Solomon’s Prayer for Wisdom

1 Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took ^cPharaoh’s daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building ^dhis own house and the ^ehouse of the Lord and the ^fwall around Jerusalem. 2 The people were sacrificing at the high places, however, because no house had yet been built ^gfor the name of the Lord.

3 ^hSolomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places. 4 And the king went to ⁱGibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 ^jAt Gibeon ^kthe Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” 6 And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because ^lhe ^mwalked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. 7 And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although ⁿI am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have ^ochosen, a great people, ^ptoo many to be numbered or counted for multitude. 9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

10 It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. 11 And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, 12 behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, ^qI give you a wise and discerning mind, so that ^rnone like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. 13 I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that ^sno other king shall compare with you, all your days. 14 And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”

15 And Solomon ^tawoke, and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.

Solomon’s Wisdom

16 Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. 18 Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were alone. There was no one else with us in the house; only we two were in the house. 19 And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. 20 And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. 21 When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, he was dead. But when I looked at him closely in the morning, behold, he was not the child that I had borne.” 22 But the other woman said, “No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine.” Thus they spoke before the king.

23 Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead’; and the other says, ‘No; but your son is dead, and my son is the living one.’” 24 And the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought before the king. 25 And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” 26 Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.” 27 Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother.” 28 And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.

Solomon’s Officials

1 King Solomon was king over all Israel, 2 and these were his high officials: Azariah the son of ^uZadok was the priest; 3 Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of ^vShisha were secretaries; ^wJehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; 4 ^xBenaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the army; Zadok and ^yAbiathar were priests; 5 Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers; Zabud the son of Nathan was priest and ^zking’s friend; 6 Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and ^aAdoniram the son of Abda was in charge of the ^bforced labor.

7 Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household. Each man had to make provision for one month in the year. 8 These were their names: Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim; 9 Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elonbeth-hanan; 10 Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Socoh and all the land of Hepher); 11 Ben-abinadab, in all Naphath-dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); 12 Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth-shean that is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, and from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as the other side of Jokmeam; 13 Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (he had the villages of ^cJair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and he had the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars); 14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; 15 Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he had taken Basemath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); 16 Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth; 17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; 18 Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin; 19 Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan. And there was one governor who was over the land.

Solomon’s Wealth and Wisdom

20 Judah and Israel were ^das many as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy. ¹ 21 Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms ^efrom the Euphrates² to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

22 Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty cors³ of fine flour and sixty cors of meal, 23 ten fat oxen, and twenty pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. 24 For he had dominion over all the region west of the Euphrates⁴ from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates. And he had peace on all sides around him. 25 And Judah and Israel lived ^fin safety, from Dan even to Beersheba, every man under ^ghis vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon. 26 Solomon also had 40,000⁵ stalls of ^hhorses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. 27 And those officers supplied provisions for King Solomon, and for all who came to King Solomon’s table, each one in his month. They let nothing be lacking. 28 Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds they brought to the place where it was required, each according to his duty.

29 And God ⁱgave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, 30 so that Solomon’s wisdom ^jsurpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the ^kwisdom of Egypt. 31 For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than ^lEthan the Ezrahite, and Heman, ^mCalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. 32 He also spoke 3,000 ⁿproverbs, and his ^osongs were 1,005. 33 He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. 34 And people of all nations ^pcame to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

Solomon Worships at Gibeon

1 ^aSolomon the son of David ^bestablished himself in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was ^cwith him and made him ^dexceedingly great.

2 Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to all the leaders in all Israel, the heads of fathers’ houses. 3 And Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at ^eGibeon, ^ffor the tent of meeting of God, ^gwhich Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness, was there. 4 (But ^hDavid had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the ⁱplace that David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.) 5 Moreover, the ^jbronze altar that ^kBezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, ^lhad made, was there before the tabernacle of the Lord. And Solomon and the assembly sought it¹ out. 6 And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the Lord, which was at the tent of meeting, and offered ^ma thousand burnt offerings on it.

Solomon Prays for Wisdom

7 ⁿIn that night ^oGod appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask what I shall give you.” 8 And Solomon said to God, “You have shown great and steadfast love to David my father, and have made me king ^pin his place. 9 O Lord God, ^qlet your word to David my father be now fulfilled, for you have made me king over a people ^ras numerous as the dust of the earth. 10 ^sGive me now wisdom and knowledge to ^tgo out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, which is so great?” 11 God answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king, 12 ^uwisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, ^vsuch as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like.” 13 So Solomon came from² the high place at Gibeon, from before the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem. And he reigned over Israel.

Solomon Given Wealth

14 ^wSolomon gathered together ^xchariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 15 And the king made ^ysilver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the ^zsycamore of the Shephelah. 16 And Solomon’s import of ^ahorses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king’s traders would buy them from Kue for a price. 17 They imported a chariot from Egypt for 600 shekels³ of silver, and a horse for 150. Likewise through them these were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.

Give the King Your Justice

^zOf Solomon.