1 Kings 3
1 Solomon allied himself by marriage with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own house, the house of Yahweh, and the wall around Jerusalem.
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 The people were sacrificing at the high places, because no house had yet been built for the name of Yahweh.
[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 Solomon showed his love for Yahweh by walking in the statutes of David his father, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the 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 The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place there. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings 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 Yahweh appeared at Gibeon to Solomon in a dream by night; he said, “Ask! What should I give you?”
That night, Yahweh appeared to him in a dream. He asked Solomon, “What would you like me to give to you?”
6 So Solomon said, “You have shown great covenant faithfulness to your servant, David my father, because he walked before you in trustworthiness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart. You have kept for him this great covenant faithfulness and have given him a son to sit on his throne today.
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 Now Yahweh my God, you have made your servant king in the place of David my father, though I am only a little child. I do not know how to go out or 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 Your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted.
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 So give your servant an understanding heart to judge your people, so that I may 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 This request of Solomon pleased the Lord.
Yahweh was very pleased that Solomon had requested that.
11 So God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice.
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 See, now I will do all you asked of me when you gave me your request. I give you a wise and an understanding heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, and no one like you 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 I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you 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 If you will walk in my ways to keep my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then 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 awoke, and behold, it was a dream. He came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. He offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a 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 who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
One day two prostitutes came and stood in front of King Solomon.
17 One woman said, “Oh, my master, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child 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 It happened on the third day after I gave birth that this woman also gave birth. We were together. There was no one else with us in the house, but only 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 Then this woman's son died in the night, because she lay 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 So she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast.
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 When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, he was dead. But when I had looked at him carefully in the morning, he was not my son, whom I had borne.”
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 Then the other woman said, “No, the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.” The first woman said, “No, the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.” This is how they spoke 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 the king said, “One of you says, 'This is my son who is alive, and your son is dead,' and the other says, 'No, your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.'”
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 The king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they 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 Then the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to this woman 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 Then the woman whose son was alive spoke to the king, for her heart was full of compassion for her son, and she said, “Oh, my master, give her the living child, and by no means kill him.” But the other woman said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours. Divide 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 Then the king answered and said, “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him. 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 When all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered, they feared the king, because they saw that the wisdom of God was in him for giving judgments.
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.
