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.
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1 Kings 3
3
Solomon's wisdom and his officials
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 worshipping 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 burnt incense at the shrines.
4The most important shrine was in Gibeon, and Solomon had offered more than a thousand 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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