< 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.
Confirmatum est igitur regnum in manu Salomonis, et affinitate coniunctus est Pharaoni regi Ægypti: accepit namque filiam eius, et adduxit in civitatem David, donec compleret ædificans domum suam, et domum Domini, et murum Ierusalem per circuitum.
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.
Attamen populus immolabat in excelsis: non enim ædificatum erat templum nomini Domini usque in diem illum.
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.
Dilexit autem Salomon Dominum, ambulans in præceptis David patris sui, excepto quod in excelsis immolabat, et accendebat thymiama.
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.
Abiit itaque in Gabaon, ut immolaret ibi: illud quippe erat excelsum maximum: mille hostias in holocaustum obtulit Salomon super altare illud in Gabaon.
5 That night, Yahweh appeared to him in a dream. He asked Solomon, “What would you like me to give to you?”
Apparuit autem Dominus Salomoni per somnium nocte, dicens: Postula quod vis ut dem tibi.
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].
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 est hodie.
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].
Et nunc Domine Deus, tu regnare fecisti servum tuum pro David patre meo: ego autem sum puer parvulus, et ignorans egressum, et introitum meum.
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].
Et servus tuus in medio est populi, quem elegisti, populi infiniti, qui numerari et supputari non potest præ multitudine.
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.”
Dabis ergo servo tuo cor docile, ut populum tuum iudicare possit, et discernere inter bonum et malum. Quis enim poterit iudicare populum istum, populum tuum hunc multum?
10 Yahweh was very pleased that Solomon had requested that.
Placuit ergo sermo coram Domino, quod Salomon postulasset huiuscemodi rem.
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].
Et dixit Dominus Salomoni: Quia postulasti verbum hoc, et non petisti tibi dies multos, nec divitias, aut animas inimicorum tuorum, sed postulasti tibi sapientiam ad discernendum iudicium:
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.
ecce feci tibi secundum sermones tuos, et dedi tibi cor sapiens et intelligens, in tantum ut nullus ante te similis tui fuerit, nec post te surrecturus sit.
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.
Sed et hæc, quæ non postulasti, dedi tibi: divitias scilicet, et gloriam, ut nemo fuerit similis tui in regibus cunctis retro diebus.
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.”
Si autem ambulaveris in viis meis, et custodieris præcepta mea, et mandata mea, sicut ambulavit pater tuus, longos faciam dies tuos.
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.
Igitur evigilavit Salomon, et intellexit quod esset somnium: cumque venisset Ierusalem, stetit coram arca fœderis Domini, et obtulit holocausta, et fecit victimas pacificas, et grande convivium universis famulis suis.
16 One day two prostitutes came and stood in front of King Solomon.
Tunc venerunt duæ mulieres meretrices ad regem, steteruntque coram eo,
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.
quarum una ait: Obsecro, mi domine: ego et mulier hæc habitabamus in domo una, et peperi apud eam in cubiculo.
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.
Tertia autem die postquam ego peperi, peperit et hæc: et eramus simul, nullusque alius nobiscum in domo, exceptis nobis duabus.
19 “But one night this woman’s baby died because she [accidentally] rolled on top of her baby [while sleeping and smothered it].
Mortuus est autem filius mulieris huius nocte. Dormiens quippe oppressit eum.
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.
Et consurgens intempestæ noctis silentio, tulit filium meum de latere meo ancillæ tuæ dormientis, et collocavit in sinu suo: suum autem filium, qui erat mortuus, posuit in sinu meo.
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!”
Cumque surrexissem mane ut darem lac filio meo, apparuit mortuus: quem diligentius intuens clara luce, deprehendi non esse meum quem genueram.
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.
Responditque altera mulier: Non est ita ut dicis, sed filius tuus mortuus est, meus autem vivit. Econtrario illa dicebat: Mentiris: filius quippe meus vivit, et filius tuus mortuus est. Atque in hunc modum contendebant coram rege.
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.’”
Tunc rex ait: Hæc dicit, Filius meus vivit, et filius tuus mortuus est. Et ista respondit: Non, sed filius tuus mortuus est, meus autem vivit.
24 So he said to one of his servants, “Bring me a sword.” So the servant brought a sword to the king.
Dixit ergo rex: Afferte mihi gladium. Cumque attulissent gladium coram rege,
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.”
Dividite, inquit, infantem vivum in duas partes, et date dimidiam partem uni, et dimidiam partem alteri.
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.”
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. Econtrario illa dicebat: Nec mihi, nec tibi sit, sed dividatur.
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.”
Respondit rex, et ait: Date huic infantem vivum, et non occidatur: hæc est enim mater eius.
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.
Audivit itaque omnis Israel iudicium quod iudicasset rex, et timuerunt regem, videntes sapientiam Dei esse in eo ad faciendum iudicium.

< 1 Kings 3 >