1 Kings 3–11

Chapter 3

¹And Solomon allied himself by marriage with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had ended building his own house, and the house of Jehovah, and the wall of Jerusalem round about. ²Only, the people sacrificed on the high places; for there was no house built to the name of Jehovah, until those days. ³And Solomon loved Jehovah, walking in the statutes of David his father; only, he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. ⁴And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt-offerings did Solomon offer up upon that altar.

⁵In Gibeon Jehovah appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. ⁶And Solomon said, Thou hast shewn unto thy servant David my father great loving-kindness, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great loving-kindness, that thou hast given him a son who sits upon his throne, as it is this day. ⁷And now, Jehovah my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father; and I am but a little child: I know not to go out and to come in. ⁸And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. ⁹Give therefore to thy servant an understanding heart, to judge thy people, to discern between good and bad; for who is able to judge this thy numerous people? ¹⁰And the word pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. ¹¹And God said to him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life, neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies, but hast asked for thyself discernment to understand judgment; ¹²behold, I have done according to thy word: behold, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart, so that there hath been none like unto thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. ¹³And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and glory; so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days. ¹⁴And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will prolong thy days. ¹⁵And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and offered up burnt-offerings, and offered peace-offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.

¹⁶Then came two women, harlots, to the king, and stood before him. ¹⁷And the first woman said, Ah, my lord! I and this woman abode in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. ¹⁸And it came to pass the third day after I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also; and we were together; no stranger was with us in the house, only we two were in the house. ¹⁹And this woman’s child died in the night; because she had lain upon it. ²⁰And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thy handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead son in my bosom. ²¹And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead; and I considered it in the morning, and behold, it was not my son, whom I bore. ²²And the other woman said, No, for the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this one said, No, but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spoke before the king. ²³Then said the king, The one says, This that is living is my son, and thy son is the dead; and the other says, No, for thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. ²⁴And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. ²⁵And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. ²⁶Then spoke the woman whose was the living child to the king, for her bowels yearned over her son, and she said, Ah, my lord! give her the living child, and in no wise put it to death. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine; divide it. ²⁷And the king answered and said, Give this one the living child, and in no wise put it to death: she is its mother. ²⁸And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do justice.

Chapter 4

¹And king Solomon was king over all Israel. ²And these are the princes whom he had: Azariah the son of Zadok was priest; ³Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, chronicler; ⁴and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests; ⁵and Azariah the son of Nathan was over the superintendents; and Zabud the son of Nathan was principal officer, the king’s friend; ⁶and Ahishar was over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the levy-service. ⁷And Solomon had twelve superintendents over all Israel; and they provided food for the king and his household: each man his month in the year had to make provision. ⁸And these are their names: Ben-Hur, in mount Ephraim. ⁹Ben-Deker in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Beth-shemesh, and Elon-Beth-hanan. ¹⁰Ben-Hesed, in Arubboth; he had Sochoh, and all the land of Hepher. ¹¹Ben-Abinadab had all the upland of Dor; Taphath the daughter of Solomon was his wife. ¹²Baana the son of Ahilud had Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth-shean, which is by Zaretan beneath Jizreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-Meholah, as far as beyond Jokneam. ¹³Ben-Geber, in Ramoth-Gilead; he had the villages of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; he had the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bars of bronze. ¹⁴Ahinadab the son of Iddo, at Mahanaim. ¹⁵Ahimaaz, in Nephtali; he also took Basmath the daughter of Solomon as wife. ¹⁶Baanah the son of Hushai, in Asher and in Aloth. ¹⁷Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar. ¹⁸Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin. ¹⁹Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the land of Sihon the king of the Amorites, and of Og the king of Bashan; and he was the only superintendent that was in the land.

²⁰Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry. ²¹And Solomon ruled over all kingdoms from the river to the land of the Philistines, and as far as the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life. ²²And Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and sixty measures of meal, ²³ten fatted oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, besides harts, and gazelles, and fallow-deer, and fatted fowl. ²⁴For he had dominion over all on this side the river, from Tiphsah as far as Gazah, over all the kings on this side the river; and he had peace on all sides round about. ²⁵And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon. ²⁶And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. ²⁷And those officers provided food for king Solomon, and for all who came to king Solomon’s table, every man in his month: they let nothing be wanting. ²⁸And the barley, and the straw for the horses and coursers, they brought to the place where the superintendents were, every man according to his charge.

²⁹And God gave Solomon wisdom and very great understanding and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea-shore. ³⁰And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the sons of the east, and all the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all the nations round about. ³²And he spoke three thousand proverbs; and his songs were a thousand and five. ³³And he spoke of the trees, from the cedar-tree that is on Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of cattle, and of fowls, and of creeping things, and of fishes. ³⁴And there came of all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

Chapter 5

¹And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the place of his father; for Hiram always loved David. ²And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, ³Thou knowest that David my father could not build a house unto the name of Jehovah his God, because of the wars which were about him on every side, until Jehovah put them under the soles of his feet. ⁴But now Jehovah my God has given me rest on every side: there is neither adversary nor evil event. ⁵And behold, I purpose to build a house unto the name of Jehovah my God, as Jehovah spoke to David my father saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy stead, he shall build a house unto my name. ⁶And now command that they hew me cedar-trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants; and I will give thee hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt say; for thou knowest that there is not among us any that are experienced in cutting timber like to the Zidonians. ⁷And it came to pass when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be Jehovah this day, who has given to David a wise son over this great people. ⁸And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have heard the things which thou sentest to me for: I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of cypress. ⁹My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon to the sea; and I will convey them by sea in rafts to the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be broken up there, and thou shalt receive them. And thou shalt accomplish my desire in giving food for my household.

¹⁰So Hiram gave Solomon…