1 Kings 3:1–5:18
3 Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and marriedm his daughter.n He brought her to the City of Davido until he finished building his palacep and the temple of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem. 2 The people, however, were still sacrificing at the high places,q because a temple had not yet been built for the Namer of the Lord. 3 Solomon showed his loves for the Lord by walkingt according to the instructionsu given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.v
4 The king went to Gibeonw 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 appearedx to Solomon during the night in a dream,y and God said, “Askz 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 faithfula to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a sonb 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 childc and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen,d a great people, too numerous to count or number.e 9 So give your servant a discerningf heart to govern your people and to distinguishg between right and wrong. For who is ableh 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 askedi for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernmentj in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked.k I will give you a wisel 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 notm asked for—both wealth and honorn—so that in your lifetime you will have no equalo among kings. 14 And if you walkp in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.”q 15 Then Solomon awoker—and he realized it had been a dream.s
He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant and sacrificed burnt offeringst and fellowship offerings.u Then he gave a feastv for all his court.
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 movedw 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 wisdomx 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:y
Azariahz son of Zadok—the priest;
3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha—secretaries;a
Jehoshaphatb son of Ahilud—recorder;
4 Benaiahc son of Jehoiada—commander in chief;
Zadokd and Abiathar—priests;
5 Azariah son of Nathan—in charge of the district governors;
Zabud son of Nathan—a priest and adviser to the king;
6 Ahishar—palace administrator;e
Adoniramf son of Abda—in charge of forced labor.g
7 Solomon had twelve district governorsh 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:
Ben-Hur—in the hill countryi of Ephraim;
9 Ben-Deker—in Makaz, Shaalbim,j Beth Shemeshk and Elon Bethhanan;
10 Ben-Hesed—in Arubboth (Sokohl and all the land of Hepherm were his);
11 Ben-Abinadab—in Naphoth Dorn (he was married to Taphath daughter of Solomon);
12 Baana son of Ahilud—in Taanach and Megiddo, and in all of Beth Shano next to Zarethanp below Jezreel, from Beth Shan to Abel Meholahq across to Jokmeam;r
13 Ben-Geber—in Ramoth Gilead (the settlements of Jairs son of Manasseh in Gileadt were his, as well as the region of Argob in Bashan and its sixty large walled citiesu with bronze gate bars);
14 Ahinadab son of Iddo—in Mahanaim;v
15 Ahimaazw—in Naphtali (he had married Basemath daughter of Solomon);
16 Baana son of Hushaix—in Asher and in Aloth;
17 Jehoshaphat son of Paruah—in Issachar;
18 Shimeiy son of Ela—in Benjamin;
19 Geber son of Uri—in Gilead (the country of Sihonz king of the Amorites and the country of Oga king of Bashan). He was the only governor over the district.
20 The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sandb on the seashore; they ate, they drank and they were happy.c 21 And Solomon ruledd over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates Rivere to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.f These countries brought tributeg and were Solomon’s subjects all his life.
22 Solomon’s daily provisionsh were thirty corsa of the finest flour and sixty corsb 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.i 24 For he ruled over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsahj to Gaza, and had peacek on all sides. 25 During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba,l lived in safety,m everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree.n
26 Solomon had fourc thousand stalls for chariot horses,o and twelve thousand horses.d
27 The district governors,p 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.
29 God gave Solomon wisdomq and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sandr on the seashore. 30 Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East,s and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.t 31 He was wiseru 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 proverbsv and his songsw numbered a thousand and five. 33 He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssopx 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 kingsy of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.e
Preparations for Building the Temple
5 a When Hiramz king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he had always been on friendly terms with David. 2 Solomon sent back this message to Hiram:
3 “You know that because of the warsa waged against my father David from all sides, he could not buildb a temple for the Name of the Lord his God until the Lord put his enemies under his feet.c 4 But now the Lord my God has given me restd on every side, and there is no adversarye or disaster. 5 I intend, therefore, to build a templef for the Name of the Lord my God, as the Lord told my father David, when he said, ‘Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.’g
6 “So give orders that cedarsh of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with yours, and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set. You know that we have no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians.”
7 When Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he was greatly pleased and said, “Praise be to the Lordi today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.”
8 So Hiram sent word to Solomon:
“I have received the message you sent me and will do all you want in providing the cedar and juniper logs. 9 My men will haul them down from Lebanon to the Mediterranean Seaj, and I will float them as rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate them and you can take them away. And you are to grant my wish by providing foodk for my royal household.”
10 In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted, 11 and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand corsb of wheat as foodl for his household, in addition to twenty thousand bathsc,d of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after year. 12 The Lord gave Solomon wisdom,m just as he had promised him. There were peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a …