide it."
27 The king responded and said: "Give the living infant to this woman, and do not kill it. For she is his mother."
28 Then all of Israel heard about the judgment that the king had judged, and they feared the king, seeing that the wisdom of God was in him to accomplish judgment.
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1 Kings 3
3
Solomon Asks for Wisdom
1Solomon made an agreement with the king of Egypt by marrying his daughter and bringing her to Jerusalem. At this time Solomon was still building his palace and the Temple of the Lord, as well as a wall around Jerusalem. 2The Temple for the worship of the Lord had not yet been finished, so people were still sacrificing at altars in many places of worship. 3Solomon showed he loved the Lord by following the commands his father David had given him, except many other places of worship were still used to offer sacrifices and to burn incense.
4King Solomon went to Gibeon to offer a sacrifice, because it was the most important place of worship. He offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5While he was at Gibeon, the Lord appeared to him in a dream during the night. God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
6Solomon answered, “You were very kind to your servant, my father David. He obeyed you, and he was honest and lived right. You showed great kindness to him when you allowed his son to be king after him. 7Lord my God, now you have made me, your servant, king in my father’s place. But I am like a little child; I don’t know how to do what must be done. 8I, your servant, am here among your chosen people, and there are too many of them to count. 9I ask that you give me a heart that understands, so I can rule the people in the right way and will know the difference between right and wrong. Otherwise, it is impossible to rule this great people of yours.”
10The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked this. 11So God said to him, “You did not ask for a long life, or riches for yourself, or the death of your enemies. Since you asked for wisdom to make the right decisions, 12I will do what you asked. I will give you wisdom and understanding that is greater than anyone has had in the past or will have in the future. 13I will also give you what you did not ask for: riches and honor. During your life no other king will be as great as you. 14If you follow me and obey my laws and commands, as your father David did, I will also give you a long life.”
15After Solomon woke up from the dream, he went to Jerusalem. He stood before the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord, where he made burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. After that, he gave a feast for all his leaders and officers.
Solomon Makes a Wise Decision
16One day two women who were prostitutes came to Solomon. As 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; it was just the two of us. 19One night this woman rolled over on her baby, and he died. 20So she took my son from my bed during the night while I was asleep, and she carried him to her bed. Then she put the dead baby in my bed. 21The next morning when I got up to feed my baby, I saw that he was dead! When I looked at him more closely, I realized he was not my son.”
22“No!” the other woman cried. “The living baby is my son, and 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, “One of you says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead.’ Then the other one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and my son is alive.’ ”
24The king sent his servants to get a sword. When they brought it to him, 25he said, “Cut the living baby into two pieces, and give each woman half.”
26The real mother of the living child was full of love for her son. So 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, “Don’t kill him. Give the baby to the first woman, because 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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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.