Solomon’s Prayer for Wisdom (2 Chronicles 1:1–13; Psalm 45:1–17; Psalm 72:1–20)
1 UST Then Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Solomon married his daughter and brought her to live in the part of Jerusalem that people called the City of David. She lived there until Solomon’ s workers had finished building his palace, the temple of Yahweh, and the wall around Jerusalem. BSB BSB: Later, Solomon formed an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt by marrying his daughter. Solomon brought her to the City of David until he had finished building his palace and the house of the LORD, as well as the wall around Jerusalem.
2 UST Solomon had not yet built a temple where people could worship Yahweh, so the Israelite people were still offering sacrifices to him at shrines on the tops of hills. BSB BSB: The people, however, were still sacrificing on the high places because a house for the Name of the LORD had not yet been built.
3 UST Solomon loved Yahweh, and so he obeyed Yahweh just as his father David had done. But he, too, offered sacrifices and burned incense on hilltop shrines{ before he built the temple}. BSB BSB: And Solomon loved the LORD and walked in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
4 UST One day King Solomon went to the city of Gibeon to offer sacrifices. He went there because the main place of worship for the Israelites was there at that time. Solomon offered a thousand sacrifices that he burned completely on the altar. BSB BSB: Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for it was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on the altar there.
5 UST That night, while Solomon was still at Gibeon, Yahweh appeared to him in a dream. He told him,“Tell me what you want, and I will give it to you.” BSB BSB: One night at Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “Ask, and I will give it to you!”
6 UST Solomon replied,“My father David worshiped you, and you always treated him with great kindness. You did that because he was faithful to you, he treated other people properly, and he was honest with you about what he was truly thinking and planning. You have continued to treat him with great kindness by allowing me, his son, to become the next king of Israel after him. That is what I am right now. BSB BSB: Solomon replied, “You have shown much loving devotion to Your servant, my father David, because he walked before You in faithfulness, righteousness, and uprightness of heart. And You have maintained this loving devotion by giving him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
7 UST Yahweh my God, David my father is no longer the king. You have made me the king instead. But I am still a young man. I do not know how I should rule the Israelites. BSB BSB: And now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in my father David’s place. But I am only a little child, not knowing how to go out or come in.
8 UST I live among the Israelite people whom you have chosen. They are a very large group of people. Because there are so many of them, no one can count them. BSB BSB: Your servant is here among the people You have chosen, a people too numerous to count or number.
9 UST So please enable me think clearly so that I can rule your people well. Enable me to understand whether what people are doing is right or wrong. That way I will be able to fulfill the important task of making sure that your people treat one another fairly.” BSB BSB: Therefore give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to govern this great people of Yours?”
10 UST Yahweh was very pleased that Solomon had asked for this. BSB BSB: Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had made this request.
11 UST God told him,“You did not ask to live for a long time or to become very rich or that would you be able to kill your enemies. Instead, you asked me to enable you to become wise so that you would be able to decide people’ s cases fairly. As a result, BSB BSB: So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this instead of requesting long life or wealth for yourself or death for your enemies—but you have asked for discernment to administer justice—
12 UST I will certainly do what you requested. I will indeed enable you to become very wise. As a result, you will be wiser than anyone who has already lived, and no one who lives later will ever be as wise as you are now. BSB BSB: behold, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been another like you, nor will there ever be.
13 UST I will also give you things that you did not ask for. I will enable you to become very rich, and people will honor you greatly. For as long as you live, no other king will have more wealth than you, and people will not honor any other king more than they honor you. BSB BSB: Moreover, I will give you what you did not request—both riches and honor—so that during all your days no man in any kingdom will be your equal.
14 UST If you conduct your life as I want you to, and if you obey everything I have commanded, just as your father David did, then I will also enable you to live for many years.” BSB BSB: So if you walk in My ways and keep My statutes and commandments, just as your father David did, I will prolong your days.”
15 UST Then Solomon woke up, and he realized that God had been speaking to him in a dream. He went back to Jerusalem and stood in front of{ the sacred tent where} the sacred chest{ was}. There he offered many sacrifices that he burned completely on the altar. He also offered fellowship sacrifices. Then he made a great feast for all his officials. BSB BSB: Then Solomon awoke, and indeed it had been a dream. So he returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then he held a feast for all his servants.
Solomon Judges Wisely 16 UST Shortly after that, two prostitutes came to King Solomon{ to have him decide a dispute between them}. They stood in front of him{ to present their cases}. BSB BSB: At that time two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
17 UST One of them said,“Your Majesty, please help me. This woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a baby while she was there in the house. BSB BSB: One woman said, “Please, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth while she was in the house.
18 UST Two days after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth to a baby. No one else was there with us in the house. BSB BSB: On the third day after I gave birth, this woman also had a baby. We were alone, with no one in the house but the two of us.
19 UST One night while she was sleeping, this woman accidentally rolled on top of her baby, and she smothered it and it died. BSB BSB: During the night this woman’s son died because she rolled over on him.
20 UST So she got up while it was still night. I was asleep, and my baby boy was sleeping next to me. She picked him up and brought him to her bed, and she brought her dead baby boy and put him in my bed. BSB BSB: So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I was asleep. She laid him in her bosom and put her dead son at my bosom.
21 UST When I first woke up the next morning, I wanted to nurse my baby boy, but I found that he had died. However, after it got lighter, I could see that he was not the baby boy to whom I had given birth.” BSB BSB: The next morning, when I got up to nurse my son, I discovered he was dead. But when I examined him, I realized that he was not the son I had borne.”
22 UST But the other woman said,“That is not true! The baby boy who is alive is my son, and the baby boy who died is your son!” Then the first woman responded,“No, the dead boy is your son, and the living boy is my son!” And they continued to argue that way as they stood before the king. BSB BSB: “No,” said the other woman, “the living one is my son and the dead one is your son.” But the first woman insisted, “No, the dead one is yours and the living one is mine.” So they argued before the king.
23 UST Then the king said,“Each of you is claiming that it is your own son who is alive and that it is the other woman’ s son who has died.” BSB BSB: Then the king replied, “This woman says, ‘My son is alive and yours is dead,’ but that woman says, ‘No, your son is dead and mine is alive.’”
24 UST Then he told his servants,“Bring me a sword.” So his servants went and got him a sword. BSB BSB: The king continued, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought him a sword,
25 UST Then the king told his servants,“Cut the baby boy who is still alive into two parts. Give one part to each of these women.” BSB BSB: and the king declared, “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.”
26 UST But the woman whose son was alive felt great love for him{ and did not want him to die}. So she said to the king,“No, Your Majesty! Please do not have your servants cut him in half{ and kill him}! You may give him to the other woman.” But the other woman said to her,“No, neither you nor I will have him{ alive}.” Then she told the servants,“Cut him in half.” BSB BSB: Then the woman whose son was alive spoke to the king because she yearned with compassion for her son. “Please, my lord,” she said, “give her the living baby. Do not kill him!” But the other woman said, “He will be neither mine nor yours. Cut him in two!”
27 UST Then the king{ pointed to the woman who had said not to cut the child in half and} said,“Do not kill the child, but give him to her. She is truly his mother.” BSB BSB: Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. By no means should you kill him; she is his mother.”
28 UST The Israelite people heard about how King Solomon had judged this case. This made them afraid to do anything wrong, because they knew that he would recognize that they had done wrong. They realized that God had enabled him to be very wise so that he could decide people’ s cases fairly. BSB BSB: When all Israel heard of the judgment the king had given, they stood in awe of him, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.