1 *Kings 3

₁Solomon made an agreement with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. He married the daughter of the Pharaoh and he let her live in the City of David until he finished building his palace and the temple and the wall around Jerusalem.

₂At that time the people of Israel continued to sacrifice at the places_of_sacrifice because the temple of the Lord was not built yet. ₃Solomon loved the Lord and he did everything David had told him to do, but he also sacrificed at the places_of_sacrifice and burnt incense-offerings there. ₄The king went to the town of Gibeon to sacrifice there because it was the most important place where the people sacrificed. On that altar he sacrificed 1 000 burnt-offerings. ₅One night the Lord appeared to Solomon in Gibeon and He said to him: ‘You may ask Me anything and I will give it to you.’

₆Solomon said: ‘You have done everything that You promised my father David and me. My father did not stop serving You and he was a righteous and honest man. You did what You had promised him and You gave him a son who sits on his throne today. ₇Lord my God, You made me king in my father's place, but I am very young and I do not know how to be a leader. ₈I am here with the people You have chosen. They are a big nation, so big that no one can count them and say how many there are. ₉Please help me to listen to You so I can know what is right and what is wrong, so that I can rule your people in the right way. No one can rule this important nation if You do not help him.’

₁₀The Lord was happy that Solomon asked for this. ₁₁He said to Solomon: ‘You have asked for Me to help you. You did not ask to have a long life, or to be rich, or that your enemies must die. You have asked Me to know what is right. ₁₂I will now do what you have asked. I give you wisdom and understanding. No one before you has had so much wisdom and no one after you will ever have so much wisdom. ₁₃I will also give you what you did not ask for. You will be the richest of all kings and people will respect you more than the other kings, your whole life long. ₁₄If you live as I want you to live and if you do what I tell you, as your father David did, then you will have a long and happy life.’

₁₅When Solomon woke up, he knew the Lord had spoken to him in a dream. He went to Jerusalem and he stood before the covenant box of the Lord. He sacrificed burnt-offerings and peace-offerings and he held a feast for all his officials.

₁₆One day 2 women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. ₁₇One woman said: ‘Your_Majesty, please help me. This woman and I live together in one house. I had a baby while this woman was with me in the house. ₁₈On the 3rd day after I had my baby, this woman also had a baby. We were together, and no one else was with us. It was only the 2 of us in the house. ₁₉But this woman's child died that night. She lay on him and he died. ₂₀Then she got up in the middle of the night and she took my child while I was asleep and she put him down with her and she put her dead baby in my bed. ₂₁When I got up the next morning and I wanted my baby to drink, I saw that he was dead. But later when I looked at him in the light, I saw that it was not my baby.’

₂₂But the other woman said: ‘No, the baby who lives is my baby. The baby who died is your baby.’ Then the woman who had spoken first said: ‘No, your baby is the baby who died. The baby who lives is my baby.’ They stood before the king and argued. ₂₃The king said to himself: This woman says the baby who lives is her baby and the baby who died is the other woman's baby. But the other woman says: ‘The dead baby is your baby. It is my baby who lives.’

₂₄Then the king said: ‘Bring me a sword.’ Someone gave him a sword ₂₅and the king said: ‘Cut the living baby in 2 pieces and give each woman a piece.’

₂₆The woman who was the mother of the baby who was alive talked to the king. She loved her baby so much that she said: ‘Your_Majesty, please give the baby to that woman. Do not kill him.’ But the other woman said: ‘Cut the baby into 2 pieces. He will not be my baby or your baby.’ ₂₇Then the king said: ‘Give the living baby to the woman who says he must live, and do not kill him. She is the baby's mother.’

₂₈They told all the Israelites how the king had judged. They respected the king because they saw that God had given wisdom to the king to be a good judge.