The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the NIV. Switch to the NIV to read along with the audio.
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.
These emissaries of Jesus inspire us with their passion to serve Jesus and advance the gospel in the face of torture and abuse. After a night in prison and a public flogging, they moved forward with smiles on their faces. Believers in the Western church often enjoy the benefits of social and political power and are unwilling to suffer persecution for their faith as these men did. At the same time, many believers throughout the world face daily pressure to renounce their faith but choose boldly to remain faithful despite social, economic, and even physical persecution. These believers follow closely the path trodden by the Anointed One and His early followers.
6 Things were going well, and the number of disciples was growing. But a problem arose. The Greek-speaking believers became frustrated with the Hebrew-speaking believers. The Greeks complained that the Greek-speaking widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food. 2 The twelve convened the entire community of disciples.
The Twelve: We could solve this problem ourselves, but that wouldn’t be right. We need to focus on proclaiming God’s message, not on distributing food. 3 So, friends, find seven respected men from the community of faith. These men should be full of the Holy Spirit and full of wisdom. Whomever you select we will commission to resolve this matter 4 so we can maintain our focus on praying and serving—not meals—but the message.
Life in the new community isn’t perfect. However, the believers don’t allow their linguistic and social barriers to divide the church; instead, the emissaries seize this opportunity to create greater unity between disparate groups. They appoint seven leaders, mostly Greek-speaking (based on their names), to oversee the distribution of food. This movement toward unity will be a challenge to the future church that will so easily be divided by any problem, real or perceived.
5 The whole community—Greek-speaking and Hebrew-speaking—was very pleased with this plan, so they chose seven men: Stephen (a man full of faith and full of the Holy Spirit), Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas (a Greek-speaking convert from Antioch). 6 These men were presented to the apostles, who then prayed for them and commissioned them by laying their hands on them. 7 The message of God continued to spread, and the number of disciples continued to increase significantly there in Jerusalem. Even priests in large numbers became obedient to the faith.
8 Stephen continually overflowed with extraordinary grace and power, and he was able to perform a number of miraculous signs and wonders in public view. 9 But eventually a group arose to oppose Stephen and the message to which his signs and wonders pointed. (These men were from a group called the Free Synagogue and included Cyrenians, Alexandrians, Cilicians, and Asians.) 10 The Holy Spirit gave Stephen such wisdom in responding to their arguments that they were humiliated; 11 in retaliation, they spread a vicious rumor: “We heard Stephen speak blasphemies against Moses and God.”
12 Their rumor prompted an uprising that included common people, religious officials, and scholars. They surprised Stephen, grabbed him, and hauled him before the council. 13 They convinced some witnesses to give false testimony.
False Witnesses: This fellow constantly degrades the holy temple and mocks our holy law. 14 With our own ears, we’ve heard him say this Jesus fellow, this Nazarene he’s always talking about, will actually destroy the holy temple and will try to change the sacred customs we received from Moses.
15 The entire council turned its gaze on Stephen to see how he would respond. They were shocked to see his face radiant with peace—as if he were a heavenly messenger.
Psalm 126
A song for those journeying to worship.
1 Remember when the Eternal brought back the exiles to Zion?
It was as if we were dreaming—
2 Our mouths were filled with laughter;
our tongues were spilling over into song.
The word went out across the prairies and deserts,
across the hills, over the oceans wide, from nation to nation:
“The Eternal has done remarkable things for them.”
3 We shook our heads. All of us were stunned—the Eternal has done remarkable things for us.
We were beyond happy, beyond joyful.
4 And now, Eternal One, some are held captive and poor.
Release them, and restore our fortunes
as the dry riverbeds of the South spring to life when the rains come at last.
5 Those who walk the fields to sow, casting their seed in tears,
will one day tread those same long rows, amazed by what’s appeared.
6 Those who weep as they walk
and plant with sighs
Will return singing with joy,
when they bring home the harvest.
26 People work to stay alive,
pressed daily by their need to eat.
27 Good-for-nothings conjure up evil ideas;
their conversations fuel destructive fires.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.