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3 Solomon loved Yahweh and lived by his father David’s rules. However, he still sacrificed and burned incense at these other worship sites.
Solomon Requests Wisdom from God(A)
4 King Solomon went to Gibeon to sacrifice because it was the most important place of worship. Solomon sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings on that altar.
5 In Gibeon Yahweh appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. Elohim said, “What can I give you?”
6 Solomon responded, “You’ve shown great love to my father David, who was your servant. He lived in your presence with truth, righteousness, and commitment. And you continued to show him your great love by giving him a son to sit on his throne today.
7 “Yahweh my Elohim, although I’m young and inexperienced, you’ve made me king in place of my father David. 8 I’m among your people whom you have chosen. They are too numerous to count or record. 9 Give me a heart that listens so that I can judge your people and tell the difference between good and evil. After all, who can judge this great people of yours?”
10 Adonay[a] was pleased that Solomon asked for this. 11 Elohim replied, “You’ve asked for this and not for a long life, or riches for yourself, or the death of your enemies. Instead, you’ve asked for understanding so that you can do what is right. 12 So I’m going to do what you’ve asked. I’m giving you a wise and understanding heart so that there will never be anyone like you. 13 I’m also giving you what you haven’t asked for—riches and honor—so that no other king will be like you as long as you live. 14 And if you follow me and obey my laws and commands as your father David did, then I will also give you a long life.”
15 Solomon woke up and realized it had been a dream. He went to Jerusalem and stood in front of the ark of Adonay’s promise. He sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings and held a banquet for all his officials.
Solomon’s Wisdom in Action
16 A short time later two prostitutes came to the king and stood in front of him. 17 One woman said to him, “Sir, this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a son while she was with me in the house. 18 Two days later this woman also gave birth to a son. We were alone. No one else was with us. Just the two of us were in the house. 19 That night this woman’s son died because she rolled over on top of him. 20 So she got up during the night and took my son, who was beside me, while I was asleep. She held him in her arms. Then she laid her dead son in my arms. 21 When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, he was dead! I took a good look at him and realized that he wasn’t my son at all!”
22 The other woman said, “No! My son is alive—your son is dead.”
The first woman kept on saying, “No! Your son is dead—my son is alive.” So they argued in front of the king.
23 The king said, “This one keeps saying, ‘My son is alive—your son is dead,’ and that one keeps saying, ‘No! Your son is dead—my son is alive.’”
24 So the king told his servants to bring him a sword. When they brought it, 25 he said, “Cut the living child in two. Give half to the one and half to the other.”
26 Then the woman whose son was still alive was deeply moved by her love for the child. She said to the king, “Please, sir, give her the living child. Please don’t kill him!”
But the other woman said, “He won’t be mine or yours. Cut him in two.”
27 The king replied, “Give the living child to the first woman. Don’t kill him. She is his mother.”
28 All Israel heard about the decision the king made. They respected the king very highly, because they saw he possessed wisdom from Elohim to do what was right.
Solomon’s Administration(B)
4 When King Solomon was the king of all Israel, 2 these were his officials:
Azariah, son of Zadok, was the chief priest.
3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were scribes.
Jehoshaphat, son of Ahilud, was the royal historian.
4 Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, was commander of the army.
Zadok and Abiathar were priests.
5 Azariah, son of Nathan, was in charge of the district governors.
Zabud, son of Nathan, was the king’s adviser.
6 Ahishar was in charge of the palace.
Adoniram, son of Abda, was in charge of forced labor.
7 Solomon appointed 12 district governors in Israel. They were to provide food for the king and his palace. Each one had to supply food for one month every year. 8 Their names were
Benhur, who was in charge of the hills of Ephraim,
9 Bendeker, who was in charge of Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Beth Hanan, and
10 Benhesed, who was in charge of Arubboth, Socoh, and the entire region of Hepher.
11 Benabinadab had the entire region of Dor.
(Solomon’s daughter Taphath was his wife.)
12 Baana, son of Ahilud, had Taanach, Megiddo, and all of Beth Shean.
(This was near Zarethan, below Jezreel, from Beth Shean to Abel Meholah and over to Jokmeam.)
13 Bengeber was in charge of Ramoth Gilead; he had the settlements of Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, in Gilead.
He also had the territory of Argob in Bashan, 60 large cities with walls and bronze bars across their gates.
14 Ahinadab, son of Iddo, was in charge of Mahanaim.
15 Ahimaaz was in charge of Naphtali.
(He also married Solomon’s daughter Basemath.)
16 Baana, son of Hushai, was in charge of Asher and Aloth.
17 Jehoshaphat, son of Paruah, was in charge of Issachar.
18 Shimei, son of Ela, was in charge of Benjamin.
19 Geber, son of Uri, was in charge of Gilead, the territory of King Sihon the Amorite and King Og of Bashan. (There was only one governor in that territory.)[b]
20 The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They ate and drank and lived happily.[c]
21 Solomon ruled all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the country of the Philistines and as far as the Egyptian border. These kingdoms paid taxes and were subject to Solomon as long as he lived.
22 Solomon’s food supply for one day was 180 bushels of flour, 360 bushels of coarse flour, 23 10 fattened cows, 20 cows from the pasture, and 100 sheep in addition to deer, gazelles, fallow deer, and fattened birds. 24 He controlled all the territory west of the Euphrates River from Tiphsah to Gaza and all of its kings. So he lived in peace with all the neighboring countries. 25 As long as Solomon lived, Judah and Israel (from Dan to Beersheba) lived securely, everyone under his own vine and fig tree.
26 Solomon had stalls for 40,000 chariot horses. He also had 12,000 chariot soldiers.[d] 27 Each of the governors provided food for one month every year for King Solomon and all who ate at his table. The governors saw to it that nothing was in short supply. 28 They brought their quota of barley and straw for the chariot horses to the proper places.
Solomon’s Wisdom
29 Elohim gave Solomon wisdom—keen insight and a mind as limitless as the sand on the seashore. 30 Solomon’s wisdom was greater than that of all the eastern people and all the wisdom of the Egyptians. 31 He was wiser than anyone, than Ethan the Ezrahite, or Heman, Calcol, or Darda, Mahol’s sons. His fame spread to all the nations around him.
32 Solomon spoke 3,000 proverbs and wrote 1,005 songs. 33 He described and classified trees—from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop growing out of the wall. He described and classified animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. 34 People came from every nation to hear his wisdom; they came from all the kings of the earth who had heard about his wisdom.
The Disciples Choose Seven Men to Help the Apostles
6 At that time, as the number of disciples grew, Greek-speaking Jews complained about the Hebrew-speaking Jews. The Greek-speaking Jews claimed that the widows among them were neglected every day when food and other assistance was distributed.
2 The twelve apostles called all the disciples together and told them, “It’s not right for us to give up God’s word in order to distribute food. 3 So, brothers and sisters, choose seven men whom the people know are spiritually wise. We will put them in charge of this problem. 4 However, we will devote ourselves to praying and to serving in ways that are related to the word.”
5 The suggestion pleased the whole group. So they chose Stephen, who was a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and they chose Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, who had converted to Judaism in the city of Antioch. 6 The disciples had these men stand in front of the apostles, who prayed and placed their hands on these seven men.
7 The word of God continued to spread, and the number of disciples in Jerusalem grew very large. A large number of priests accepted the faith.
Stephen Is Arrested
8 Stephen was a man filled with God’s favor[a] and power. He did amazing things and performed miracles. 9 One day some men from the cities of Cyrene and Alexandria and the provinces of Cilicia and Asia started an argument with Stephen. They belonged to a synagogue called Freedmen’s Synagogue. 10 They couldn’t argue with Stephen because he spoke with the wisdom that the Spirit had given him. 11 Then they bribed some men to lie.
These men said, “We heard him slander Moses and God.” 12 The liars stirred up trouble among the people, the leaders, and the experts in Moses’ Teachings. So they went to Stephen, took him by force, and brought him in front of the Jewish council. 13 Some witnesses stood up and lied about Stephen. They said, “This man never stops saying bad things about the holy place and Moses’ Teachings. 14 We heard him say that Yeshua from Nazareth will destroy the temple and change the customs that Moses gave us.”
15 Everyone who sat in the council stared at him and saw that his face looked like an angel’s face.
Psalm 126
A song for going up to worship.
1 When Yahweh restored the fortunes of Zion,
it was as if we were dreaming.
2 Then our mouths were filled with laughter
and our tongues with joyful songs.
Then the nations said,
“Yahweh has done spectacular things for them.”
3 Yahweh has done spectacular things for us.
We are overjoyed.
4 Restore our fortunes, O Yahweh,
as you restore streams to dry riverbeds in the Negev.
5 Those who cry while they plant
will joyfully sing while they harvest.
6 The person who goes out weeping, carrying his bag of seed,
will come home singing, carrying his bundles of grain.
26 A laborer’s appetite works to his advantage,
because his hunger drives him on.
27 A worthless person plots trouble,
and his speech is like a burning fire.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.