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¹ And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into theWhich was Bethlehem.city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the LORD, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.

² Only the people sacrificed inWhere altars were appointed before the temple was built, to offer to the Lord.high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the LORD, until those days.

³ And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David hisFor his father had commanded him to obey the Lord and walk in his ways, (1Ki_2:3).father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.

⁴ And the king went toFor there the tabernacle was (2Ch_1:3).Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that [was] the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.

⁵ In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Salomon in a dreame by night: and God sayd, Aske what I shal giue thee.

⁶ And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hastYou have performed your promise.kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as [it is] this day.

⁷ And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I [am but] a little child: I know not [how] toThat is, to behave himself in executing this charge of ruling.go out or come in.

⁸ And thy seruant is in the mids of thy people, which thou hast chosen, euen a great people which cannot be told nor nobred for multitude.

⁹ Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy soWhich are so many in number.great a people?

¹⁰ And this pleased the Lorde wel, that Salomon had desired this thing.

¹¹ And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thineThat is, that their enemy would die.enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;

¹² Beholde, I haue done according to thy wordes: lo, I haue giuen thee a wise and an vnderstanding heart, so that there hath bene none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall arise the like vnto thee.

¹³ And I haue also giuen thee that, which thou hast not asked, both riches and honour, so that among the Kings there shall be none like vnto thee all thy dayes.

¹⁴ And if thou wilt walke in my wayes, to keepe mine ordinances & my commandements, as thy father Dauid did walke, I will prolong thy dayes.

¹⁵ And Solomon awoke; and, behold, [it was]He knew that God had appeared to him in a dream.a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.

¹⁶ Then came there two women, [that were] harlots, unto the king, andBy this example it appears that God kept his promise to Solomon in granting him wisdom.stood before him.

¹⁷ And the one woman sayd, Oh my lorde, I and this woman dwell in one house, and I was deliuered of a childe with her in the house.

¹⁸ And the third day after that I was deliuered, this woman was deliuered also: and we were in the house together: no stranger was with vs in the house, saue we twaine.

¹⁹ And this womans sonne died in the night: for she ouerlay him.

²⁰ And she arose at midnight, andShe stole the living child to avoid both the shame and punishment.took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.

²¹ And when I rose in the morning to giue my sonne sucke, beholde, he was dead: and when I had wel considered him in the morning, beholde, it was not my sonne, whom I had borne.

²² Then the other woman sayd, Nay, but my sonne liueth, and thy sonne is dead. Againe she sayde, No, but thy sonne is dead, and mine aliue: thus they spake before the King.

²³ Then sayde the King, She sayth, This that liueth is my sonne, and the dead is thy sonne: and the other sayth, Nay, but the dead is thy sonne, and the liuing is my sonne.

²⁴ And the king said,Unless God gives judges understanding, the impudency of the trespasser will overthrow the just cause of the innocent.Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.

²⁵ And the King sayde, Deuide ye the liuing child in twaine, & giue the one halfe to the one, and the other halfe to the other.

²⁶ Then spake the woman whose the living child [was] unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, andHer motherly affection appears in that she would rather endure the rigor of the law than see her child cruelly slain.in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, [but] divide [it].

²⁷ Then the King answered, and sayde, Giue her the liuing childe, and slay him not: this is his mother.

²⁸ And all Israel heard the iudgement, which the King had iudged, and they feared the King: for they sawe that the wisedome of God was in him to doe iustice.