Parallel Bible results for "1 kings 3"

1 Kings 3

The Bible in Basic English BBE

1 Solomon became the son-in-law of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter as his wife, keeping her in the town of David, till the house he was building for himself, and the house of the Lord and the wall round Jerusalem, were complete.

2 But all this time the people were making their offerings in the high places, because no house had been put up to the name of the Lord till those days.

3 And Solomon, in his love for the Lord, kept the laws of David his father; but he made offerings and let them go up in smoke on the high places.

4 And the king went to Gibeon to make an offering there, because that was the chief high place: it was Solomon's way to make a thousand burned offerings on that altar.

5 In Gibeon, Solomon had a vision of the Lord in a dream by night; and God said to him, Say what I am to give you.

6 And Solomon said, Great was your mercy to David my father, as his life before you was true and upright and his heart was true to you; and you have kept for him this greatest mercy, a son to take his place this day.

7 And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in the place of David my father; and I am only a young boy, with no knowledge of how to go out or come in.

8 And your servant has round him the people of your selection, a people so great that they may not be numbered, and no account of them may be given.

9 Give your servant, then, a wise heart for judging your people, able to see what is good and what evil; for who is able to be the judge of this great people?

10 Now these words and Solomon's request were pleasing to the Lord.

11 And God said to him, Because your request is for this thing, and not for long life for yourself or for wealth or for the destruction of your haters, but for wisdom to be a judge of causes;

12 I have done as you said: I have given you a wise and far-seeing heart, so that there has never been your equal in the past, and never will there be any like you in the future.

13 And with this I have given you what you made no request for: wealth and honour, so that no king was ever your equal.

14 And if you go on in my ways, keeping my laws and my orders as your father David did, I will give you a long life.

15 And Solomon, awakening, saw that it was a dream; then he came to Jerusalem, where he went before the ark of the agreement of the Lord, offering burned offerings and peace-offerings; and he made a feast for all his servants.

16 Then two loose women of the town came and took their places before the king;

17 And one of them said, O my lord, I and this woman are living in the same house; and I gave birth to a child by her side in the house.

18 And three days after the birth of my child, this woman had a child: we were together, no other-person was with us in the house but we two only.

19 In the night, this woman, sleeping on her child, was the cause of its death.

20 And she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while your servant was sleeping; and she took it in her arms and put her dead child in my arms.

21 And when I got up to give my child the breast, I saw that it was dead; but in the morning, looking at it with care, I saw that it was not my son.

22 And the other woman said, No; but the living child is my son and the dead one yours. But the first said, No; the dead child is your son and the living one mine. So they kept on talking before the king.

23 Then the king said, One says, The living child is my son, and yours is the dead: and the other says, Not so; but your son is the dead one and mine is the living.

24 Then he said, Get me a sword. So they went and put a sword before the king.

25 And the king said, Let the living child be cut in two and one half given to one woman and one to the other.

26 Then the mother of the living child came forward, for her heart went out to her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the child; do not on any account put it to death. But the other woman said, It will not be mine or yours; let it be cut in two.

27 Then the king made answer and said, Give her the child, and do not put it to death; she is the mother of it.

28 And news of this decision which the king had made went through all Israel; and they had fear of the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to give decisions.

Good News Translation GNT

1 Solomon made an alliance with the king of Egypt by marrying his daughter. He brought her to live in David's City until he had finished building his palace, the Temple, and the wall around Jerusalem.

2 A temple had not yet been built for the Lord, and so the people were still offering sacrifices at many different altars.

3 Solomon loved the Lord and followed the instructions of his father David, but he also slaughtered animals and offered them as sacrifices on various altars.

4 On one occasion he went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices because that was where the most famous altar was. He had offered hundreds of burnt offerings there in the past.

5 That night the Lord appeared to him in a dream and asked him, "What would you like me to give you?"

6 Solomon answered, "You always showed great love for my father David, your servant, and he was good, loyal, and honest in his relation with you. And you have continued to show him your great and constant love by giving him a son who today rules in his place.

7 O Lord God, you have let me succeed my father as king, even though I am very young and don't know how to rule.

8 Here I am among the people you have chosen to be your own, a people who are so many that they cannot be counted.

9 So give me the wisdom I need to rule your people with justice and to know the difference between good and evil. Otherwise, how would I ever be able to rule this great people of yours?"

10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this,

11 and so he said to him, "Because you have asked for the wisdom to rule justly, instead of long life for yourself or riches or the death of your enemies,

12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you more wisdom and understanding than anyone has ever had before or will ever have again.

13 I will also give you what you have not asked for: all your life you will have wealth and honor, more than that of any other king.

14 And if you obey me and keep my laws and commands, as your father David did, I will give you a long life."

15 Solomon woke up and realized that God had spoken to him in the dream. Then he went to Jerusalem and stood in front of the Lord's Covenant Box and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord. After that he gave a feast for all his officials.

16 One day two prostitutes came and presented themselves before King Solomon.

17 One of them said, "Your Majesty, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a baby boy at home while she was there.

18 Two days after my child was born, she also gave birth to a baby boy. Only the two of us were there in the house - no one else was present.

19 Then one night she accidentally rolled over on her baby and smothered it.

20 She got up during the night, took my son from my side while I was asleep, and carried him to her bed; then she put the dead child in my bed.

21 The next morning, when I woke up and was going to nurse my baby, I saw that it was dead. I looked at it more closely and saw that it was not my child."

22 But the other woman said, "No! The living child is mine, and the dead one is yours!" The first woman answered back, "No! The dead child is yours, and the living one is mine!" And so they argued before the king.

23 Then King Solomon said, "Each of you claims that the living child is hers and that the dead child belongs to the other one."

24 He sent for a sword, and when it was brought,

25 he said, "Cut the living child in two and give each woman half of it."

26 The real mother, her heart full of love for her son, said to the king, "Please, Your Majesty, don't kill the child! Give it to her!" But the other woman said, "Don't give it to either of us; go on and cut it in two."

27 Then Solomon said, "Don't kill the child! Give it to the first woman - she is its real mother."

28 When the people of Israel heard of Solomon's decision, they were all filled with deep respect for him, because they knew then that God had given him the wisdom to settle disputes fairly.