The Daily Audio Bible

³ Solomon showed his love^(A) for the Lord by walking^(B) according to the instructions^(C) given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.^(D)

⁴ The king went to Gibeon^(E) to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. ⁵ At Gibeon the Lord appeared^(F) to Solomon during the night in a dream,^(G) and God said, “Ask^(H) for whatever you want me to give you.”

⁶ Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful^(I) to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son^(J) to sit on his throne this very day.

⁷ “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child^(K) and do not know how to carry out my duties. ⁸ Your servant is here among the people you have chosen,^(L) a great people, too numerous to count or number.^{(M) 9} So give your servant a discerning^(N) heart to govern your people and to distinguish^(O) between right and wrong. For who is able^(P) to govern this great people of yours?”

¹⁰ The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. ¹¹ So God said to him, “Since you have asked^(Q) for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment^(R) in administering justice, ¹² I will do what you have asked.^(S) I will give you a wise^(T) and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. ¹³ Moreover, I will give you what you have not^(U) asked for—both wealth and honor^(V)—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal^(W) among kings. ¹⁴ And if you walk^(X) in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.”^{(Y) 15} Then Solomon awoke^(Z)—and he realized it had been a dream.^(AA)

He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings^(AB) and fellowship offerings.^(AC) Then he gave a feast^(AD) for all his court.

A Wise Ruling

¹⁶ Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. ¹⁷ One of them said, “Pardon me, my lord. This woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby while she was there with me. ¹⁸ The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us.

¹⁹ “During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him. ²⁰ So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast. ²¹ The next morning, I got up to nurse my son—and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t the son I had borne.”

²² The other woman said, “No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours.”

But the first one insisted, “No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine.” And so they argued before the king.

²³ The king said, “This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead,’ while that one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.’”

²⁴ Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king. ²⁵ He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.”

²⁶ The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved^(AE) out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!”

But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!”

²⁷ Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.”

²⁸ When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom^(AF) from God to administer justice.

Solomon’s Officials and Governors

4 So King Solomon ruled over all Israel. ² And these were his chief officials:^(AG)

⁷ Solomon had twelve district governors^(AP) over all Israel, who supplied provisions for the king and the royal household. Each one had to provide supplies for one month in the year. ⁸ These are their names:

Solomon’s Daily Provisions

²⁰ The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand^(BJ) on the seashore; they ate, they drank and they were happy.^{(BK) 21} And Solomon ruled^(BL) over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River^(BM) to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.^(BN) These countries brought tribute^(BO) and were Solomon’s subjects all his life.

²² Solomon’s daily provisions^(BP) were thirty cors^[a] of the finest flour and sixty cors^[b] of meal, ²³ ten head of stall-fed cattle, twenty of pasture-fed cattle and a hundred sheep and goats, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks and choice fowl.^{(BQ) 24} For he ruled over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah^(BR) to Gaza, and had peace^(BS) on all sides. ²⁵ During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba,^(BT) lived in safety,^(BU) everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree.^(BV)

²⁶ Solomon had four^[c] thousand stalls for chariot horses,^(BW) and twelve thousand horses.^[d]

²⁷ The district governors,^(BX) each in his month, supplied provisions for King Solomon and all who came to the king’s table. They saw to it that nothing was lacking. ²⁸ They also brought to the proper place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and the other horses.

Solomon’s Wisdom

²⁹ God gave Solomon wisdom^(BY) and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand^(BZ) on the seashore. ³⁰ Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East,^(CA) and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.^{(CB) 31} He was wiser^(CC) than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite—wiser than Heman, Kalkol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. ³² He spoke three thousand proverbs^(CD) and his songs^(CE) numbered a thousand and five. ³³ He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop^(CF) that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. ³⁴ From all nations people came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings^(CG) of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.^[e]

The Choosing of the Seven

6 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing,^(A) the Hellenistic Jews^[a](B) among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows^(C) were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.^{(D) 2} So the Twelve gathered all the disciples^(E) together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God^(F) in order to wait on tables. ³ Brothers and sisters,^(G) choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit^(H) and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them^{(I) 4} and will give our attention to prayer^(J) and the ministry of the word.”

⁵ This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen,^(K) a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit;^(L) also Philip,^(M) Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. ⁶ They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed^(N) and laid their hands on them.^(O)

⁷ So the word of God spread.^(P) The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly,^(Q) and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

Stephen Seized

⁸ Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs^(R) among the people. ⁹ Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene^(S) and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia^(T) and Asia^(U)—who began to argue with Stephen. ¹⁰ But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.^(V)

¹¹ Then they secretly^(W) persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”^(X)

¹² So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin.^{(Y) 13} They produced false witnesses,^(Z) who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place^(AA) and against the law. ¹⁴ For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place^(AB) and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”^(AC)

¹⁵ All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin^(AD) looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Psalm 126

A song of ascents.