Chronological
Solomon Prays for Wisdom(A)
3 Later, Solomon intermarried with the family of[a] Pharaoh, the king of Egypt by taking his daughter and bringing her to the City of David to live until he had completed building his own palace, the Lord’s Temple, and the wall around Jerusalem. 2 The people were sacrificing at various high places because the Temple had not yet been built and dedicated to[b] the Lord.
3 Solomon loved the Lord, and lived according to the statutes that his father David obeyed, except that he sacrificed and burned offerings at the high places. 4 The king used to go to Gibeon to sacrifice, since there was a famous high place there, where Solomon once offered 1,000 burnt offerings on that altar. 5 The Lord appeared to Solomon one night in a dream and told him, “Ask me for whatever you want and I’ll give it to you.”
6 So Solomon said:
“You have demonstrated abundant gracious love to your servant David, my father, as he lived in your presence truthfully, righteously, and uprightly in his heart. In addition, you have kept on showing this abundant gracious love by giving him a son to sit on his throne today. 7 Now, Lord my God, you have set me as king to replace my father David, but I’m still young. I don’t have any leadership skills.[c] 8 Your servant lives in the midst of your people that you have chosen, a great people that is too numerous to be counted. 9 So give your servant an understanding mind to govern your people, so I can discern between good and evil. Otherwise, how will I be able to govern this great people of yours?”
10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this, 11 so God told him:
“Because you asked for this, and you didn’t ask for a long life for yourself, and you didn’t ask for the lives of your enemies, but instead you’ve asked for discernment so you can understand how to govern, 12 look how I’m going to do precisely what you asked. I’m giving you a wise and discerning mind, so that there will have been no one like you before you and no one will arise after you like you. 13 I’m also giving you what you haven’t requested: both riches and honor, so that no other king will be comparable to you during your lifetime. 14 If you will live life my way, keeping my statutes and my commands, just like your father David did, I’ll also increase the length of your life.”
15 Then Solomon woke up and realized that he had dreamed a dream. Then he went back to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant, offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and threw a party for all of his servants.
Solomon’s Wisdom is Tested
16 Right about then, two prostitutes approached the king and requested an audience with him. 17 One woman said, “Your majesty, this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. 18 Three days later, this woman also gave birth. We lived alone there. There was nobody else with us in the house. It was just the two of us. 19 This woman’s son died overnight because she laid on top of him. 20 She got up in the middle of the night, took my son from me while your servant was asleep, and laid him to her breast after laying her dead son next to me. 21 The next morning, I got up to nurse my son, and he was dead. But when I examined him carefully in the light of day, he turned out not to be my son whom I had borne!”
22 “Not so,” claimed the other woman. “The living child is my son, and the dead one is yours.”
But the first woman said, “Not so! The dead child is your son and the living one is my son.” This is what they testified before the king.
23 The king said, “One of them claims, ‘This living son is mine, and your son is the dead one’ and the other claims ‘No. Your son is the dead one and my son is the living one.’ 24 “Somebody get me a sword.” So they brought a sword to the king. 25 “Divide the living child in two!” he ordered. “Give half to the one and half to the other.”
26 The woman whose child was still alive cried out to the king, because her heart yearned for her son. “Oh no, your majesty!” she said. “Give her the living child. Please don’t kill him.”
But the other woman said, “Cut him in half! That way, he’ll belong to neither one of us.”
27 The king announced his decision: “Give the living child to the first woman. Don’t kill him. She is his mother.” 28 When this decision that the king had handed down was announced, everybody in Israel was amazed at[d] the king, because they all saw that God’s wisdom was in him, enabling him to administer justice.
Solomon’s Administration
4 And so King Solomon ruled over all of Israel. 2 Here’s a list of his officials: Zadok’s son Azariah was priest, 3 Shisha’s sons Elihoreph and Ahijah were his secretaries, Ahilud’s son Jehoshaphat was recorder, 4 Jehoiada’s son Benaiah commanded the army, Zadok and Abiathar served as priests, 5 Nathan’s son Azariah supervised the governors, Nathan’s son Zabud the priest was the king’s counselor, 6 Ahishar supervised palace matters, and Abda’s son Adoniram supervised conscripted labor. 7 Solomon also appointed twelve governors over all of Israel, each of whom were responsible for providing one month’s food provisions to the king and to his administration during each year.
8 Here’s a list of their names: Ben-hur from the hill country of Ephraim; 9 Ben-deker in Makaz, Shaalbim and Beth-shemesh and Elonbeth-hanan; 10 Ben-hesed served in Arubboth (where he supervised Socoh and all of the territory of Hepher); 11 Ben-abinadab supervised the Dor heights (Solomon’s daughter Taphath was his wife); 12 Ahilud’s son Baana served Taanach, Megiddo, and all of Beth-shean near Zarethan below Jezreel, including from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah as far as the other side of Jokmeam; 13 Ben-geber in Ramoth-gilead, including the towns that belonged to Manasseh’s descendant Jair that are in Gilead; 14 Iddo’s son Ahinadab served in Mahanaim; 15 Ahimaaz served in Naphtali (he was married to Solomon’s daughter Basemath); 16 Hushai’s son Baana served in Asher and Bealoth; 17 Paruah’s son Jehoshaphat served in Issachar; 18 Ela’s son Shimei served in Benjamin; 19 and Uri’s son Geber served in the territory of Gilead, the territory formerly ruled by King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan (he was the only governor over that territory).
Solomon’s Magnificence
20 Judah and Israel became as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They enjoyed abundance, and ate, drank, and rejoiced regularly. 21 [e]Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River[f] to the territory of the Philistines and south[g] to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon throughout his lifetime. 22 Solomon’s daily provisions were 30 kors of fine flour, 60 kors of meal, 23 ten fattened oxen, 20 pasture-fed cattle, 100 sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks, and domestic poultry. 24 He ruled over everything west of the Euphrates[h] River from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all of the kings west of the Euphrates[i] River, and he enjoyed peace on all sides around him.
25 Judah and Israel lived safely, and everyone enjoyed their own vine and fig tree from Dan to Beer-sheba through all of Solomon’s life. 26 Solomon owned 40,000 stalls for the horses that drove his chariots, and he employed 12,000 men to drive them.[j] 27 His officers supplied provisions for King Solomon and for everyone who visited King Solomon’s palace,[k] each in their respective month of service responsibility.[l] Nothing ever ran out. 28 They also provided barley and straw for the horses and camels to their respective locations, each consistent with their responsibilities.
Solomon’s Fame
29 God gave Solomon wisdom and great discernment. His insights were as numerous as sand on the seashore. 30 Solomon was wiser than any of the eastern leaders and wiser than anyone in Egypt. 31 He was wiser than anyone of his day—wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, and wiser than Mahol’s sons Calcol and Darda.
His reputation was known throughout the surrounding nations. 32 Solomon wrote 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs. 33 He described trees—everything from cedars[m] that grow in Lebanon to hyssop that grows on a garden wall. He described animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. 34 People came from everywhere to hear Solomon’s advice. Every king on the earth heard of his wisdom.
The Beginnings of Solomon’s Administration(A)
1 As David’s son Solomon consolidated[a] his administration,[b] the Lord his God was with him to make him very successful.[c] 2 Solomon addressed the entire nation of Israel, including the commanders of thousands and hundreds, the judges, all the other leaders of Israel, and all of the heads of the ancestral houses of Israel.
3 Solomon, along with the whole assembly with him, met at the high place in Gibeon because that’s where God’s Tent of Meeting that the Lord’s servant Moses had constructed in the wilderness was located. 4 Nevertheless, David had brought the Ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place that David had prepared for it, after having erected a tent for it in Jerusalem. 5 Also, the bronze altar that Uri’s son Bezalel, Hur’s grandson, had erected, was in place in front of the Lord’s tent. Solomon and the assembly sought the Lord[d] there. 6 Solomon approached the presence of the Lord at the bronze altar that had been placed at the Tent of Meeting and offered 1,000 burnt offerings on it.
Solomon Asks God for Wisdom
7 That very night God appeared to Solomon and told him, “Ask what I am to give you.”
8 Solomon replied to God, “You showed great gracious love to my father David, and have established me as king in his place. 9 Now, Lord God, your promise to my father David is fulfilled, because you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. 10 Give me wisdom now, so I may go in and out among[e] this people, because who can rule this great people that belongs to you?
11 God told Solomon, “Since you had this in mind,[f] to ask neither to focus on riches, wealth, honor, or the lives of those who hate you, nor have you requested a long life, but instead you have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself, so that you may rule my people over whom I have established you as king, 12 wisdom and knowledge have been granted to you. Furthermore, I will give you riches, wealth, and honor—such as none of the kings owned who lived before you and none after you are to ever attain their equal.”
Solomon’s Wealth(B)
13 So Solomon returned from the Tent of Meeting at the high place in Gibeon to Jerusalem, where he reigned over Israel. 14 Solomon amassed both chariots and horsemen: he owned 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, stationing them in armories[g] and with the king in Jerusalem. 15 The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and made cedar[h] trees as plentiful as sycamore[i] trees that grow in the Shephelah.[j] 16 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue; the king’s procurement officials obtained them from Kue at great[k] price. 17 Chariots were imported from Egypt for 600 shekels[l] each, and horses cost 150 shekels[m] each, and then they exported them to all of the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram.
Solomonic
A Prayer for the King
72 God, endow the king with ability to render[a] your justice,
and the king’s son to render your right decisions.
2 May he rule your people with right decisions
and your oppressed ones with justice.
3 May the mountains bring prosperity to the people
and the hills bring righteousness.
4 May he defend the afflicted of the people
and deliver the children of the poor,
but crush the oppressor.
5 May they fear you as long as the sun and moon shine[b]—
from generation to generation.
6 May he be like the rain that descends on mown grass,
like showers sprinkling on the ground.
7 The righteous will flourish at the proper time
and peace will prevail until the moon is no more.
8 May he rule from sea to sea,
from the Euphrates River[c] to the ends of the earth.
9 May the nomads bow down before him,
and his enemies lick the dust.
10 May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores bring gifts,
and may the kings of Sheba and Seba offer tribute.
11 May all kings bow down to him,
and all nations serve him.
12 For he will deliver the needy when they cry out for help,
and the poor when there is no deliverer.
13 He will have compassion on the poor and the needy,
and he will save the lives of the needy.
14 He will redeem them[d] from oppression and violence,
since their lives are[e] precious in his sight.
Prayer for the King
15 May he live long and be given gold from Sheba,
and may prayer be offered for him continuously,
and may he be blessed every day.
16 May grain be abundant in the land
all the way[f] to the mountain tops;
may its fruits flourish
like the forests of Lebanon,
and may the cities sprout
like the grass of the earth.
Praising the God of Israel
17 May his fame[g] be eternal—
as long as the sun—
may his name endure,
and may they be blessed through him,
and may all nations call him blessed.
18 Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
who alone does awesome deeds.
19 And blessed be his glorious name forever,
and may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and amen!
20 This ends the prayers of Jesse’s son David.
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