| NET Bible | International Standard Version |
| 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. | 1Later, Solomon intermarried with the family of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt by taking his daughter and bringing her to the City of David to live until he had completed building his own palace, the LORD's Temple, and the wall around Jerusalem. |
| 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. | 2The people were sacrificing at various high places because the Temple had not yet been built and dedicated to the LORD. |
| 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 lived according to the statutes that his father David obeyed, except that he sacrificed and burned offerings at the high places. |
| 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 king used to go to Gibeon to sacrifice, since there was a famous high place there, where Solomon once offered 1,000 burnt offerings on that altar. |
| 5One night in Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream. God said, "Tell me what I should give you." | 5The LORD appeared to Solomon one night in a dream and told him, "Ask me for whatever you want and I'll 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. | 6So Solomon said: "You have demonstrated abundant gracious love to your servant David, my father, as he lived in your presence truthfully, righteously, and uprightly in his heart. In addition, you have kept on showing this abundant gracious love by giving him a son to sit on his throne today. |
| 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. | 7Now, LORD my God, you have set me as king to replace my father David, but I'm still young. I don't have any leadership skills. |
| 8Your servant stands among your chosen people; they are a great nation that is too numerous to count or number. | 8Your servant lives in the midst of your people that you have chosen, a great people that is too numerous to 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." | 9So give your servant an understanding mind to govern your people, so I can discern between good and evil. Otherwise, how will I be 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 this, |
| 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 told him: "Because you asked for this, and you didn't ask for a long life for yourself, and you didn't ask for the lives of your enemies, but instead you've asked for discernment so you can understand how to govern, |
| 12I grant your request, and give you a wise and discerning mind superior to that of anyone who has preceded or will succeed you. | 12look how I'm going to do precisely what you asked. I'm giving you a wise and discerning mind, so that there will have been no one like you before you and no one will arise after you like you. |
| 13Furthermore, I am giving you what you did not request--riches and honor so that you will be the greatest king of your generation. | 13I'm also giving you what you haven't requested: both riches and honor, so that no other king will be comparable to you during your lifetime. |
| 14If you follow my instructions by obeying my rules and regulations, just as your father David did, then I will grant you long life." | 14If you will live life my way, keeping my statutes and my commands, just like your father David did, I'll also increase the length of your 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 that he had dreamed a dream. Then he went back to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the LORD's covenant, offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and threw a party for all of his servants. |
| 16Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. | 16Right about then, two prostitutes approached the king and requested an audience with him. |
| 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. | 17One woman said, "Your majesty, this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a child while she was 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 gave birth. We lived alone there. There was nobody else with us in the house. It was just the two of us. |
| 19This woman's child suffocated during the night when she rolled on top of him. | 19This woman's son died overnight because she laid on top of him. |
| 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. | 20She got up in the middle of the night, took my son from me while your servant was asleep, and laid him to her breast after laying her dead son next to me. |
| 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." | 21The next morning, I got up to nurse my son, and he was dead. But when I examined him carefully in the light of day, he turned out not to be my son whom I had borne!" |
| 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. | 22"Not so," claimed the other woman. "The living child is my son, and the dead one is yours." But the first woman said, "Not so! The dead child is your son and the living one is my son." This is what they testified 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.'" | 23The king said, "One of them claims, 'This living son is mine, and your son is the dead one' and the other claims 'No. Your son is the dead one and my son is the living one.' |
| 24The king ordered, "Get me a sword!" So they placed a sword before the king. | 24"Somebody get me a sword." So they brought a sword to the king. |
| 25The king then said, "Cut the living child in two, and give half to one and half to the other!" | 25"Divide the living child in two!" he ordered. "Give half to the one 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!" | 26The woman whose child was still alive cried out to the king, because her heart yearned for her son. "Oh no, your majesty!" she said. "Give her the living child. Please don't kill him." But the other woman said, "Cut him in half! That way, he'll belong to neither one of us." |
| 27The king responded, "Give the first woman the living child; don't kill him. She is the mother." | 27The king announced his decision: "Give the living child to the first woman. Don't kill him. 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 this decision that the king had handed down was announced, everybody in Israel was amazed at the king, because they all saw that God's wisdom was in him, enabling him to administer justice. |
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