1 Kings 3
1 And Solomon joins in marriage with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and takes the daughter of Pharaoh, and brings her to the City of David, until he completes to build his own house, and the house of YHWH, and the wall of Jerusalem all around.
Solomon became the son-in-law of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter as his wife, keeping her in the town of David, till the house he was building for himself, and the house of the Lord and the wall round Jerusalem, were complete.
2 Only, the people are sacrificing in high places, for there has not been built a house for the Name of YHWH until those days.
But all this time the people were making their offerings in the high places, because no house had been put up to the name of the Lord till those days.
3 And Solomon loves YHWH, to walk in the statutes of his father David—only, he is sacrificing and making incense in high places—
And Solomon, in his love for the Lord, kept the laws of David his father; but he made offerings and let them go up in smoke on the high places.
4 and the king goes to Gibeon, to sacrifice there, for it [is] the great high place; Solomon causes one thousand burnt-offerings to ascend on that altar.
And the king went to Gibeon to make an offering there, because that was the chief high place: it was Solomon's way to make a thousand burned offerings on that altar.
5 YHWH has appeared to Solomon in Gibeon, in a dream of the night, and God says, “Ask—what do I give to you?”
In Gibeon, Solomon had a vision of the Lord in a dream by night; and God said to him, Say what I am to give you.
6 And Solomon says, “You have done with Your servant, my father David, great kindness, as he walked before You in truth and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You, and You keep this great kindness for him, and give to him a son sitting on his throne, as [at] this day.
And Solomon said, Great was your mercy to David my father, as his life before you was true and upright and his heart was true to you; and you have kept for him this greatest mercy, a son to take his place this day.
7 And now, O YHWH my God, You have caused Your servant to reign instead of my father David; and I [am] a little child, I do not know [how] to go out and to come in;
And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in the place of David my father; and I am only a young boy, with no knowledge of how to go out or come in.
8 and Your servant [is] in the midst of your people, whom You have chosen, a people numerous, that is not numbered nor counted for multitude,
And your servant has round him the people of your selection, a people so great that they may not be numbered, and no account of them may be given.
9 and You have given an understanding heart to Your servant, to judge Your people, to discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”
Give your servant, then, a wise heart for judging your people, able to see what is good and what evil; for who is able to be the judge of this great people?
10 And the thing is good in the eyes of the Lord, that Solomon has asked this thing,
Now these words and Solomon's request were pleasing to the Lord.
11 and God says to him, “Because that you have asked for this thing, and have not asked for many days for yourself, nor asked for riches for yourself, nor asked for the life of your enemies, and have asked for discernment for yourself to understand judgment,
And God said to him, Because your request is for this thing, and not for long life for yourself or for wealth or for the destruction of your haters, but for wisdom to be a judge of causes;
12 behold, I have done according to your words; behold, I have given a wise and understanding heart to you, that there has not been [one] like you before you, and after you there does not arise [one] like you;
I have done as you said: I have given you a wise and far-seeing heart, so that there has never been your equal in the past, and never will there be any like you in the future.
13 and also, that which you have not asked for I have given to you, both riches and honor, that there has not been a man like you among the kings [for] all your days;
And with this I have given you what you made no request for: wealth and honour, so that no king was ever your equal.
14 and if you walk in My ways to keep My statutes, and My commands, as your father David walked, then I have prolonged your days.”
And if you go on in my ways, keeping my laws and my orders as your father David did, I will give you a long life.
15 And Solomon awakens, and behold, [it was] a dream; and he comes to Jerusalem, and stands before the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH, and causes burnt-offerings to ascend, and makes peace-offerings, and he makes a banquet for all his servants.
And Solomon, awakening, saw that it was a dream; then he came to Jerusalem, where he went before the ark of the agreement of the Lord, offering burned offerings and peace-offerings; and he made a feast for all his servants.
16 Then two women, harlots, come to the king, and they stand before him,
Then two loose women of the town came and took their places before the king;
17 and the first woman says, “O my lord, this woman and I are dwelling in one house, and I bring forth with her, in the house;
And one of them said, O my lord, I and this woman are living in the same house; and I gave birth to a child by her side in the house.
18 and it comes to pass on the third day of my bringing forth, that this woman also brings forth, and we [are] together, there is no stranger with us in the house, except the two of us, in the house.
And three days after the birth of my child, this woman had a child: we were together, no other-person was with us in the house but we two only.
19 And the son of this woman dies at night, because she has lain on him,
In the night, this woman, sleeping on her child, was the cause of its death.
20 and she rises in the middle of the night, and takes my son from beside me—and your handmaid is asleep—and lays him in her bosom, and she has laid her dead son in my bosom;
And she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while your servant was sleeping; and she took it in her arms and put her dead child in my arms.
21 and I rise in the morning to suckle my son, and behold, [he is] dead; and I consider in the morning concerning it, and behold, it was not my son whom I bore.”
And when I got up to give my child the breast, I saw that it was dead; but in the morning, looking at it with care, I saw that it was not my son.
22 And the other woman says, “No, but my son [is] the living, and your son the dead”; and this [one] says, “No, but your son [is] the dead, and my son the living.” And they speak before the king.
And the other woman said, No; but the living child is my son and the dead one yours. But the first said, No; the dead child is your son and the living one mine. So they kept on talking before the king.
23 And the king says, “This [one] says, This [is] my son, the living, and your son [is] the dead; and that [one] says, No, but your son [is] the dead, and my son the living.”
Then the king said, One says, The living child is my son, and yours is the dead: and the other says, Not so; but your son is the dead one and mine is the living.
24 And the king says, “Take a sword for me”; and they bring the sword before the king,
Then he said, Get me a sword. So they went and put a sword before the king.
25 and the king says, “Cut the living child into two, and give half to one, and half to the other.”
And the king said, Let the living child be cut in two and one half given to one woman and one to the other.
26 And the woman whose son [is] the living one says to the king (for her bowels yearned over her son), indeed, she says, “O my lord, give the living child to her, and do not put him to death at all”; and this [one] says, “Let him be neither mine or yours—cut [him].”
Then the mother of the living child came forward, for her heart went out to her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the child; do not on any account put it to death. But the other woman said, It will not be mine or yours; let it be cut in two.
27 And the king answers and says, “Give the living child to her [who wants him], and do not put him to death at all; she [is] his mother.”
Then the king made answer and said, Give her the child, and do not put it to death; she is the mother of it.
28 And all [in] Israel hear of the judgment that the king has judged, and fear because of the king, for they have seen that the wisdom of God [is] in his heart to do judgment.
And news of this decision which the king had made went through all Israel; and they had fear of the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to give decisions.
