1 Kings 3
1 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.
And the wisdom of Solomon abounded exceedingly beyond the wisdom of all the ancients, and beyond all the wise men of Egypt: and he took the daughter of Pharao, and brought her into the city of David, until he had finished building his own house, and the house of the Lord first, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.
2 [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.
Nevertheless the people burnt incense on the high places, because a house had not yet been built to the Lord.
3 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.
And Solomon loved the Lord, [so as] to walk in the ordinances of David his father; only he sacrificed and burnt incense on the high places.
4 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.
And he arose and went to Gabaon to sacrifice there, for that [was] the highest place, and great: Solomon offered a whole burnt offering of a thousand [victims] on the altar in Gabaon.
5 That night, Yahweh appeared to him in a dream. He asked Solomon, “What would you like me to give to you?”
And the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and the Lord said to Solomon, Ask some petition for yourself.
6 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].
And Solomon said, You have dealt very mercifully with your servant David my father according as he walked before you in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with you, and you have kept for him this great mercy, to set his son upon his throne, as [it is] this day.
7 “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].
And now, O Lord my God, you have appointed your servant in the room of David my father; and I am a little child, and know not my going out an my coming in.
8 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].
But your servant [is] in the midst of your people, whom you have chosen, a great people, which as this day can’t be numbered.
9 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.”
You shall give therefore to your servant a heart to hear and to judge your people justly, and to discern between good and evil: for who will be able to judge this your great people?
10 Yahweh was very pleased that Solomon had requested that.
And it was pleasing before the Lord, that Solomon asked this thing.
11 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].
And the Lord said to him, Because you have asked this thing of me, and have not asked for yourself long life, and have not asked wealth, nor have asked the lives of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to hear judgment;
12 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.
behold, I have done according to your word: behold, I have given you an understanding and wise heart: there has not been [any one] like you before you, and after you there shall not arise one like you.
13 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.
And I have given you what you have not asked, wealth and glory, so that there has not been any one like you among kings.
14 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.”
And if you will walk in my way, to keep my commandments and my ordinances, as David your father walked, then will I multiply your days.
15 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.
And Solomon awoke, and, behold, [it was] a dream: and he arose and came to Jerusalem, and stood before the altar that was in front of the ark of the covenant of the Lord in Sion: and he offered whole burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace-offerings, and made a great banquet for himself and all his servants.
16 One day two prostitutes came and stood in front of King Solomon.
Then there appeared two harlots before the king, and they stood before him.
17 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.
And the one woman said, Hear me, [my] lord; I and this woman lived in one house, and we were delivered in the house.
18 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.
And it came to pass on the third day after I was delivered, this woman also was delivered: and we [were] together; and there was no one with us besides our two selves in the house.
19 “But one night this woman’s baby died because she [accidentally] rolled on top of her baby [while sleeping and smothered it].
And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it.
20 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.
and she arose in the middle of the night, and took my son from my arms, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead son in my bosom.
21 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!”
and I arose in the morning to suckle my son, and he was dead: and, behold, I considered him in the morning, and, behold, it was not my son whom I bore.
22 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.
And the other woman said, No, but the living [is] my son, and the dead [is] your son. So they spoke before the king.
23 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.’”
and the king said to them, You say, This [is] my son, [even] the living [one], and this woman's son [is] the dead one: and you say, No, but the living [is] my son, and the dead [is] your son.
24 So he said to one of his servants, “Bring me a sword.” So the servant brought a sword to the king.
And the king said, Fetch a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.
25 Then the king said to the servant, “Cut the baby that is alive into two parts. Give one part to each of the women.”
And the king said, Divide the live child, the suckling, in two; and give half of it to one, and half of it to the other.
26 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.”
And the woman whose the living child was, answered and said to the king, (for her bowels yearned over her son) and she said, I pray you, [my] lord, give her the child, and in nowise kill it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor hers; divide [it].
27 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.”
Then the king answered and said, Give the child to her that said, 'Give it to her, and by no means kill it:' she [is] its mother.
28 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.
and all Israel heard this judgment which the king judged, and they feared before the king; because they saw that the wisdom of God [was] in him, to execute judgment.
