The Lord Makes Solomon Wise

(2 Chronicles 1.1-13)

3 Solomon signed a treaty with the king of Egypt and married his daughter. She lived in the older part of Jerusalem^[a] until the palace, the Lord's temple, and the wall around Jerusalem were completed.

² At that time, there was no temple for worshiping the Lord, and everyone offered sacrifices at the local shrines.^{[b] 3} Solomon loved the Lord and followed his father David's instructions, but Solomon also offered sacrifices and burned incense at the shrines.

^4 (A) The most important shrine was in Gibeon, and Solomon had offered more than 1,000 sacrifices on that altar.

⁵ One night while Solomon was in Gibeon, the Lord God appeared to him in a dream and said, “Solomon, ask for anything you want, and I will give it to you.”

⁶ Solomon answered:

My father David, your servant, was honest and did what you commanded. You were always loyal to him, and you gave him a son who is now king. ⁷ Lord God, I'm your servant, and you've made me king in my father's place. But I'm very young and know so little about being a leader. ⁸ And now I must rule your chosen people, even though there are too many of them to count.

⁹ Please make me wise and teach me the difference between right and wrong. Then I will know how to rule your people. If you don't, there is no way I could rule this great nation of yours.

^10-11 God said:

Solomon, I'm pleased that you asked for this. You could have asked to live a long time or to be rich. Or you could have asked for your enemies to be destroyed. Instead, you asked for wisdom to make right decisions. ¹² So I'll make you wiser than anyone who has ever lived or ever will live.

¹³ I'll also give you what you didn't ask for. You'll be rich and respected as long as you live, and you'll be greater than any other king. ¹⁴ If you obey me and follow my commands, as your father David did, I'll let you live a long time.

¹⁵ Solomon woke up and realized that God had spoken to him in the dream. He went back to Jerusalem and stood in front of the sacred chest, where he offered sacrifices to please the Lord^[c] and sacrifices to ask his blessing.^[d] Then Solomon gave a feast for his officials.

Solomon Makes a Difficult Decision

¹⁶ One day two women^[e] came to King Solomon, ¹⁷ and one of them said:

Your Majesty, this woman and I live in the same house. Not long ago my baby was born at home, ¹⁸ and three days later her baby was born. Nobody else was there with us.

¹⁹ One night while we were all asleep, she rolled over on her baby, and he died. ²⁰ Then while I was still asleep, she got up and took my son out of my bed. She put him in her bed, then she put her dead baby next to me.

²¹ In the morning when I got up to feed my son, I saw that he was dead. But when I looked at him in the light, I knew he wasn't my son.

²² “No!” the other woman shouted. “He was your son. My baby is alive!”

“The dead baby is yours,” the first woman yelled. “Mine is alive!”

They argued back and forth in front of Solomon, ²³ until finally he said, “Both of you say this live baby is yours. ²⁴ Someone bring me a sword.”

A sword was brought, and Solomon ordered, ²⁵ “Cut the baby in half! That way each of you can have part of him.”

²⁶ “Please don't kill my son,” the baby's mother screamed. “Your Majesty, I love him very much, but give him to her. Just don't kill him.”

The other woman shouted, “Go ahead and cut him in half. Then neither of us will have the baby.”

²⁷ Solomon said, “Don't kill the baby.” Then he pointed to the first woman, “She is his real mother. Give the baby to her.”

²⁸ Everyone in Israel was amazed when they heard how Solomon had made his decision. They realized that God had given him wisdom to judge fairly.

Solomon's Officials

4 ^1-6 Here is a list of Solomon's highest officials while he was king of Israel:

⁷ Solomon chose twelve regional officers, who took turns bringing food for him and his household. Each officer provided food from his region for one month of the year. ⁸ These were the twelve officers:

The son of Hur was in charge of the hill country of Ephraim.

⁹ The son of Deker was in charge of the towns of Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-Shemesh, and Elon-Beth-Hanan.

¹⁰ The son of Hesed was in charge of the towns of Arubboth and Socoh, and the region of Hepher.

¹¹ The son of Abinadab was in charge of Naphath-Dor and was married to Solomon's daughter Taphath.

¹² Baana son of Ahilud was in charge of the towns of Taanach and Megiddo. He was also in charge of the whole region of Beth-Shan near the town of Zarethan, south of Jezreel from Beth-Shan to Abel-Meholah to the other side of Jokmeam.

¹³ The son of Geber was in charge of the town of Ramoth in Gilead and the villages in Gilead belonging to the family of Jair, a descendant of Manasseh. He was also in charge of the region of Argob in Bashan, which had 60 walled towns with bronze bars on their gates.

¹⁴ Ahinadab son of Iddo was in charge of the territory of Mahanaim.

¹⁵ Ahimaaz was in charge of the territory of Naphtali and was married to Solomon's daughter Basemath.

¹⁶ Baana son of Hushai was in charge of the territory of Asher and the town of Bealoth.

¹⁷ Jehoshaphat son of Paruah was in charge of the territory of Issachar.

¹⁸ Shimei son of Ela was in charge of the territory of Benjamin.

¹⁹ Geber son of Uri was in charge of Gilead, where King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan had lived.

And one officer was in charge of the territory of Judah.^[f]

The Size of Solomon's Kingdom

²⁰ There were so many people living in Judah and Israel while Solomon was king that they seemed like grains of sand on a beach. Everyone had enough to eat and drink, and they were happy.

^21 (B) Solomon ruled every kingdom between the Euphrates River and the land of the Philistines down to Egypt. These kingdoms paid him taxes as long as he lived.

²² Every day, Solomon needed 5,000 liters of fine flour, 10,000 liters of coarsely-ground flour, ²³ 10 grain-fed cattle, 20 pasture-fed cattle, 100 sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, and geese.

²⁴ Solomon ruled the whole region west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, and he was at peace with all of the countries around him. ²⁵ Everyone living in Israel, from the town of Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, was safe as long as Solomon lived. Each family sat undisturbed beneath its own grape vines and fig trees.

^26 (C) Solomon had 40,000 stalls of chariot horses and 12,000 chariot soldiers.

²⁷ Each of the twelve regional officers brought food to Solomon and his household for one month of the year. They provided everything he needed, ²⁸ as well as barley and straw for the horses.

Solomon's Wisdom

²⁹ Solomon was brilliant. God had blessed him with insight and understanding. ^30-31 (D) He was wiser than anyone else in the world, including the wisest people of the east and of Egypt. He was even wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Mahol's three sons, Heman, Calcol, and Darda. Solomon became famous in every country around Judah and Israel. ^32 (E) Solomon wrote 3,000 wise sayings and composed more than 1,000 songs. ³³ He could talk about all kinds of plants, from large trees to small bushes, and he taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. ³⁴ Kings all over the world heard about Solomon's wisdom and sent people to listen to him teach.

Solomon Asks Hiram To Help Build the Temple

(2 Chronicles 2.1-16)

5 King Hiram of Tyre^[g] had always been friends with Solomon's father David. When Hiram learned that Solomon was king, he sent some of his officials to meet with Solomon.

² Solomon sent a message back to Hiram:

³ Remember how my father David wanted to build a temple where the Lord his God could be worshiped? But enemies kept attacking my father's kingdom, and he never had the chance. ⁴ Now, thanks to the Lord God, there is peace in my kingdom and no trouble or threat of war anywhere.

^5 (F) The Lord God promised my father that when his son became king, he would build a temple for worshiping the Lord. So I've decided to do that.

⁶ I'd like you to send your workers to cut down cedar trees in Lebanon for me. I will pay them whatever you say and will even have my workers help them. We both know that your workers are more experienced than anyone else at cutting lumber.

⁷ Hiram was so happy when he heard Solomon's request that he said, “I am grateful that the Lord gave David such a wise son to be king of that great nation!” ⁸ Then he sent back his answer:

I received your message and will give you all the cedar and pine logs you need. ⁹ My workers will carry them down from Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea. They will tie the logs together and float them along the coast to wherever you want them. Then they will untie the logs, and your workers can take them from there.

To pay for the logs, you can provide the grain I need for my household.

¹⁰ Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and pine logs he needed. ¹¹ In return, Solomon gave Hiram over 2,000 tons of wheat and almost 4,000 liters of pure olive oil each year.

¹² The Lord kept his promise and made Solomon wise. Hiram and Solomon signed a treaty and never went to war against each other.

Solomon's Workers

¹³ Solomon ordered 30,000 people from all over Israel to cut logs for the temple, ^14 (G) and he put Adoniram in charge of these workers. Solomon divided them into three groups of 10,000. Each group worked one month in Lebanon and had two months off at home.

¹⁵ He also had 80,000 workers to cut stone in the hill country of Israel, 70,000 workers to carry the stones, ¹⁶ and over 3,000 assistants to keep track of the work and to supervise the workers. ¹⁷ He ordered the workers to cut and shape large blocks of good stone for the foundation of the temple.

¹⁸ Solomon's and Hiram's men worked with men from the city of Gebal,^[h] and together they got the stones and logs ready for the temple.

A Question about Jesus' Authority

(Matthew 21.23-27; Mark 11.27-33)

20 One day, Jesus was teaching in the temple and telling the good news. So the chief priests, the teachers, and the nation's leaders ² asked him, “What right do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”

³ Jesus replied, “I want to ask you a question. ⁴ Who gave John the right to baptize? Was it God in heaven or merely some human being?”

⁵ They talked this over and said to each other, “We can't say God gave John this right. Jesus will ask us why we didn't believe John. ⁶ And we can't say it was merely some human who gave John the right to baptize. The crowd will stone us to death, because they think John was a prophet.”

⁷ So they told Jesus, “We don't know who gave John the right to baptize.”

⁸ Jesus replied, “Then I won't tell you who gave me the right to do what I do.”

Renters of a Vineyard

(Matthew 21.33-46; Mark 12.1-12)

^9 (A) Jesus told the people this story:

A man once planted a vineyard and rented it out. Then he left the country for a long time. ¹⁰ When it was time to harvest the crop, he sent a servant to ask the renters for his share of the grapes. But they beat up the servant and sent him away without anything. ¹¹ So the owner sent another servant. The renters also beat him up. They insulted him terribly and sent him away without a thing. ¹² The owner sent a third servant. He was also beaten terribly and thrown out of the vineyard.

¹³ The owner then said to himself, “What am I going to do? I know what. I'll send my son, the one I love so much. They will surely respect him!”

¹⁴ When the renters saw the owner's son, they said to one another, “Someday he will own the vineyard. Let's kill him! Then we can have it all for ourselves.” ¹⁵ So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

Jesus asked, “What do you think the owner of the vineyard will do? ¹⁶ I'll tell you what. He will come and kill those renters and let someone else have his vineyard.”

When the people heard this, they said, “This must never happen!”

^17 (B) But Jesus looked straight at them and said, “Then what do the Scriptures mean when they say, ‘The stone the builders tossed aside is now the most important stone of all’? ¹⁸ Anyone who stumbles over this stone will get hurt, and anyone it falls on will be smashed to pieces.”

¹⁹ The chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses knew that Jesus was talking about them when he was telling this story. They wanted to arrest him right then, but they were afraid of the people.

Paying Taxes

(Matthew 22.15-22; Mark 12.13-17)

²⁰ Jesus' enemies kept watching him closely, because they wanted to hand him over to the Roman governor. So they sent some men who pretended to be good. But they were really spies trying to catch Jesus saying something wrong. ²¹ The spies said to him, “Teacher, we know you teach the truth about what God wants people to do. And you treat everyone with the same respect, no matter who they are. ²² Tell us, should we pay taxes to the Emperor or not?”

²³ Jesus knew they were trying to trick him. So he told them, ²⁴ “Show me a coin.” Then he asked, “Whose picture and name are on it?”

“The Emperor's,” they answered.

²⁵ Then he told them, “Give the Emperor what belongs to him and give God what belongs to God.” ²⁶ Jesus' enemies could not catch him saying anything wrong there in front of the people. They were amazed at his answer and kept quiet.

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