3:1 And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and
took Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the city of
David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and
the house of the LORD, and the wall of Jerusalem on every side.
3:2 Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was
no house built to the name of the LORD, until those days.
3:3 And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David
his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high
places.
3:4 And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that
[was] the great high place: a thousand burnt-offerings did
Solomon offer upon that altar.
3:5 In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night:
and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
3:6 And Solomon said, Thou hast shown to thy servant David my
father great mercy, 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 kindness, that thou
hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as [it is] this day.
3:7 And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king
instead of David my father: and I [am but] a little child: I
know not how to go out or come in.
3:8 And thy servant [is] in the midst of thy people which thou
hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor
counted for multitude.
3:9 Give therefore to thy servant an understanding heart to
judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for
who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
3:10 And the speech pleased the LORD, that Solomon had asked
this thing.
3:11 And 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 thy enemies: but
hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;
3:12 Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have
given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there
hath been none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall
any arise like to thee.
3:13 And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked,
both riches, and honor: so that there shall not be any among
the kings like to thee all thy days,
3:14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and
my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will
lengthen thy days.
3:15 And Solomon awoke; and behold, [it was] a dream. And he
came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of
the LORD, and offered up burnt-offerings, and offered
peace-offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.
3:16 Then came there two women, [that were] harlots, to the
king, and stood before him.
3:17 And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell
in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the
house.
3:18 And it came to pass the third day after I was delivered,
that this woman was delivered also: and we [were] together;
[there was] no stranger with us in the house, save us two in
the house.
3:19 And this woman's child died in the night; because she
overlaid it.
3:20 And 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 child in my bosom.
3:21 And when I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold,
it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning,
behold, it was not my son, which I bore.
3:22 And the other woman said, No; but the living [is] my son,
and the dead [is] thy son. And this said, No; but the dead [is]
thy son, and the living [is] my son. Thus they spoke before the
king.
3:23 Then said the king, The one saith, This [is] my son that
liveth, and thy son [is] the dead; and the other saith, No; but
thy son [is] the dead, and my son [is] the living.
3:24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a
sword before the king.
3:25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give
half to the one, and half to the other.
3:26 Then spoke the woman whose the living child [was] to the
king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my
lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But
the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, [but] divide
[it].
3:27 Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child,
and in no wise slay it: she [is] the mother of it.
3:28 And 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 judgment.
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