1 Kings 3
1 And Solomon joineth in marriage with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and taketh the daughter of Pharaoh, and bringeth her in unto the city of David, till he completeth to build his own house, and the house of Jehovah, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.
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 hath not been built a house for the name of Jehovah till 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 loveth Jehovah, to walk in the statutes of David his father — only, in high places he is sacrificing and making perfume —
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 goeth to Gibeon, to sacrifice there, for it [is] the great high place; a thousand burnt-offerings cause to ascend doth Solomon 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 In Gibeon hath Jehovah appeared unto Solomon, in a dream of the night, and God saith, 'Ask — what do I give to thee?'
That night, Yahweh appeared to him in a dream. He asked Solomon, “What would you like me to give to you?”
6 And Solomon saith, 'Thou hast done with Thy servant David my father great kindness, as he walked before Thee in truth and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with Thee, and Thou dost keep for him this great kindness, and dost 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 Jehovah my God, Thou hast caused thy servant to reign instead of David my father; and I [am] a little child, I do not know 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 Thy servant [is] in the midst of thy people, whom Thou hast 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 Thou hast given to Thy servant an understanding heart, to judge Thy people, to discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this Thy great people?'
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 hath asked this thing,
Yahweh was very pleased that Solomon had requested that.
11 and God saith unto him, 'Because that thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thee many days, nor asked for thee riches, nor asked the life of thine enemies, and hast asked for thee discernment 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 lo, I have done according to thy words; lo, I have given to thee a heart, wise and understanding, that like thee there hath not been before thee, and after thee there doth not arise like thee;
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 thou hast not asked I have given to thee, both riches and honour, that there hath not been like thee a man among the kings all thy 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 thou dost walk in My ways to keep My statutes, and My commands, as David thy father walked, then I have prolonged thy 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 awaketh, and lo, a dream; and he cometh in to Jerusalem, and standeth before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and causeth to ascend burnt-offerings, and maketh peace-offerings. And he maketh 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 come in do two women, harlots, unto the king, and stand before him,
One day two prostitutes came and stood in front of King Solomon.
17 and the one woman saith, 'O, my lord, I and this woman 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 cometh to pass on the third day of my bringing forth, that this woman also bringeth forth, and we [are] together, there is no stranger with us in the house, save we two, 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 dieth at night, because she hath lain upon it,
“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 riseth in the middle of the night, and taketh my son from beside me — and thy handmaid is asleep — and layeth it in her bosom, and her dead son she hath laid 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 lo, dead; and I consider concerning it in the morning, and lo, it was not my son whom I did bear.'
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 saith, 'Nay, but my son [is] the living, and thy son the dead;' and this [one] saith, 'Nay, but thy 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 saith, 'This [one] saith, This [is] my son, the living, and thy son [is] the dead; and that [one] saith, Nay, but thy 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 saith, 'Take for me a sword;' 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 saith, 'Cut the living child into two, and give the half to the one, and the 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 saith unto the king (for her bowels yearned over her son), yea, she saith, 'O, my lord, give to her the living child, and put it not at all to death;' and this [one] saith, 'Let it be neither mine or thine — cut [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 And the king answereth and saith, 'Give ye to her the living child, and put it not at all to death; she [is] its 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 Israel hear of the judgment that the king hath 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.
