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 Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the city of David until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of Jehovah, 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.
Only the people sacrificed in the high places, because there was no house built for the name of Jehovah until those days.
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 Jehovah, walking in the statutes of David his father. Only he sacrificed and burnt incense in 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 the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings upon that altar.
5 That night, Yahweh appeared to him in a dream. He asked Solomon, “What would you like me to give to you?”
In Gibeon Jehovah appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
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, Thou have shown to thy servant David my father great loving kindness, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee. And thou have kept for him this great loving kindness, that thou have given him a son to sit on 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 Jehovah my God, thou have made thy servant king instead of David my father. And I am but a little child; I know not how to go out or come 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].
And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou have chosen, a great people that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.
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.”
Give thy servant therefore an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to judge this thy great people?
10 Yahweh was very pleased that Solomon had requested that.
And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had 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 God said to him, Because thou have asked this thing, and have not asked for thyself long life, neither have asked riches for thyself, nor have asked the life of thine enemies, but have asked for thyself understanding to discern justice,
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 thy word. Lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart, so that there has been none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like thee.
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 also given thee that which thou have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there shall not be any among the kings like thee all thy days.
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 thou will walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David walked, then I will lengthen thy 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 came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.
16 One day two prostitutes came and stood in front of King Solomon.
Then two women who were harlots came to the king, and 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, Oh, my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house. And I was delivered of a child with her 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 the third day after I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also. And we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, except we two 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 lay upon 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 at midnight, and took my son from beside me while thy handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child 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 when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead. But when I had looked at it in the morning, 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 thy son. And the other woman said, No, but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus 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.’”
Then the king said, The one says, This is my son that lives, and thy son is the dead. And the other says, No, but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.
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 me 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 living child in two, and give half to the one, and half 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.”
Then the woman whose the living child was spoke to the king, for her heart yearned over her son, and she said, Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill it. But the other said, It shall be neither mine nor thine. 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 her the living child, and by no means kill it; she is the mother of it.
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 of the judgment which the king had judged. And they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do justice.
