Chronological
3 Solomon then arranged a marriage alliance with Pharaoh, Egypt’s king. He married Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her to the city of David. He kept her there while he constructed his own house and the Eternal One’s temple and completed the wall surrounding Jerusalem. 2 However the people were still offering sacrifices at the high places because a temple had not been constructed for the Eternal until then.
3 Solomon’s heart belonged to the Eternal. Solomon abided by the same laws as his father, David. The only difference was that Solomon offered sacrifices and incense at the high places. 4 Solomon went to Gibeon—the great high place—and presented 1,000 burnt offerings at the altar.
Before Israel united as one nation under David, the countryside was inhabited by people who worship other gods. As Solomon prepares to build the temple and centralize worship of the one God—the Lord—in one place—Jerusalem—he finds it necessary to visit the former shrines of local gods and convert them to shrines to God. While this may have worked in the short term by introducing the people outside of Jerusalem to the worship practices of the Eternal, those shrines, called “high places,” will be the undoing of the entire country. By allowing people to worship at local shrines instead of only in Jerusalem, where the priests meticulously follow God’s laws, Solomon and future kings are opening the door to the blending of God worship and pagan worship.
5 The Eternal revealed Himself to Solomon in a dream while he was still in Gibeon.
Eternal One: Tell me, what is your request of Me?
Solomon: 6 You have already revealed Your loyal love to my father, David, for he lived by Your truth and righteousness and honor during the days of his life. You have continued to show this loyal love to him by giving him a son who now reigns upon his throne. 7 Eternal One, my God, You have allowed me to serve as my father David served, but I am still young and inexperienced. I don’t know much about anything, 8 yet I am supposed to lead Your chosen people who are innumerable and even uncountable. 9 Please give Your servant a listening heart for judging Your people and for knowing the difference between what is good and what is evil. Who is capable of judging Your chosen ones, a great people?
10 The Lord was delighted by Solomon’s request.
Eternal One: 11 Since you have asked for wisdom and not for an extended lifetime or for personal wealth or for the annihilation of your enemies, since you have instead asked for the ability to understand justice, 12 I will honor your request. I have planted the deepest human wisdom into your heart. There has never been nor will there ever be a man like you.
13 I have also given you the things for which you have not asked—wealth and an honorable reputation. There will be no other kings like you for as long as you live. 14 If you live a life devoted to Me, if you remain loyal to My laws and commands just as your father David did, then I will add days to your life.
15 Solomon woke up from his dream. He then returned to Jerusalem and visited the Eternal’s covenant chest and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then he prepared a great feast for all those who were in his service.
16 Two prostitutes visited Solomon asking for a judgment.
First Woman (indicating the other): 17 My lord, she and I live under the same roof. She was in the house when my child was born. 18 Three days after my child was born, she had her own child. She and I were alone in the house with our newborns. 19 One night her baby died because she lay on it during her sleep. 20 She woke up, and after seeing her dead baby, she stole my baby out of my arms while I was sleeping and placed her dead baby in my arms. 21 When I woke up the next morning to feed my son, I found him dead. When I took a closer look at him, I saw that it was not the same child who came from my womb.
Second Woman: 22 She lies! My son is alive, and her son is dead!
First Woman: She lies! Her son is dead, and my son is alive!
Solomon: 23 This woman says, “My son is alive, and your son is dead.” The other woman says, “My son is alive, and your son is dead.” 24 Bring me a sword.
25 (receiving a sword) Cut the living child in half, and give each woman one of the halves.
26 The woman who truly was the mother of the living child was overcome with compassion and pleaded with the king.
First Woman: Please don’t cut the child in half! Just give the whole child to her! Please do not kill him!
Second Woman: Nonsense! The child will belong to neither one of us! Cut him in half!
Solomon: 27 The living child belongs to the first woman. Give the boy to her, and do not harm him. She is the true mother.
28 When the news of the king’s wise judgment spread throughout Israel, they all feared him. They respected him because they perceived God’s wisdom in his just judgment.
4 King Solomon reigned over Israel, and these are the men who helped him do so. 2 The following were his officers and administrators: The priest was Azariah (Zadok’s son); 3 the secretaries were Elihoreph and Ahijah (Shisha’s sons); the recorder was Jehoshaphat (Ahilud’s son); 4 the commander of the army was Benaiah (Jehoiada’s son); the priests were Zadok and Abiathar; 5 the commander of all the administrators was Azariah (Nathan’s son); the king’s confidant and priest was Zabud (Nathan’s son); 6 the household manager was Ahishar; the commander of the compulsory labor force was Adoniram (Abda’s son).
7 Solomon commissioned 12 administrators over the entire community of Israel. They each gave provisions for the king and his house. Each administrator provided supplies for one month out of every year. 8 The following were his administrators: Ben-hur from the hills of Ephraim; 9 Ben-deker from Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elonbeth-hanan; 10 Ben-hesed from Arubboth (he possessed Socoh and all of Hepher); 11 Ben-abinadab from the height of Dor (he was married to Taphath, Solomon’s daughter); 12 Baana (Ahilud’s son) from Taanach, Megiddo, and Beth-shean, which is next to Zarethan below Jezreel (from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah) all the way to the far end of Jokmeam; 13 Ben-geber (Manasseh’s son) from Ramoth-gilead, which is the whole of all the towns of Jair, the towns in Gilead, the sector of Argob in Bashan, and 60 large cities which were fortified by walls and bronze bars; 14 Ahinadab (Iddo’s son) from Mahanaim; 15 Ahimaaz from Naphtali (Ahimaaz was married to Basemath, Solomon’s daughter); 16 Baana (Hushai’s son) from Asher and Bealoth; 17 Jehoshaphat (Paruah’s son) from Issachar; 18 Shimei (Ela’s son) from Benjamin; 19 and finally Geber (Uri’s son) from Gilead (the land of Sihon the Amorite king, and the land of Og, Bashan’s king). Geber was the only administrator who lived in the country.
20 The people of Judah and Israel were innumerable, like the grains of sand on the beach. They ate and drank and celebrated.
21 Solomon reigned over all the countries from the Euphrates River to Philistia and to Egypt’s border. These countries honored Solomon with gifts and remained in Solomon’s service for his entire life. 22 Solomon’s provisions for his house for one day were just over 195 bushels of the best flour and about 391 bushels of meal, 23 10 fattened oxen, 20 pastured oxen, 100 sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened birds.
24 Solomon reigned over all places and people and kings to the west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah all the way to Gaza on the Mediterranean. Solomon’s reign had peace on all sides: 25 Judah and Israel lived in peace from Dan to Beersheba, with each man under his vine and beneath his fig tree, for Solomon’s entire life.
26 Solomon owned 40,000[a] horse stalls for the chariot horses, and he had 12,000 horsemen under his command. 27 The 12 administrators made provisions for King Solomon and all who sat at King’s Solomon’s table. Each agent was responsible for one month out of the year, and not one of them ever did an insufficient job. 28 They also provided barley and straw for the chariot horses and war horses in their specified stalls throughout the kingdom. Each agent fulfilled his responsibilities for his appointed month.
29 God gave Solomon wisdom and discernment: his mind was as expansive as the sands of the beach; 30 his wisdom was far beyond that of the wise men of the East and of Egypt. 31 He was the wisest of any other man. He was even wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, and Calcol and Darda (Mahol’s sons). Solomon was immensely famous in all the nearby countries. 32 He also wrote 3,000 proverbs and composed 1,005 songs. 33 He reflected upon trees, from Lebanon’s cedars to the hyssop that blankets the walls. He reflected upon animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. 34 People came from every corner of the earth—sent by kings who were fascinated by Solomon’s wise reputation—to listen to Solomon’s wisdom.
1 After David had unified the tribes of Israel into one nation, subdued his neighboring enemies, and joined his ancestors in death, David’s son Solomon demonstrated his authority as king over Israel. The Eternal God was with Solomon and made him great.
As the new king, Solomon continues building God’s temple, utilizing David’s preparations, building the structure, and establishing the religion of the Lord.
2 As their new king, Solomon spoke to all Israel (commanders of thousands and hundreds, the judges, and every tribal leader). 3 Then he took the group up to the high place at Gibeon, a place in the mountains known for its connection to the Divine, where God’s meeting tent stood. (Moses, the servant of the Eternal, had made this tent and the covenant chest in the wilderness where it traveled with the people, 4 but David prepared a permanent home for the covenant chest of God in Jerusalem where it stayed after he took it from Kiriath-jearim.) At this high place, 5-6 Solomon and the group looked for the bronze altar, which Bezalel (son of Uri, son of Hur) had placed before the Eternal’s congregation tent. Solomon offered 1,000 burnt offerings there in the presence of the Eternal.
7 That night, the True God appeared to Solomon.
God (following the offerings of Solomon): Ask what you want from Me, and I shall give it to you.
Solomon: 8-9 The loyal love You showed my father, David, was immeasurable, and You, O Eternal God, have fulfilled Your promise to my father and made me the king of innumerable people in his place. 10 Now that I am their ruler, give me wisdom and knowledge to lead this great people. Without such wisdom, who can govern such a great people?
God: 11 You did not ask for selfish personal gain: riches, wealth, honor, the deaths of your enemies, or a long life. Instead, you asked for godly wisdom and knowledge to rule My people, over whom I have made you king. 12 Because you thought of the welfare of My people, I have granted you this exceptional wisdom and knowledge. In addition, I will give you riches and wealth and honor greater than any king ever has possessed or ever will possess.
These gifts are signs that God loves Solomon, and Solomon could use them for his own selfish reasons. But Solomon demonstrates wisdom by using these exceptional gifts to honor God in the construction of His temple.
13 Having sacrificed to God at the meeting tent on the high place of Gibeon and received His gifts, Solomon returned to Jerusalem to govern Israel.
14 There Solomon gathered his wealth. He collected 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen; and then he stationed them in the fortified cities, as well as in Jerusalem, where he remained. 15 He distributed silver and gold until they saturated Jerusalem. He imported cedar trees until they rivaled in number the sycamores of the foothills. 16 He imported horses from Egypt and from Kue, a nation north of Israel—the king’s merchants bought the horses from Kue, 17 and they acquired chariots from Egypt for about 15 pounds of silver each and horses for about 4 pounds of silver each. Solomon then traded them to all the Hittite and Aramean kings.
Psalm 72
A song of Solomon.
1 True God, bestow Your honest judgments upon the king
and anoint the king’s son with Your righteousness.
2 May he be honest and fair in his judgments over Your people
and offer justice to the burdened and suffering.
3 Under his reign, may this land of mountains and hills know peace
and experience justice for all the people.
4 May the king offer justice to the burdened and suffering,
rescue the poor and needy,
and demolish the oppressor!
5 [May the people fear You][a] for as long as the sun shines,
as long as the moon rises in the night sky, throughout the generations.
6 May the king be like the refreshing rains, which fall upon fields of freshly mown grass—
like showers that cool and nourish the earth.
7 May good and honest people flourish for as long as he reigns,
and may peace fill the land until the moon no longer rises.
8 May the king rule from one sea to the next,
and may his rule extend from the Euphrates River to the far reaches of the earth.
9 Let the desert wanderers bow down before him
and his enemies lay prostrate and taste the dirt.
10 Let the kings of Tarshish and the island kings
shower him with gifts
And the kings of Sheba and Seba bring him presents as well.
11 Let every king on earth bow down before him
and every nation be in his service.
12 For he will rescue the needy when they ask for help!
He will save the burdened and come to the aid of those who have no other help.
13 He offers compassion to the weak and the poor;
he will help and protect the lives of the needy!
14 He will liberate them from the fierce sting of persecution and violence;
in his eyes, their blood is precious.
15 May he live a long, long time
and the gold of Sheba be given to him.
May the people constantly lift up prayers for him,
and may they call upon God to bless him always.
16 Let grain grow plentifully in this land of promise,
let it sway in the breeze on the hilltops,
let it grow strong as do the cedars of Lebanon,
Woven throughout the psalms are songs describing and praising those anointed as kings over God’s people. Psalm 2, one of the introductory psalms, describes the king as the son of God, the ruler of nations, and the anointed one. During the monarchical period in Israel, psalms like these were tied to the kings themselves, idealizing them as perfectly just and righteous and victorious. But during the exile, God’s exiled people longed for freedom and the implications of these songs began to change. Many Jews began to interpret these psalms as referring to a coming ruler, a Davidic king who would usher in an eternal kingdom and perfect peace. This hope was realized in Jesus. So this is why the earliest followers of Jesus went back to the psalms again and again. They found within many of the psalms, the story of Jesus anticipated and celebrated.
And may those who live in the city bloom and flourish
just as the grass of the fields and meadows.
17 May his name live on forever
and his reputation grow for as long as the sun gives light.
May people from all nations find in him a blessing;
may all peoples declare him blessed.
18 May the Eternal God, the God of Israel, be blessed,
for He alone works miracles and wonders!
19 May His glorious name be blessed forever
and the whole earth be filled with His eternal glory!
Amen. Amen.
20 The prayers of King David, Jesse’s son, are ended.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.