Solomon’s Rule Consolidated

3 Then ^(A)Solomon ^[a]formed a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter ^(B)and brought her to the city of David ^(C)until he had finished building his own house and the house of the Lord and ^(D)the wall around Jerusalem. ^2 (E)The people were still sacrificing on the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days.

³ Now ^(F)Solomon loved the Lord, ^(G)walking in the statutes of his father David, except he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. ^4 (H)The king went to ^(I)Gibeon to sacrifice there, ^(J)for that was the great high place; Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. ^5 (K)In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon ^(L)in a dream at night; and God said, “^(M)Ask what you wish Me to give you.”

Solomon’s Prayer

⁶ Then Solomon said, “^(N)You have shown great lovingkindness to Your servant David my father, ^(O)according as he walked before You in ^[b]truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward You; and ^(P)You have ^[c]reserved for him this great lovingkindness, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. ⁷ Now, O Lord my God, ^(Q)You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet ^(R)I am but a little child; ^(S)I do not know how to go out or come in. ^8 (T)Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, ^(U)a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted. ⁹ So ^(V)give Your servant ^[d]an understanding heart to judge Your people ^(W)to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this ^[e]great people of Yours?”

God’s Answer

^10 [f]It was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. ¹¹ God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing and have ^(X)not asked for yourself ^[g]long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself ^[h]discernment to understand justice, ¹² behold, ^(Y)I have done according to your words. Behold, ^(Z)I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you. ^13 (AA)I have also given you what you have not asked, both ^(AB)riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days. ^14 (AC)If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will ^(AD)prolong your days.”

¹⁵ Then ^(AE)Solomon awoke, and behold, it was 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 ^(AF)made a feast for all his servants.

Solomon Wisely Judges

¹⁶ Then two women who were harlots came to the king and stood before him. ¹⁷ The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, ^[i]this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. ¹⁸ It happened on the third day after I gave birth, that this woman also gave birth to a child, and we were together. There was no stranger with us in the house, only the two of us in the house. ¹⁹ This woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on it. ²⁰ So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead son in my bosom. ²¹ When I rose in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead; but when I looked at him carefully in the morning, behold, he was not my son, whom I had borne.” ²² Then the other woman said, “No! For the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.” But ^[j]the first woman said, “No! For the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.” Thus they spoke before the king.

²³ Then the king said, “^[k]The one says, ‘This is my son who is living, and your son is the dead one’; and ^[l]the other says, ‘No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’” ²⁴ The king said, “Get me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. ²⁵ The king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” ²⁶ Then the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for ^[m](AG)she was deeply stirred over her son and said, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him!” ²⁷ Then the king said, “Give ^[n]the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother.” ²⁸ When all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had ^[o]handed down, they feared the king, for ^(AH)they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to ^[p]administer justice.

Prayer for Protection against the Wicked.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

The First Seal—Rider on White Horse

6 Then I saw when the ^(A)Lamb broke one of the ^(B)seven seals, and I heard one of the ^(C)four living creatures saying as with a ^(D)voice of thunder, “Come^[a].” ² I looked, and behold, a ^(E)white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and ^(F)a crown was given to him, and he went out ^(G)conquering and to conquer.

The Second Seal—War

³ When He broke the second seal, I heard the ^(H)second living creature saying, “Come^[b].” ⁴ And another, ^(I)a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to ^(J)take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him.

The Third Seal—Famine

⁵ When He broke the third seal, I heard the ^(K)third living creature saying, “Come^[c].” I looked, and behold, a ^(L)black horse; and he who sat on it had a ^(M)pair of scales in his hand. ⁶ And I heard something like a voice in the center of the ^(N)four living creatures saying, “A ^[d]quart of wheat for a ^[e]denarius, and three ^[f]quarts of barley for a ^[g]denarius; and ^(O)do not damage the oil and the wine.”

The Fourth Seal—Death

⁷ When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the ^(P)fourth living creature saying, “Come^[h].” ⁸ I looked, and behold, an ^[i](Q)ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name ^(R)Death; and ^(S)Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, ^(T)to kill with sword and with famine and with ^[j]pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.

The Fifth Seal—Martyrs

⁹ When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw ^(U)underneath the ^(V)altar the ^(W)souls of those who had been slain ^(X)because of the word of God, and because of the ^(Y)testimony which they had maintained; ¹⁰ and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “^(Z)How long, O ^[k](AA)Lord, ^(AB)holy and true, ^[l]will You refrain from ^(AC)judging and avenging our blood on ^(AD)those who dwell on the earth?” ¹¹ And ^(AE)there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should ^(AF)rest for a little while longer, ^(AG)until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be ^(AH)completed also.

The Sixth Seal—Terror

¹² I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great ^(AI)earthquake; and the ^(AJ)sun became black as ^(AK)sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; ¹³ and ^(AL)the stars of the sky fell to the earth, ^(AM)as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. ^14 (AN)The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and ^(AO)every mountain and island were moved out of their places. ¹⁵ Then ^(AP)the kings of the earth and the great men and the ^[m]commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; ¹⁶ and they *^(AQ)said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the ^[n]presence of Him ^(AR)who sits on the throne, and from the ^(AS)wrath of the Lamb; ¹⁷ for ^(AT)the great day of their wrath has come, and ^(AU)who is able to stand?”