Chronological
Solomon Asks for Wisdom(A)
3 Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He married Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her to the City of David until he finished building his palace, the house of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem. 2 The people were sacrificing at the high places, because no house had yet been built for the name of the Lord. 3 Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, though he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.
4 The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place, and he offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 While he was in Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night, and He said, “Ask what you want from Me.”
6 Solomon answered, “You have shown great mercy to your servant David my father, because he walked before You in faithfulness, righteousness, and uprightness of heart toward You. And You have shown him great kindness in giving him a son to sit on his throne this day.
7 “Now, O Lord, my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, and I am still a little child and do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, so numerous that they cannot be numbered or counted. 9 Give Your servant therefore an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and bad, for who is able to judge among so great a people?”
10 It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. 11 God said to him, “Because you have asked this and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the lives of your enemies, but have asked for yourself wisdom so that you may have discernment in judging, 12 I now do according to your words. I have given you a wise and an understanding heart, so that there has never been anyone like you in the past, and there shall never arise another like you. 13 I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no kings will compare to you all of your days. 14 If you will walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and My commandments as your father David did, then I will lengthen your days.” 15 Solomon awoke and found it was a dream.
Then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings and made a feast for all of his servants.
The Wisdom of Solomon
16 At that time, two women who were prostitutes came and stood before the king. 17 The first woman said, “O my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I bore a child with her in the house. 18 Three days after I gave birth, she also had a child, and we were together. There was no one else with us in the house, only the two of us were in the house.
19 “Then this woman’s child died during the night because she rolled over on it. 20 She got up at midnight and took my son from beside me while your servant slept and laid him at her bosom and laid her dead child at my bosom. 21 When I rose in the morning to feed my child, it was dead. But when I looked closely in the morning light, I recognized that it was not my son whom I bore.”
22 The other woman said, “No, the living is my son, and the dead is your son.”
And she said, “No, the dead is your son, and the living is my son.” Thus they spoke before the king.
23 Then the king said, “One says, ‘This is my son who lives, and your son is the dead,’ and the other says, ‘No, but your son is dead, and my son is the living.’ ”
24 So the king said, “Bring me a sword.” And they brought a sword before the king. 25 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 child was the living one spoke to the king, for she yearned with compassion for her son, and she said, “O my lord, give her the living child, and do not kill it.”
But the other said, “Let it be neither mine nor yours and divide it.”
27 Then the king answered and said, “Give her the living child, and do not slay it. She is its mother.”
28 All Israel heard of the king’s judgment, and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to execute sound judgment.
The Court of Solomon
4 So King Solomon was king over all Israel. 2 These were the officials in his court:
Azariah the son of Zadok was the priest.
3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were secretaries.
Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder;
4 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army.
Zadok and Abiathar were priests.
5 Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers,
and Zabud the son of Nathan was principal officer and the king’s friend.
6 Ahishar was over the household,
and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the forced labor.
7 Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel who made provision for the king and his household. Each man was assigned a month to make provision. 8 These are their names:
the son of Hur in Mount Ephraim;
9 the son of Deker in Makaz and in Shaalbim and Beth Shemesh and Elon Bethhanan;
10 the son of Hesed in Arubboth (to him belonged Sokoh and all the land of Hepher);
11 the son of Abinadab in all the region of Dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as his wife);
12 Baana the son of Ahilud in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth Shan that is by Zarethan beneath Jezreel, and from Beth Shan to Abel Meholah as far as the other side of Jokmeam;
13 the son of Geber in Ramoth Gilead (to him pertained the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh which are in Gilead, and also the region of Argob which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and iron bars);
14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo in Mahanaim;
15 Ahimaaz in Naphtali (he had taken Basemath the daughter of Solomon as his wife);
16 Baana the son of Hushai in Asher and in Aloth;
17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah in Issachar;
18 Shimei the son of Ela in Benjamin;
19 Geber the son of Uri in the country of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan. He was the only officer who was in that region.
The Wealth of Solomon
20 Judah and Israel had a large populace, as numerous as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy. 21 Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the River[a] to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. The people brought presents and served Solomon all the days of his life.
22 Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty kors[b] of fine flour and sixty kors[c] of meal, 23 ten fat oxen and twenty pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep in addition to deer, roebucks, gazelle, and fatted poultry. 24 For he had dominion over all the region on this side of the River[d] from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings on this side of the River,[e] and he had peace on all borders of his land. 25 Judah and Israel lived safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan to Beersheba all the days of Solomon.
26 Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots and twelve thousand horsemen.
27 Those officers made provision for King Solomon and for all who came to King Solomon’s table, every man in his month, and they lacked nothing. 28 Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries were brought to the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge.
29 God gave Solomon wisdom and great depth of understanding as well as compassion, as vast as the sand on the seashore. 30 Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the people of the East country and all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, Kalkol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; his fame spread throughout all the surrounding nations. 32 He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five. 33 He spoke of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that springs out of the wall. He also spoke of beasts and of fowl and of insects and fish. 34 People from all over came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.
Solomon Seeks Wisdom(A)
1 Now Solomon the son of David strengthened himself over his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him and made Solomon exceedingly great.
2 And Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to all the leaders in all Israel, the heads of fathers’ houses. 3 Then they all went, Solomon and all the assembly that was with him, to the high place that was at Gibeon, because the tent of meeting with God, which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness, was there. 4 However, David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim to the place he had prepared, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem. 5 And the bronze altar that Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was set before the tabernacle of the Lord. And Solomon and the assembly sought it out to seek the Lord. 6 And Solomon went up to the bronze altar before the Lord, which was before the tent of meeting, and he offered up a thousand burnt offerings on it.
7 That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask what I might give to you.”
8 Then Solomon said to God, “You have given a great mercy to David my father and have made me king in his place. 9 Now, Lord God, may Your word to David my father be confirmed, for You have made me king over a people numerous as the dust of the earth. 10 Now give wisdom and knowledge to me so that I might know how to go before this people, for who can judge this great people of Yours?”
11 Then God responded to Solomon, “Because this was in your heart and you did not ask for possessions, wealth, and honor, or even the life of those who hate you, nor have you asked for many days of life, but you have asked Me for wisdom and knowledge that you might govern My people over whom I have made you king, 12 wisdom and knowledge are now given to you. Possessions, wealth, and honor I will also give to you; such has not been given to kings before you nor those who will follow after you.”
13 So Solomon came from the high place at Gibeon, before the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem, and he reigned over Israel.
14 Solomon gathered together chariots and horses. He had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, and he put them in designated cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 15 The king made silver and gold in Jerusalem as abundant as stones and cedar as plentiful as sycamore trees in the lowlands of the Shephelah. 16 The horses of Solomon were imported from Egypt and Kue, and the traders of the king would take them from Kue for a price. 17 They imported chariots from Egypt for six hundred shekels[a] of silver and a horse for one hundred and fifty pieces.[b] And they imported from these places to all the kings of the Hittites and Arameans.
Psalm 72
A Psalm of Solomon.
1 Give the king Your judgments, O God,
and Your righteousness to the king’s son.
2 May he judge Your people with righteousness,
and Your poor with justice.
3 May the mountains bring well-being to the people,
and the hills, in righteousness.
4 May he judge the poor of the people,
may he save the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor.
5 May they fear You as long as the sun endures,
and the moon, throughout all generations.
6 May he descend like rain on the mown grass,
as showers dripping on the earth.
7 In his days may the righteous flourish,
and abundance of peace until the moon is no more.
8 May he have dominion from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
9 May those who dwell in the wilderness bow before him,
and his enemies lick the dust.
10 May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles
bring presents;
the kings of Sheba and Seba offer a gift.
11 May all kings bow down before him;
may all nations serve him.
12 Indeed, may he deliver the needy when he cries;
the poor also, and him who has no helper.
13 May he have compassion on the poor and needy,
and save the lives of the needy.
14 May he redeem their life from deceit and violence;
and may their blood be precious in his sight.
15 May he live long,
and may one give him the gold of Sheba;
and pray for him continually;
and all day long may he be blessed.
16 May there be abundance of grain in the earth
on the top of the mountains;
may its fruit shake like Lebanon;
and may those from the city flourish like grass of the earth.
17 May his name endure forever;
may his name increase as long as the sun.
May men be blessed in him;
may all nations call him blessed!
18 Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous deeds.
19 Blessed be His glorious name forever;
and may the whole earth be filled with His glory.
Amen, and Amen.
20 The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.