1 Kings 3
3
1And Solomon joineth in marriage with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and taketh the daughter of Pharaoh, and bringeth her in unto the city of David, till he completeth to build his own house, and the house of Jehovah, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.
2Only, the people are sacrificing in high places, for there hath not been built a house for the name of Jehovah till those days.
3And Solomon loveth Jehovah, to walk in the statutes of David his father — only, in high places he is sacrificing and making perfume —
4and the king goeth to Gibeon, to sacrifice there, for it [is] the great high place; a thousand burnt-offerings cause to ascend doth Solomon on that altar.
5In Gibeon hath Jehovah appeared unto Solomon, in a dream of the night, and God saith, ‘Ask — what do I give to thee?’
6And Solomon saith, ‘Thou hast done with Thy servant David my father great kindness, as he walked before Thee in truth and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with Thee, and Thou dost keep for him this great kindness, and dost give to him a son sitting on his throne, as [at] this day.
7And now, O Jehovah my God, Thou hast caused thy servant to reign instead of David my father; and I [am] a little child, I do not know to go out and to come in;
8and Thy servant [is] in the midst of thy people, whom Thou hast chosen, a people numerous, that is not numbered nor counted for multitude,
9and Thou hast given to Thy servant an understanding heart, to judge Thy people, to discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this Thy great people?’
10And the thing is good in the eyes of the Lord, that Solomon hath asked this thing,
11and God saith unto him, ‘Because that thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thee many days, nor asked for thee riches, nor asked the life of thine enemies, and hast asked for thee discernment to understand judgment,
12lo, I have done according to thy words; lo, I have given to thee a heart, wise and understanding, that like thee there hath not been before thee, and after thee there doth not arise like thee;
13and also, that which thou hast not asked I have given to thee, both riches and honour, that there hath not been like thee a man among the kings all thy days;
14and if thou dost walk in My ways to keep My statutes, and My commands, as David thy father walked, then I have prolonged thy days.’
15And Solomon awaketh, and lo, a dream; and he cometh in to Jerusalem, and standeth before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and causeth to ascend burnt-offerings, and maketh peace-offerings. And he maketh a banquet for all his servants,
16then come in do two women, harlots, unto the king, and stand before him,
17and the one woman saith, ‘O, my lord, I and this woman are dwelling in one house, and I bring forth with her, in the house;
18and it cometh to pass on the third day of my bringing forth, that this woman also bringeth forth, and we [are] together, there is no stranger with us in the house, save we two, in the house.
19And the son of this woman dieth at night, because she hath lain upon it,
20and she riseth in the middle of the night, and taketh my son from beside me — and thy handmaid is asleep — and layeth it in her bosom, and her dead son she hath laid in my bosom;
21and I rise in the morning to suckle my son, and lo, dead; and I consider concerning it in the morning, and lo, it was not my son whom I did bear.’
22And the other woman saith, ‘Nay, but my son [is] the living, and thy son the dead;’ and this [one] saith, ‘Nay, but thy son [is] the dead, and my son the living.’ And they speak before the king.
23And the king saith, ‘This [one] saith, This [is] my son, the living, and thy son [is] the dead; and that [one] saith, Nay, but thy son [is] the dead, and my son the living.’
24And the king saith, ‘Take for me a sword;’ and they bring the sword before the king,
25and the king saith, ‘Cut the living child into two, and give the half to the one, and the half to the other.’
26And the woman whose son [is] the living one saith unto the king (for her bowels yearned over her son), yea, she saith, ‘O, my lord, give to her the living child, and put it not at all to death;’ and this [one] saith, ‘Let it be neither mine or thine — cut [it].’
27And the king answereth and saith, ‘Give ye to her the living child, and put it not at all to death; she [is] its mother.’
28And all Israel hear of the judgment that the king hath judged, and fear because of the king, for they have seen that the wisdom of God [is] in his heart, to do judgment.
Currently Selected:
1 Kings 3: YLT98
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
1 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.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.