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 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 Only, the people are sacrificing in high places, for there has not been built a house for the Name of YHWH until those days.
[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 And Solomon loves YHWH, to walk in the statutes of his father David—only, he is sacrificing and making incense in high places—
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 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.
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 YHWH has appeared to Solomon in Gibeon, in a dream of the night, and God says, “Ask—what do I give 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 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.
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 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;
“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 your people, whom You have chosen, a people numerous, that is not numbered nor counted for 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 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?”
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 thing is good in the eyes of the Lord, that Solomon has asked this thing,
Yahweh was very pleased that Solomon had requested that.
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,
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 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;
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 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;
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 walk in My ways to keep My statutes, and My commands, as your father David walked, then I have prolonged 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 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.
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, come to the king, and they stand before him,
One day two prostitutes came and stood in front of King Solomon.
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;
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 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.
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 And the son of this woman dies at night, because she has lain on 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 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;
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 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.”
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 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.
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 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, “Both of you are saying, ‘My baby is the one that is alive and the one that is dead is yours.’”
24 And the king says, “Take a sword for me”; and they bring the 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 and the king says, “Cut the living child into two, and give half to one, and half 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 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].”
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 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 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 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.
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.
