| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Solomon made an alliance by marriage with Pharaoh, king of Egypt; he married Pharaoh's daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he could finish building his residence and the temple of the LORD and the wall around Jerusalem. | 1Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and married one of his daughters. He brought her to live in the City of David until he could finish building his palace and the Temple of the LORD and the wall around the city. |
| 2Now the people were offering sacrifices at the high places, because in those days a temple had not yet been built to honor the LORD. | 2At that time the people of Israel sacrificed their offerings at local places of worship, for a temple honoring the name of the LORD had not yet been built. |
| 3Solomon demonstrated his loyalty to the LORD by following the practices of his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places. | 3Solomon loved the LORD and followed all the decrees of his father, David, except that Solomon, too, offered sacrifices and burned incense at the local places of worship. |
| 4The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for it had the most prominent of the high places. Solomon would offer up a thousand burnt sacrifices on the altar there. | 4The most important of these places of worship was at Gibeon, so the king went there and sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings. |
| 5One night in Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream. God said, "Tell me what I should give you." | 5That night the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!” |
| 6Solomon replied, "You demonstrated great loyalty to your servant, my father David, as he served you faithfully, properly, and sincerely. You have maintained this great loyalty to this day by allowing his son to sit on his throne. | 6Solomon replied, “You showed great and faithful love to your servant my father, David, because he was honest and true and faithful to you. And you have continued to show this great and faithful love to him today by giving him a son to sit on his throne. |
| 7Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in my father David's place, even though I am only a young man and am inexperienced. | 7“Now, O LORD my God, you have made me king instead of my father, David, but I am like a little child who doesn’t know his way around. |
| 8Your servant stands among your chosen people; they are a great nation that is too numerous to count or number. | 8And here I am in the midst of your own chosen people, a nation so great and numerous they cannot be counted! |
| 9So give your servant a discerning mind so he can make judicial decisions for your people and distinguish right from wrong. Otherwise no one is able to make judicial decisions for this great nation of yours." | 9Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?” |
| 10The Lord was pleased that Solomon made this request. | 10The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom. |
| 11God said to him, "Because you asked for the ability to make wise judicial decisions, and not for long life, or riches, or vengeance on your enemies, | 11So God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies— |
| 12I grant your request, and give you a wise and discerning mind superior to that of anyone who has preceded or will succeed you. | 12I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have! |
| 13Furthermore, I am giving you what you did not request--riches and honor so that you will be the greatest king of your generation. | 13And I will also give you what you did not ask for—riches and fame! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life! |
| 14If you follow my instructions by obeying my rules and regulations, just as your father David did, then I will grant you long life." | 14And if you follow me and obey my decrees and my commands as your father, David, did, I will give you a long life.” |
| 15Solomon then woke up and realized it was a dream. He went to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord's covenant, offered up burnt sacrifices, presented peace offerings, and held a feast for all his servants. | 15Then Solomon woke up and realized it had been a dream. He returned to Jerusalem and stood before the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant, where he sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then he invited all his officials to a great banquet. Solomon Judges Wisely |
| 16Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. | 16Some time later two prostitutes came to the king to have an argument settled. |
| 17One of the women said, "My master, this woman and I live in the same house. I had a baby while she was with me in the house. | 17“Please, my lord,” one of them began, “this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a baby while she was with me in the house. |
| 18Then three days after I had my baby, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one else in the house except the two of us. | 18Three days later this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there were only two of us in the house. |
| 19This woman's child suffocated during the night when she rolled on top of him. | 19“But her baby died during the night when she rolled over on it. |
| 20She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your servant was sleeping. She put him in her arms, and put her dead son in my arms. | 20Then she got up in the night and took my son from beside me while I was asleep. She laid her dead child in my arms and took mine to sleep beside her. |
| 21I got up in the morning to nurse my son, and there he was, dead! But when I examined him carefully in the morning, I realized it was not my baby." | 21And in the morning when I tried to nurse my son, he was dead! But when I looked more closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t my son at all.” |
| 22The other woman said, "No! My son is alive; your son is dead!" But the first woman replied, "No, your son is dead; my son is alive." Each presented her case before the king. | 22Then the other woman interrupted, “It certainly was your son, and the living child is mine.” “No,” the first woman said, “the living child is mine, and the dead one is yours.” And so they argued back and forth before the king. |
| 23The king said, "One says, 'My son is alive; your son is dead,' while the other says, 'No, your son is dead; my son is alive.'" | 23Then the king said, “Let’s get the facts straight. Both of you claim the living child is yours, and each says that the dead one belongs to the other. |
| 24The king ordered, "Get me a sword!" So they placed a sword before the king. | 24All right, bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought to the king. |
| 25The king then said, "Cut the living child in two, and give half to one and half to the other!" | 25Then he said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to one woman and half to the other!” |
| 26The real mother spoke up to the king, for her motherly instincts were aroused. She said, "My master, give her the living child! Whatever you do, don't kill him!" But the other woman said, "Neither one of us will have him! Let them cut him in two!" | 26Then the woman who was the real mother of the living child, and who loved him very much, cried out, “Oh no, my lord! Give her the child—please do not kill him!” But the other woman said, “All right, he will be neither yours nor mine; divide him between us!” |
| 27The king responded, "Give the first woman the living child; don't kill him. She is the mother." | 27Then the king said, “Do not kill the child, but give him to the woman who wants him to live, for she is his mother!” |
| 28When all Israel heard about the judicial decision which the king had rendered, they respected the king, for they realized that he possessed supernatural wisdom to make judicial decisions. | 28When all Israel heard the king’s decision, the people were in awe of the king, for they saw the wisdom God had given him for rendering justice. |
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