| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Now Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and married Pharaoh’s daughter; then he brought her to the City of David until he had finished building his own house, and the house of the LORD, and the wall all 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. |
| 2Meanwhile the people sacrificed at the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the LORD until those days. | 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. |
| 3And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at 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. |
| 4Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. | 4The most important of these places of worship was at Gibeon, so the king went there and sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings. |
| 5At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I 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!” |
| 6And Solomon said: “You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. | 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 instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. | 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. |
| 8And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. | 8And here I am in the midst of your own chosen people, a nation so great and numerous they cannot be counted! |
| 9Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people 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 speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. | 10The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom. |
| 11Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, | 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— |
| 12behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after 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! |
| 13And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. | 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! |
| 14So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.” | 14And if you follow me and obey my decrees and my commands as your father, David, did, I will give you a long life.” |
| 15Then Solomon awoke; and indeed it had been a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, offered up burnt offerings, offered peace offerings, and made 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 |
| 16Now two women who were harlots came to the king, and stood before him. | 16Some time later two prostitutes came to the king to have an argument settled. |
| 17And one woman said, “O my lord, this woman and I dwell in the same house; and I gave birth while she was 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 it happened, the third day after I had given birth, that this woman also gave birth. And we were together; no one was with us in the house, except the two of us in the house. | 18Three days later this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there were only two of us in the house. |
| 19And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. | 19“But her baby died during the night when she rolled over on it. |
| 20So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. | 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. |
| 21And when I rose in the morning to nurse my son, there he was, dead. But when I had examined him in the morning, indeed, he was not my son whom I had borne.” | 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.” |
| 22Then the other woman said, “No! But the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.” And the first woman said, “No! But the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.” Thus they spoke 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. |
| 23And the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son, who lives, and your son is the dead one’; and the other says, ‘No! But your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’ ” | 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. |
| 24Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. | 24All right, bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought to the king. |
| 25And the king said, “Divide 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!” |
| 26Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for she yearned with compassion for her son; and she said, “O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him!” But the other said, “Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him.” | 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!” |
| 27So the king answered and said, “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him; she is his 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!” |
| 28And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered; and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice. | 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. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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