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1 Kings 3:3-4:34
New American Standard Bible

3 Now (A)Solomon loved the Lord, (B)walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he was sacrificing and burning incense on the high places. 4 And (C)the king went to (D)Gibeon to sacrifice there, (E)because that was the great high place; Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 (F)In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon (G)in a dream at night; and God said, “(H)Ask what you wish Me to give you.”

Solomon’s Prayer

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

God’s Answer

10 Now [f]it was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. 11 And God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing, and have (S)not asked for yourself [g]a long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the lives of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice, 12 behold, (T)I have done according to your words. Behold, (U)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 (V)I have also given you what you have not asked, both (W)riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days. 14 And (X)if you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will (Y)prolong your days.”

15 Then (Z)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 (AA)held a feast for all his servants.

Solomon Wisely Judges

16 Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 The one woman said, “Pardon me, my lord: [h]this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth to a child [i]while she was in the house. 18 And 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 Then this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. 20 So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your servant was asleep, and she laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. 21 When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead! But when I examined him closely 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.” So 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 And the king said, “Get me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. 25 And the king said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” 26 But the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for [m](AB)she was deeply stirred over her son, and she said, “Pardon me, my lord! Give her the living child, and by no means kill him!” But the other woman was saying, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; cut him!” 27 Then the king replied, “Give [n]the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother.” 28 When all Israel heard about the judgment which the king had [o]handed down, they feared the king, because (AC)they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to [p]administer justice.

Solomon’s Officials

4 Now King Solomon was king over all Israel. 2 These were his officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was (AD)the priest; 3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha were scribes; (AE)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the secretary; 4 and (AF)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army; and Zadok and (AG)Abiathar were priests; 5 and Azariah the son of Nathan was over (AH)the deputies; and Zabud the son of Nathan, a priest, was the king’s confidant; 6 and Ahishar was over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the forced labor.

7 Solomon had twelve deputies over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household; each deputy had to provide food for a month in the year. 8 And these were their names: Ben-hur, in the (AI)hill country of Ephraim; 9 Ben-deker in Makaz and (AJ)Shaalbim, and (AK)Beth-shemesh, and Elonbeth-hanan; 10 Ben-hesed in Arubboth ((AL)Socoh was his and all the land of (AM)Hepher); 11 Ben-abinadab in all [q]the (AN)hills of Dor (Taphath the daughter of Solomon was his wife); 12 Baana the son of Ahilud in (AO)Taanach and Megiddo, and all (AP)Beth-shean which is beside (AQ)Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to (AR)Abel-meholah as far as the other side of (AS)Jokmeam; 13 Ben-geber in (AT)Ramoth-gilead ((AU)the villages of Jair, the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead were his: (AV)the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars were his); 14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo in (AW)Mahanaim; 15 (AX)Ahimaaz in Naphtali (he also married Basemath the daughter of Solomon); 16 Baana the son of (AY)Hushai in Asher and [r]Bealoth; 17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah in Issachar; 18 (AZ)Shimei the son of Ela in Benjamin; 19 Geber the son of Uri in the land of Gilead, (BA)the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only deputy who was in the land.

Solomon’s Power, Wealth, and Wisdom

20 (BB)Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is on the [s]seashore in abundance; they were eating, drinking, and rejoicing.

21 [t](BC)Now Solomon was ruling over all the kingdoms (BD)from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt; (BE)they brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

22 Solomon’s [u]provision for one day was [v]thirty kors of fine flour and [w]sixty kors of meal, 23 ten fat oxen, twenty [x]pasture-fed oxen, and a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened geese. 24 For he was ruling over everything [y]west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah even to (BF)Gaza, (BG)over all the kings [z]west of the River; and (BH)he had peace on all sides surrounding him. 25 (BI)So Judah and Israel lived securely, everyone under his vine and his fig tree, (BJ)from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. 26 (BK)Solomon had [aa]forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. 27 And those deputies provided food for King Solomon and all who came to King Solomon’s table, each in his month; they allowed nothing to be lacking. 28 They also brought barley and straw for the war horses and (BL)baggage horses to the place where it was required, each deputy according to his duty.

29 Now (BM)God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of [ab]mind, (BN)like the sand that is on the seashore. 30 Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all (BO)the [ac]people of the east and (BP)all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 For (BQ)he was wiser than all other people, more than (BR)Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, (BS)Calcol, and [ad]Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his [ae]fame was known in all the surrounding nations. 32 (BT)He also told three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered 1,005. 33 He told of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows on the wall; he told also of animals, birds, crawling things, and fish. 34 People (BU)came from all the [af]nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 3:6 Or faithfulness
  2. 1 Kings 3:6 Lit kept
  3. 1 Kings 3:7 I.e., conduct daily business
  4. 1 Kings 3:9 Or a heart that listens
  5. 1 Kings 3:9 Lit heavy
  6. 1 Kings 3:10 Lit the thing was
  7. 1 Kings 3:11 Lit many days
  8. 1 Kings 3:17 Lit I and this woman
  9. 1 Kings 3:17 Lit with her in
  10. 1 Kings 3:22 Lit this one was saying
  11. 1 Kings 3:23 Lit this one
  12. 1 Kings 3:23 Lit this one
  13. 1 Kings 3:26 Lit her compassion grew hot
  14. 1 Kings 3:27 Lit her the living
  15. 1 Kings 3:28 Lit judged
  16. 1 Kings 3:28 Lit do
  17. 1 Kings 4:11 Or Naphoth-dor
  18. 1 Kings 4:16 Or in Aloth
  19. 1 Kings 4:20 Lit sea
  20. 1 Kings 4:21 Ch 5:1 in Heb
  21. 1 Kings 4:22 Lit bread
  22. 1 Kings 4:22 About 231 cubic feet or 6.5 cubic meters
  23. 1 Kings 4:22 About 462 cubic feet or 13 cubic meters
  24. 1 Kings 4:23 Lit oxen of the pasture
  25. 1 Kings 4:24 Lit beyond
  26. 1 Kings 4:24 Lit beyond
  27. 1 Kings 4:26 One LXX ms reads 4,000, cf. 2 Chr 9:25
  28. 1 Kings 4:29 Lit heart
  29. 1 Kings 4:30 Lit sons
  30. 1 Kings 4:31 In 1 Chr 2:6, Dara
  31. 1 Kings 4:31 Lit name
  32. 1 Kings 4:34 Lit peoples
Close NLT

1 Kings 3:3-4:34
New Living Translation

3 Solomon loved the Lord and followed all the decrees of his father, David, except that Solomon, too, offered sacrifices and burned incense at the local places of worship. 4 The most important of these places of worship was at Gibeon, so the king went there and sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings. 5 That night the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!”

6 Solomon replied, “You showed great and faithful love to your servant my father, David, because he was honest and true and faithful to you. And you have continued to show this great and faithful love to him today by giving him a son to sit on his throne.

7 “Now, O Lord my God, you have made me king instead of my father, David, but I am like a little child who doesn’t know his way around. 8 And here I am in the midst of your own chosen people, a nation so great and numerous they cannot be counted! 9 Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?”

10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom. 11 So God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies— 12 I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have! 13 And I will also give you what you did not ask for—riches and fame! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life! 14 And if you follow me and obey my decrees and my commands as your father, David, did, I will give you a long life.”

15 Then Solomon woke up and realized it had been a dream. He returned to Jerusalem and stood before the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant, where he sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then he invited all his officials to a great banquet.

Solomon Judges Wisely

16 Some time later two prostitutes came to the king to have an argument settled. 17 “Please, my lord,” one of them began, “this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a baby while she was with me in the house. 18 Three days later this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there were only two of us in the house.

19 “But her baby died during the night when she rolled over on it. 20 Then she got up in the night and took my son from beside me while I was asleep. She laid her dead child in my arms and took mine to sleep beside her. 21 And in the morning when I tried to nurse my son, he was dead! But when I looked more closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t my son at all.”

22 Then the other woman interrupted, “It certainly was your son, and the living child is mine.”

“No,” the first woman said, “the living child is mine, and the dead one is yours.” 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 is yours, and each says that the dead one belongs to the other. 24 All right, bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought to the king.

25 Then he said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to one woman and half to the other!”

26 Then the woman who was the real mother of the living child, and who loved him very much, cried out, “Oh no, my lord! Give her the child—please do not kill him!”

But the other woman said, “All right, he will be neither yours nor mine; divide him between us!”

27 Then the king said, “Do not kill the child, but give him to the woman who wants him to live, for she is his mother!”

28 When all Israel heard the king’s decision, the people were in awe of the king, for they saw the wisdom God had given him for rendering justice.

Solomon’s Officials and Governors

4 King Solomon now ruled over all Israel, 2 and these were his high officials:

Azariah son of Zadok was the priest.
3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were court secretaries.
Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the royal historian.
4 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was commander of the army.
Zadok and Abiathar were priests.
5 Azariah son of Nathan was in charge of the district governors.
Zabud son of Nathan, a priest, was a trusted adviser to the king.
6 Ahishar was manager of the palace property.
Adoniram son of Abda was in charge of forced labor.

7 Solomon also had twelve district governors who were over all Israel. They were responsible for providing food for the king’s household. Each of them arranged provisions for one month of the year. 8 These are the names of the twelve governors:

Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim.
9 Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elon-bethhanan.
10 Ben-hesed, in Arubboth, including Socoh and all the land of Hepher.
11 Ben-abinadab, in all of Naphoth-dor.[a] (He was married to Taphath, one of Solomon’s daughters.)
12 Baana son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, all of Beth-shan[b] near Zarethan below Jezreel, and all the territory from Beth-shan to Abel-meholah and over to Jokmeam.
13 Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead, including the Towns of Jair (named for Jair of the tribe of Manasseh[c]) in Gilead, and in the Argob region of Bashan, including sixty large fortified towns with bronze bars on their gates.
14 Ahinadab son of Iddo, in Mahanaim.
15 Ahimaaz, in Naphtali. (He was married to Basemath, another of Solomon’s daughters.)
16 Baana son of Hushai, in Asher and in Aloth.
17 Jehoshaphat son of Paruah, in Issachar.
18 Shimei son of Ela, in Benjamin.
19 Geber son of Uri, in the land of Gilead,[d] including the territories of King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan.
There was also one governor over the land of Judah.[e]

Solomon’s Prosperity and Wisdom

20 The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They were very contented, with plenty to eat and drink. 21 [f]Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River[g] in the north to the land of the Philistines and the border of Egypt in the south. The conquered peoples of those lands sent tribute money to Solomon and continued to serve him throughout his lifetime.

22 The daily food requirements for Solomon’s palace were 150 bushels of choice flour and 300 bushels of meal[h]; 23 also 10 oxen from the fattening pens, 20 pasture-fed cattle, 100 sheep or goats, as well as deer, gazelles, roe deer, and choice poultry.[i]

24 Solomon’s dominion extended over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah to Gaza. And there was peace on all his borders. 25 During the lifetime of Solomon, all of Judah and Israel lived in peace and safety. And from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, each family had its own home and garden.[j]

26 Solomon had 4,000[k] stalls for his chariot horses, and he had 12,000 horses.[l]

27 The district governors faithfully provided food for King Solomon and his court; each made sure nothing was lacking during the month assigned to him. 28 They also brought the necessary barley and straw for the royal horses in the stables.

29 God gave Solomon very great wisdom and understanding, and knowledge as vast as the sands of the seashore. 30 In fact, his wisdom exceeded that of all the wise men of the East and the wise men of Egypt. 31 He was wiser than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite and the sons of Mahol—Heman, Calcol, and Darda. His fame spread throughout all the surrounding nations. 32 He composed some 3,000 proverbs and wrote 1,005 songs. 33 He could speak with authority about all kinds of plants, from the great cedar of Lebanon to the tiny hyssop that grows from cracks in a wall. He could also speak about animals, birds, small creatures, and fish. 34 And kings from every nation sent their ambassadors to listen to the wisdom of Solomon.

Footnotes

  1. 4:11 Hebrew Naphath-dor, a variant spelling of Naphoth-dor.
  2. 4:12 Hebrew Beth-shean, a variant spelling of Beth-shan; also in 4:12b.
  3. 4:13 Hebrew Jair son of Manasseh; compare 1 Chr 2:22.
  4. 4:19a Greek version reads of Gad; compare 4:13.
  5. 4:19b As in some Greek manuscripts; Hebrew lacks of Judah. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
  6. 4:21a Verses 4:21-34 are numbered 5:1-14 in Hebrew text.
  7. 4:21b Hebrew the river; also in 4:24.
  8. 4:22 Hebrew 30 cors [6.6 kiloliters] of choice flour and 60 cors [13.2 kiloliters] of meal.
  9. 4:23 Or and fattened geese.
  10. 4:25 Hebrew each family lived under its own grapevine and under its own fig tree.
  11. 4:26a As in some Greek manuscripts (see also 2 Chr 9:25); Hebrew reads 40,000.
  12. 4:26b Or 12,000 charioteers.
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