1 Kings 3
1599 Geneva Bible
3 1 Solomon taketh Pharaoh’s daughter to wife. 5 The Lord appeareth to him, and giveth him wisdom. 17 The pleading of the two harlots, and Solomon’s sentence therein.
1 Solomon (A)then made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the [a]city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.
2 Only the people sacrificed in the [b]high places, because there was no house built unto the Name of the Lord, until those days.
3 And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the ordinances of David his [c]father: only he sacrificed and offered incense in the high places.
4 And the King went to [d]Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the chief high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.
5 In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
6 And Solomon said, Thou hast showed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, [e]when he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee: and thou hast [f]kept for him this great mercy, and hast given him a son, to sit on his throne, as appeareth this day.
7 And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a young child, and know not how to [g]go out and in.
8 And thy servant is in the midst of thy people, which thou hast chosen, even a great people, which cannot be told nor numbered for multitude.
9 (B)Give therefore unto thy servant an [h]understanding heart, to judge thy people: that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy [i]mighty people?
10 And this pleased the Lord well, that Solomon had desired this thing.
11 And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life, neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine [j]enemies, but hast asked for thyself understanding to hear judgment,
12 Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and understanding heart, so that there hath been none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall arise the like unto thee.
13 And I have also (C)given thee that, which thou hast not asked, both riches and honor, so that among the Kings there [k]shall be none like unto thee all thy days.
14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep mine ordinances and my commandments, (D)as thy father David did walk, I will prolong thy days.
15 And when Solomon awoke, behold it was [l]a dream, and he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the Ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered burnt offerings, and made peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.
16 ¶ Then came two [m]harlots unto the king, and [n]stood before him.
17 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 And the third day after that I was delivered, this woman was delivered also, and we were in the house together: no stranger was with us in the house save we twain.
19 And this woman’s son died in the night: for she overlay him.
20 And she rose at midnight, and [o]took my son from my side, while thine handmaid slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead son in my bosom.
21 And when I arose in the morning to give my son suck, behold, he was dead: and when I had well considered him in the morning, behold, it was not my son, whom I had borne.
22 Then the other woman said, Nay, but my son liveth, and thy son is dead. Again she said, No, but thy son is dead, and mine alive: thus they spake before the king.
23 Then said the king, She saith, This that liveth is my son, and the dead is thy son: and the other saith, Nay, but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son.
24 Then the King said, [p]Bring me a sword: and they brought out a sword before the king.
25 And the king said, Divide ye the living child in twain, and give the one half to the one, and the other half to the other.
26 Then spake the woman, whose the living child was, unto the king, for her compassion was kindled toward her son, and she said, Oh my lord, give her the living child and [q]slay him not: but the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.
27 Then the king answered, and said, Give her the living child, and slay him not: this is his mother.
28 And all Israel heard 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.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 3:1 Which was Bethlehem.
- 1 Kings 3:2 Where altars were appointed before the temple was built, to offer unto the Lord.
- 1 Kings 3:3 For his father had commanded him to obey the Lord and walk in his ways, 1 Kings 2:3.
- 1 Kings 3:4 For there the Tabernacle was, 2 Chron. 1:3.
- 1 Kings 3:6 Or, as he walked.
- 1 Kings 3:6 Thou hast performed thy promise.
- 1 Kings 3:7 That is, to behave himself in executing this charge of ruling.
- 1 Kings 3:9 Or, obedient.
- 1 Kings 3:9 Which are so many in number.
- 1 Kings 3:11 That is, that thine enemy should die.
- 1 Kings 3:13 Or, hath been none.
- 1 Kings 3:15 He knew that God had appeared unto him in a dream.
- 1 Kings 3:16 Or, victuallers.
- 1 Kings 3:16 By this example it appeareth that God kept his promise with Solomon in granting him wisdom.
- 1 Kings 3:20 She stole the quick child away, because she might both avoid the shame and punishment.
- 1 Kings 3:24 Except God give Judges understanding, the impudency of the trespasser shall overthrow the just cause of the innocent.
- 1 Kings 3:26 Her motherly affection herein appeareth that she had rather endure the rigor of the Law, than see her child cruelly slain.
1 Kings 3
Living Bible
3 Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and married one of his daughters. He brought her to Jerusalem to live in the City of David until he could finish building his palace and the Temple and the wall around the city.
2 At that time the people of Israel sacrificed their offerings on altars in the hills, for the Temple of the Lord hadn’t yet been built.
3 (Solomon loved the Lord and followed all of his father David’s instructions except that he continued to sacrifice in the hills and to offer incense there.) 4 The most famous of the hilltop altars was at Gibeon, and now the king went there and sacrificed one thousand burnt offerings! 5 The Lord appeared to him in a dream that night and told him to ask for anything he wanted, and it would be given to him!
6 Solomon replied, “You were wonderfully kind to my father David because he was honest and true and faithful to you, and obeyed your commands. And you have continued your kindness to him by giving him a son to succeed him. 7 O Lord my God, now you have made me the king instead of my father David, but I am as a little child who doesn’t know his way around. 8 And here I am among your own chosen people, a nation so great that there are almost too many people to count! 9 Give me an understanding mind so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between what is right and what is wrong. For who by himself is able to carry such a heavy responsibility?”
10 The Lord was pleased with his reply and was glad that Solomon had asked for wisdom. 11 So he replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people and haven’t asked for a long life, or riches for yourself, or the defeat of your enemies— 12 yes, I’ll give you what you asked for! I will give you a wiser mind than anyone else has ever had or ever will have! 13 And I will also give you what you didn’t ask for—riches and honor! And no one in all the world will be as rich and famous as you for the rest of your life! 14 And I will give you a long life if you follow me and obey my laws as your father David did.”
15 Then Solomon woke up and realized it had been a dream. He returned to Jerusalem and went into the Tabernacle. And as he stood before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, he sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then he invited all of his officials to a great banquet.
16 Soon afterwards two young prostitutes came to the king to have an argument settled.
17-18 “Sir,” one of them began, “we live in the same house, just the two of us, and recently I had a baby. When it was three days old, this woman’s baby was born too. 19 But her baby died during the night when she rolled over on it in her sleep and smothered it. 20 Then she got up in the night and took my son from beside me while I was asleep, and laid her dead child in my arms and took mine to sleep beside her. 21 And in the morning when I tried to feed my baby it was dead! But when it became light outside, I saw that it wasn’t my son at all.”
22 Then the other woman interrupted, “It certainly was her son, and the living child is mine.”
“No,” the first woman said, “the dead one is yours and the living one is mine.” And so they argued back and forth before the king.
23 Then the king said, “Let’s get the facts straight: both of you claim the living child, and each says that the dead child belongs to the other. 24 All right, bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought to the king. 25 Then he said, “Divide the living child in two and give half to each of these women!”
26 Then the woman who really was the mother of the child, and who loved him very much, cried out, “Oh no, sir! Give her the child—don’t kill him!”
But the other woman said, “All right, it will be neither yours nor mine; divide it between us!”
27 Then the king said, “Give the baby to the woman who wants him to live, for she is the mother!”
28 Word of the king’s decision spread quickly throughout the entire nation, and all the people were awed as they realized the great wisdom God had given him.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.