1 Kings 3–11

¹And Solomon joineth in marriage with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and taketh the daughter of Pharaoh, and bringeth her in unto the city of David, till he completeth to build his own house, and the house of Jehovah, and the wall of Jerusalem round about. ²Only, the people are sacrificing in high places, for there hath not been built a house for the name of Jehovah till those days. ³And Solomon loveth Jehovah, to walk in the statutes of David his father—only, in high places he is sacrificing and making perfume— ⁴and the king goeth to Gibeon, to sacrifice there, for it is the great high place; a thousand burnt-offerings cause to ascend doth Solomon on that altar.

⁵In Gibeon hath Jehovah appeared unto Solomon, in a dream of the night, and God saith, ‘Ask—what do I give to thee?’ ⁶And Solomon saith, ‘Thou hast done with Thy servant David my father great kindness, as he walked before Thee in truth and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with Thee, and Thou dost keep for him this great kindness, and dost give to him a son sitting on his throne, as at this day. ⁷And now, O Jehovah my God, Thou hast caused thy servant to reign instead of David my father; and I am a little child, I do not know to go out and to come in; ⁸and Thy servant is in the midst of thy people, whom Thou hast chosen, a people numerous, that is not numbered nor counted for multitude, ⁹and Thou hast given to Thy servant an understanding heart, to judge Thy people, to discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this Thy great people?’ ¹⁰And the thing is good in the eyes of the Lord, that Solomon hath asked this thing, ¹¹and God saith unto him, ‘Because that thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thee many days, nor asked for thee riches, nor asked the life of thine enemies, and hast asked for thee discernment to understand judgment, ¹²lo, I have done according to thy words; lo, I have given to thee a heart, wise and understanding, that like thee there hath not been before thee, and after thee there doth not arise like thee; ¹³and also, that which thou hast not asked I have given to thee, both riches and honour, that there hath not been like thee a man among the kings all thy days; ¹⁴and if thou dost walk in My ways to keep My statutes, and My commands, as David thy father walked, then I have prolonged thy days.’ ¹⁵And Solomon awaketh, and lo, a dream; and he cometh in to Jerusalem, and standeth before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and causeth to ascend burnt-offerings, and maketh peace-offerings. And he maketh a banquet for all his servants.

¹⁶Then come in do two women, harlots, unto the king, and stand before him, ¹⁷and the one woman saith, ‘O, my lord, I and this woman are dwelling in one house, and I bring forth with her, in the house; ¹⁸and it cometh to pass on the third day of my bringing forth, that this woman also bringeth forth, and we are together, there is no stranger with us in the house, save we two, in the house. ¹⁹And the son of this woman dieth at night, because she hath lain upon it, ²⁰and she riseth in the middle of the night, and taketh my son from beside me—and thy handmaid is asleep—and layeth it in her bosom, and her dead son she hath laid in my bosom; ²¹and I rise in the morning to suckle my son, and lo, dead; and I consider concerning it in the morning, and lo, it was not my son whom I did bear.’ ²²And the other woman saith, ‘Nay, but my son is the living, and thy son the dead;’ and this one saith, ‘Nay, but thy son is the dead, and my son the living.’ And they speak before the king. ²³And the king saith, ‘This one saith, This is my son, the living, and thy son is the dead; and that one saith, Nay, but thy son is the dead, and my son the living.’ ²⁴And the king saith, ‘Take for me a sword;’ and they bring the sword before the king, ²⁵and the king saith, ‘Cut the living child into two, and give the half to the one, and the half to the other.’ ²⁶And the woman whose son is the living one saith unto the king (for her bowels yearned over her son), yea, she saith, ‘O, my lord, give to her the living child, and put it not at all to death;’ and this one saith, ‘Let it be neither mine or thine—cut it.’ ²⁷And the king answereth and saith, ‘Give ye to her the living child, and put it not at all to death; she is its mother.’ ²⁸And all Israel hear of the judgment that the king hath judged, and fear because of the king, for they have seen that the wisdom of God is in his heart, to do judgment.

Chapter 4

¹And king Solomon is king over all Israel, ²and these are the heads whom he hath: Azariah son of Zadok is the priest; ³Elihoreph and Ahiah sons of Shisha are scribes; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud is remembrancer; ⁴and Benaiah son of Jehoiada is over the host; and Zadok and Abiathar are priests; ⁵and Azariah son of Nathan is over the officers; and Zabud son of Nathan is minister, friend of the king; ⁶And Ahishar is over the household, and Adoniram son of Abda is over the tribute. ⁷And Solomon hath twelve officers over all Israel, and they have sustained the king and his household—a month in the year is on each one for sustenance; ⁸and these are their names: Ben-Hur in the hill-country of Ephraim; ⁹Ben-Dekar in Makaz, and Shaalbim, and Beth-Shemesh, and Elon-Beth-Hanan. ¹⁰Ben-Hesed is in Aruboth, hath Sochoh and all the land of Hepher; ¹¹Ben-Abinadab hath all the elevation of Dor, Taphath daughter of Solomon became his wife. ¹²Baana Ben-Ahilud hath Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth-Shean, which is by Zartanah beneath Jezreel, from Beth-Shean unto Abel-Meholah, unto beyond Jokneam. ¹³Ben-Geber, in Ramoth-Gilead, hath the small towns of Jair son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; he hath a portion of Argob that is in Bashan, sixty great cities with wall and brazen bar. ¹⁴Ahinadab son of Iddo hath Mahanaim. ¹⁵Ahimaaz is in Naphtali; he also hath taken Basemath daughter of Solomon for a wife. ¹⁶Baanah Ben-Hushai is in Asher, and in Aloth. ¹⁷Jehoshaphat Ben-Paruah is in Issachar. ¹⁸Shimei Ben-Elah is in Benjamin. ¹⁹Geber Ben-Uri is in the land of Gilead, the land of Sihon king of the Amorite, and of Og king of Bashan: and one officer who is in the land.

²⁰Judah and Israel are many, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude, eating and drinking and rejoicing. ²¹And Solomon hath been ruling over all the kingdoms, from the River to the land of the Philistines and unto the border of Egypt: they are bringing nigh a present, and serving Solomon, all days of his life. ²²And the provision of Solomon for one day is thirty cors of flour, and sixty cors of meal; ²³ten fat oxen, and twenty feeding oxen, and a hundred sheep, apart from hart, and roe, and fallow-deer, and fatted beasts of the stalls, ²⁴for he is ruling over all beyond the river, from Tiphsah and unto Gaza, over all the kings beyond the river, and he hath peace from all his servants round about. ²⁵And Judah dwelleth—and Israel—in confidence, each under his vine, and under his fig-tree, from Dan even unto Beer-Sheba, all the days of Solomon. ²⁶And Solomon hath forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. ²⁷And these officers have sustained king Solomon and every one drawing near unto the table of king Solomon, each in his month; they let nothing be lacking. ²⁸And the barley and the straw, for horses and for dromedaries, they bring in unto the place where they are, each according to his ordinance.

²⁹And God giveth wisdom to Solomon, and understanding, very much, and breadth of heart, as the sand that is on the edge of the sea; ³⁰and the wisdom of Solomon is greater than the wisdom of any of the sons of the east, and than all the wisdom of Egypt; ³¹and he is wiser than all men, than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, sons of Mahol, and his name is in all the nations round about. ³²And he speaketh three thousand similes, and his songs are five, and the chief one; ³³and he speaketh concerning the trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon, even unto the hyssop that is coming out in the wall, and he speaketh concerning the cattle, and concerning the fowl, and concerning the creeping things, and concerning the fishes, ³⁴and there come out of all the peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth who have heard of his wisdom.

Chapter 5

¹And Hiram king of Tyre sendeth his servants unto Solomon, for he heard that they had anointed him for king instead of his father, for Hiram was a lover of David all the days; ²and Solomon sendeth unto Hiram, saying, ³‘Thou hast known David my father, that he hath not been able to build a house to the name of Jehovah his God, because of the wars that have been round about him, till Jehovah’s putting them under the soles of his feet.

⁴‘And now, Jehovah my God hath given rest to me round about, there is no adversary nor evil occurrence, ⁵and lo, I am saying to build a house to the name of Jehovah my God, as Jehovah spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son whom I appoint in thy stead on thy throne, he doth build the house for My name.

⁶‘And now, command, and they cut down for me cedars out of Lebanon, and my servants are with thy servants, and the hire of thy servants I give to thee according to all that thou sayest, for thou hast known that there is not among us a man acquainted with cutting wood, like the Sidonians.’ ⁷And it cometh to pass at Hiram’s hearing the words of Solomon, that he rejoiceth exceedingly, and saith, ‘Blessed is Jehovah to-day, who hath given to David a wise son over this numerous people.’ ⁸And Hiram sendeth unto Solomon, saying, I have heard that which thou hast sent unto me, I do all thy desire concerning cedar-wood, and fir-wood, ⁹my servants bring down from Lebanon to the sea, and I make them floats in the sea unto the place that thou sendest unto me, and I have spread them out there; and thou dost take them up, and thou dost execute my desire, to give the food of my house.’

¹⁰And Hiram is giving to Solomon cedar-trees, and fir-trees, all his desire, ^11…