I Regum 3
1 confirmatum est igitur regnum in manu Salomonis et adfinitate coniunctus est Pharaoni regi Aegypti accepit namque filiam eius et adduxit in civitatem David donec conpleret aedificans domum suam et domum Domini et murum Hierusalem per circuitum
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 et tamen populus immolabat in excelsis non enim aedificatum erat templum nomini Domini usque in die illo
[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 dilexit autem Salomon Dominum ambulans in praeceptis David patris sui excepto quod in excelsis immolabat et accendebat thymiama
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 abiit itaque in Gabaon ut immolaret ibi illud quippe erat excelsum maximum mille hostias in holocaustum obtulit Salomon super altare illud in Gabaon
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 apparuit Dominus Salomoni per somnium nocte dicens postula quod vis ut dem tibi
That night, Yahweh appeared to him in a dream. He asked Solomon, “What would you like me to give to you?”
6 et ait Salomon tu fecisti cum servo tuo David patre meo misericordiam magnam sicut ambulavit in conspectu tuo in veritate et iustitia et recto corde tecum custodisti ei misericordiam tuam grandem et dedisti ei filium sedentem super thronum eius sicut et hodie
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 et nunc Domine Deus tu regnare fecisti servum tuum pro David patre meo ego autem sum puer parvus et ignorans egressum et introitum meum
“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 et servus tuus in medio est populi quem elegisti populi infiniti qui numerari et supputari non potest prae multitudine
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 dabis ergo servo tuo cor docile ut iudicare possit populum tuum et discernere inter malum et bonum quis enim potest iudicare populum istum populum tuum hunc multum
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 placuit ergo sermo coram Domino quod Salomon rem huiuscemodi postulasset
Yahweh was very pleased that Solomon had requested that.
11 et dixit Deus Salomoni quia postulasti verbum hoc et non petisti tibi dies multos nec divitias aut animam inimicorum tuorum sed postulasti tibi sapientiam ad discernendum iudicium
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 ecce feci tibi secundum sermones tuos et dedi tibi cor sapiens et intellegens in tantum ut nullus ante te similis tui fuerit nec post te surrecturus sit
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 sed et haec quae non postulasti dedi tibi divitias scilicet et gloriam ut nemo fuerit similis tui in regibus cunctis retro diebus
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 si autem ambulaveris in viis meis et custodieris praecepta mea et mandata mea sicut ambulavit pater tuus longos faciam dies tuos
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 igitur evigilavit Salomon et intellexit quod esset somnium cumque venisset Hierusalem stetit coram arca foederis Domini et obtulit holocausta et fecit victimas pacificas et grande convivium universis famulis suis
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 tunc venerunt duae mulieres meretrices ad regem steteruntque coram eo
One day two prostitutes came and stood in front of King Solomon.
17 quarum una ait obsecro mi domine ego et mulier haec habitabamus in domo una et peperi apud eam in cubiculo
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 tertia vero die postquam ego peperi peperit et haec et eramus simul nullusque alius in domo nobiscum exceptis nobis duabus
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 mortuus est autem filius mulieris huius nocte dormiens quippe oppressit eum
“But one night this woman’s baby died because she [accidentally] rolled on top of her baby [while sleeping and smothered it].
20 et consurgens intempesta nocte silentio tulit filium meum de latere meo ancillae tuae dormientis et conlocavit in sinu suo suum autem filium qui erat mortuus posuit in sinu meo
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 cumque surrexissem mane ut darem lac filio meo apparuit mortuus quem diligentius intuens clara luce deprehendi non esse meum quem genueram
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 responditque altera mulier non est ita sed filius tuus mortuus est meus autem vivit e contrario illa dicebat mentiris filius quippe meus vivit et filius tuus mortuus est atque in hunc modum contendebant coram rege
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 tunc rex ait haec dicit filius meus vivit et filius tuus mortuus est et ista respondit non sed filius tuus mortuus est et filius meus vivit
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 dixit ergo rex adferte mihi gladium cumque adtulissent gladium coram rege
So he said to one of his servants, “Bring me a sword.” So the servant brought a sword to the king.
25 dividite inquit infantem vivum in duas partes et date dimidiam partem uni et dimidiam partem alteri
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 dixit autem mulier cuius filius erat vivus ad regem commota sunt quippe viscera eius super filio suo obsecro domine date illi infantem vivum et nolite interficere eum contra illa dicebat nec mihi nec tibi sit dividatur
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 respondens rex ait date huic infantem vivum et non occidatur haec est mater eius
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 audivit itaque omnis Israhel iudicium quod iudicasset rex et timuerunt regem videntes sapientiam Dei esse in eo ad faciendum iudicium
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.
