1 Kings 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.
Solomon went to see the king of Egypt. Solomon [made an agreement with him to] marry his daughter. They also made an alliance/agreement [that their armies would not attack each other]. Then Solomon brought the king’s daughter to live in [the part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’. [She lived there] until Solomon’s workers had finished building his house and the temple of Yahweh and the wall around Jerusalem.
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.
[At that time] the temple of Yahweh had not yet been built, so the Israeli people were still offering sacrifices at many other places of worship.
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.
Solomon loved Yahweh, and he obeyed all the instructions that his father David had given him. But he also offered sacrifices and burned incense at various altars.
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.
One day the king went to Gibeon [city] to offer a sacrifice there, because that was where the most famous/important altar was. In previous years he had offered hundreds of sacrifices on that altar.
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.”
That night, Yahweh appeared to him in a dream. He asked Solomon, “What would you like me to give 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.
Solomon replied, “You always greatly and faithfully loved my father David, who served you [well]. You did that because he (was faithful to/faithfully obeyed) you and acted righteously and honestly toward you. And you have showed how greatly and faithfully you loved him by giving to him me, his son, and now I am ruling [MTY] as he did [before he died].
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.
“Now, Yahweh my God, you have appointed me to be the king like my father was. But I am [very young, like] a little child [MET]. I do not know how to lead/rule my people at all [IDM].
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.
I am here among the people whom you have chosen. They are a very large group of people; there are very, very many of them, with the result that no one can count them [DOU].
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?”
So please enable me to think clearly, in order that I may rule your people [well]. Enable me to know what is good and what is evil. [If you do not do that, ] I will never [RHQ] be able to rule this great group of people who belong to you.”
10 And the word was pleasing before the Lord, that Solomon had requested this kind of thing.
Yahweh was very pleased that Solomon had requested that.
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:
God said to him, “You did not request that you live for many years or that you become very rich or that you be able to kill all your enemies. Instead, you have requested that I enable you to be wise, in order that you will be able to know [and to do] what is right [while you govern these people].
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.
So, I will certainly do what you requested. I will enable you to be very wise [DOU]. The result will be that no one who has lived before you or who will live after you will be as [wise as] you are.
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.
I will also give you things that you did not request: I will enable you to become very rich and honored, as long as you live. You will be richer and more honored than any other king.
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.”
If you conduct your life [IDM] as I want you to, and if you obey all my laws and commandments, as your father David did, I will enable you to live for many years.”
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.
Then Solomon awoke, and he realized that [God had spoken to him in] a dream. Then he went to Jerusalem and stood in front of [the Sacred Tent where] the Sacred Chest [was], and he offered many sacrifices that were completely burned [on the altar] and offerings to maintain fellowship with Yahweh. Then he made a feast for all his officials.
16 Then two women harlots went to the king, and they stood before him.
One day two prostitutes came and stood in front of King Solomon.
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.
One of them said, “Your Majesty, this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a baby while she was there in the house.
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.
Three days after my baby was born, this woman also gave birth to a baby. Only the two of us were in the house; there was no one else there.
19 Then this woman’s son died in the night. For while sleeping, she smothered him.
“But one night this woman’s baby died because she [accidentally] rolled on top of her baby [while sleeping and smothered it].
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.
So she got up at midnight and took my baby boy who was lying beside me while I was sleeping. She carried him to her bed and brought her dead baby and put it in my bed.
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.”
When I awoke the next morning and was ready to nurse my baby, I saw that it was dead. But when I looked at it closely in the morning light, I saw that it was not my baby!”
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.
But the other woman said, “That is not true! The baby that is alive is mine, and the baby that is dead is yours!” Then the first woman said, “No, the dead baby is yours, and the one that is alive is mine!” And they continued to argue in front of 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.’”
Then the king said, “Both of you are saying, ‘My baby is the one that is alive and the one that is dead is yours.’”
24 Therefore the king said, “Bring a sword to me.” And when they had brought a sword before the king,
So he said to one of his servants, “Bring me a sword.” So the servant brought a sword to 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.”
Then the king said to the servant, “Cut the baby that is alive into two parts. Give one part to each of the women.”
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.”
But the woman whose baby was alive loved her baby very much, so she said to the king, “No, Your Majesty! Do not allow him to kill the baby! Give her the child that is alive!” But the other woman said to the king, “No, cut it in half. Then it will not be her baby or my baby.”
27 The king responded and said: “Give the living infant to this woman, and do not kill it. For she is his mother.”
Then the king said to the servant, “Do not kill the baby. Give the baby to the woman who said ‘Do not cut the baby in half,’ because she is truly the baby’s 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.
All the Israeli people heard about what the king had decided, and they revered him. They realized that God had truly enabled him to be very wise, to judge people’s matters fairly.
