Chronological
Solomon’s Marriage and Sacrifices
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 completed building his own house and the house of Yahweh 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 Yahweh until those days.
3 And (F)Solomon loved Yahweh, (G)walking in the statutes of his father David, except he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. 4 (H)And the king went to (I)Gibeon to sacrifice there, (J)for that was the great high place; Solomon offered one thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 (K)In Gibeon, Yahweh appeared to Solomon (L)in a dream at night; and God said, “(M)Ask what I should give to you.”
God Gives Wisdom to Solomon
6 Then Solomon said, “(N)You have shown great lovingkindness to Your slave David my father, (O)according to how he walked before You in [b]truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward You; and (P)You have kept for him this great lovingkindness, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7 So now, O Yahweh my God, (Q)You have made Your slave 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)And Your slave is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, (U)a numerous people who are too many to be numbered or counted. 9 So (V)give Your slave a listening heart to judge Your people (W)to discern between good and evil. For who is able to [c]judge this glorious people of Yours?”
10 [d]And 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 (X)not asked for yourself [e]long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to listen to 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)Now 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 And the one woman said, “Oh, my lord, [f]this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth to a child 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 And this woman’s son died in the night because she lay on him. 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 [g]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, “[h]The one says, ‘This is my son who is living, and your son is the dead one’; and [i]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 Then 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 son was the living one spoke to the king, for [j](AG)she was deeply stirred with compassion over her son and said, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him!” 27 Then the king said, “Give [k]the first woman the living child, and by no means put him to death. She is his mother.” 28 Then all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had [l]handed down, and they feared the king, for (AH)they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.
Solomon’s Officials
4 So King Solomon was king over all Israel. 2 These were his officials:
Azariah the son of Zadok was (AI)the priest;
3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha were scribes;
(AJ)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder;
4 and (AK)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army;
and Zadok and (AL)Abiathar were priests;
5 and Azariah the son of Nathan was over (AM)the deputies;
and Zabud the son of Nathan, a priest, was the king’s friend;
6 and Ahishar was over the household;
and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the men subject to forced labor.
7 Now Solomon had twelve deputies over all Israel, who sustained the king and his household; each man had to sustain them for a month in the year. 8 These are their names:
Ben-hur, in the (AN)hill country of Ephraim;
9 Ben-deker in Makaz and (AO)Shaalbim and (AP)Beth-shemesh and Elonbeth-hanan;
10 Ben-hesed, in Arubboth ((AQ)Socoh was his and all the land of (AR)Hepher);
11 Ben-abinadab, in all [m]the (AS)height of Dor (Taphath the daughter of Solomon was his wife);
12 Baana the son of Ahilud, in (AT)Taanach and Megiddo, and all (AU)Beth-shean which is beside (AV)Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to (AW)Abel-meholah as far as the other side of (AX)Jokmeam;
13 Ben-geber, in (AY)Ramoth-gilead (now [n](AZ)Havvoth-Jair—Jair being the son of Manasseh—which is in Gilead was his: (BA)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 (BB)Mahanaim;
15 (BC)Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he also married Basemath the daughter of Solomon);
16 Baana the son of (BD)Hushai, in Asher and [o]Bealoth;
17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar;
18 (BE)Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin;
19 Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, (BF)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.
Judah’s and Israel’s Abundance and Security
20 (BG)Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is on the [p]seashore in abundance; they were eating and drinking and being glad.
21 [q](BH)Now Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms (BI)from the [r]River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt; (BJ)they brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.
22 And Solomon’s [s]provision for one day was [t]thirty kors of fine flour and [u]sixty kors of meal, 23 ten fat oxen, twenty [v]pasture-fed oxen, one hundred sheep besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. 24 For he had dominion over everything [w]west of the [x]River, from Tiphsah even to (BK)Gaza, (BL)over all the kings [y]west of the [z]River; and (BM)he had peace on all sides around about him. 25 (BN)So Judah and Israel lived in security, every man under his vine and his fig tree, (BO)from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. 26 (BP)Solomon had [aa]40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. 27 And these deputies sustained King Solomon and all who came to King Solomon’s table, each in his month; they left nothing lacking. 28 They also brought barley and straw for the horses and (BQ)swift steeds to the place where it should be, each according to the legal judgment for him.
29 And (BR)God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of understanding in his heart, (BS)like the sand that is on the seashore. 30 And Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all (BT)the sons of the east and (BU)all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 And (BV)he was wiser than all men, than (BW)Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, (BX)Calcol, and [ab]Darda, the sons of Mahol; and the renown of his name was in all the surrounding nations. 32 (BY)He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. 33 And he spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows on the wall; he spoke also of animals and birds and creeping things and fish. 34 [ac]And men (BZ)came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.
Solomon Goes Before Yahweh
1 Now (A)Solomon the son of David strengthened himself over his kingdom, and [a]Yahweh his God was with him and highly (B)exalted him.
2 And Solomon spoke to all Israel, (C)to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and to the judges and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ households. 3 Then Solomon and all the assembly with him went to (D)the high place which was at Gibeon, (E)for God’s tent of meeting was there, which Moses the servant of Yahweh had made in the wilderness. 4 However, David had brought up (F)the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim [b]to (G)the place he had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem. 5 Now (H)the bronze altar, which Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, [c]was there before the tabernacle of Yahweh, and Solomon and the assembly sought it out. 6 And Solomon went up there before Yahweh to the bronze altar which was at the tent of meeting, and (I)offered one thousand burnt offerings on it.
7 (J)In that night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask what I should give to you.”
God Gives Wisdom to Solomon
8 Then Solomon said to God, “You have shown great lovingkindness to my father David, and (K)have made me king in his place. 9 Now, O Yahweh God, (L)let Your [d]promise to my father David [e]endure, for You have made me king over (M)a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. 10 (N)Give me now wisdom and knowledge, (O)that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can do justice for this great people of Yours?” 11 (P)And God said to Solomon, “Because [f]you had this in your heart, and did not ask for riches, wealth, or glory, or the life of those who hate you, nor have you even asked for long life, but you have asked for yourself wisdom and knowledge that you may do justice for My people over whom I have made you king, 12 wisdom and knowledge have been given to you. And (Q)I will give you riches and wealth and glory, [g]such as none of the kings who were before you had nor those who will [h]come after you.” 13 (R)So Solomon went [i]from the high place which was at Gibeon, from the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem, and he reigned over Israel.
Solomon’s Chariots and Horsemen
14 (S)And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen. (T)And he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, and he stationed them in (U)the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 15 (V)The king also made (W)silver and gold as plentiful as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the [j]Shephelah. 16 Solomon’s import of (X)horses was from Egypt and from Kue; the king’s merchants procured them from Kue for a price. 17 And they [k]imported a chariot from Egypt for [l]600 shekels of silver and a horse for [m]150; and [n]by the same means they [o]exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.
Give the King Your Judgments
Of Solomon.
72 O God, give the king (A)Your judgments,
And (B)Your righteousness to the king’s son.
2 [a]May [b]he (C)render judgment to Your people with righteousness
And (D)Your [c]afflicted with justice.
3 Let the mountains lift up [d](E)peace to the people,
And the hills, in righteousness.
4 [e]May he (F)give justice to the [f]afflicted of the people,
Save the children of the needy,
And crush the oppressor.
5 [g]Let them fear You (G)while the sun endures,
And [h]as long as the moon, from generation to all generations.
6 [i]May he come down (H)like rain upon the mown grass,
Like (I)showers that water the earth.
7 [j]May the (J)righteous flourish in his days,
And (K)abundance of peace until the moon is no more.
8 May he also have dominion (L)from sea to sea
And from the River to the ends of the earth.
9 [k]Let (M)the desert creatures (N)kneel before him,
And his enemies (O)lick the dust.
10 [l]Let the kings of (P)Tarshish and of the (Q)coastlands bring a present;
The kings of (R)Sheba and (S)Seba (T)offer tribute.
11 [m]And let all (U)kings bow down to him,
All (V)nations serve him.
12 For he will (W)deliver the needy when he cries for help,
The [n]afflicted also, and him who has no helper.
13 He will have (X)compassion on the poor and needy,
And the [o]lives of the needy he will save.
14 He will (Y)redeem their [p]life from oppression and violence,
And their blood will be (Z)precious in his sight;
15 So may he live! And may they give to him the (AA)gold of Sheba;
And let each pray for him continually;
Let each bless him all day long.
16 May there be abundance of grain in the earth on top of the mountains;
May its fruit wave like the cedars of (AB)Lebanon;
And may those from the city blossom like (AC)vegetation of the earth.
17 May his (AD)name endure forever;
May his name [q]increase [r](AE)as long as the sun shines;
Let all nations [s](AF)be blessed in him;
(AG)Let all nations call him blessed.
18 (AH)Blessed be Yahweh God, the God of Israel,
Who alone (AI)works wondrous deeds.
19 And blessed be His (AJ)glorious name forever;
And may the whole (AK)earth be filled with His glory.
(AL)Amen, and Amen.
20 [t]The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are completed.
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