The Lord Makes Solomon Wise

¹Solomon signed a treaty with the king of Egypt and married his daughter. She lived in the older part of Jerusalem until the palace, the Lord 's temple, and the wall around Jerusalem were completed.[#3.1 Hebrew “the city of David.”]

²At that time, there was no temple for worshiping the Lord , and everyone offered sacrifices at the local shrines.[#3.2 The Hebrew text has “high places,” which were local places to worship God or foreign gods.]

³Solomon loved the Lord and followed his father David's instructions, but Solomon also offered sacrifices and burned incense at the shrines.

⁴The most important shrine was in Gibeon, and Solomon had offered more than 1,000 sacrifices on that altar.[#Ws 9.1-18.]

⁵One night while Solomon was in Gibeon, the Lord God appeared to him in a dream and said, “Solomon, ask for anything you want, and I will give it to you.”

⁶Solomon answered:

^10-11God said:

¹⁵Solomon woke up and realized that God had spoken to him in the dream. He went back to Jerusalem and stood in front of the sacred chest, where he offered sacrifices to please the Lord and sacrifices to ask his blessing. Then Solomon gave a feast for his officials.[#3.15 See Leviticus 1.1-17.; #3.15 See Leviticus 3.1-17.]

Solomon Makes a Difficult Decision

¹⁶One day two women came to King Solomon,[#3.16 Hebrew “prostitutes.”]

¹⁷and one of them said:

²²“No!” the other woman shouted. “He was your son. My baby is alive!”

“The dead baby is yours,” the first woman yelled. “Mine is alive!”

They argued back and forth in front of Solomon,

²³until finally he said, “Both of you say this live baby is yours.

²⁴Someone bring me a sword.”

A sword was brought, and Solomon ordered,

²⁵“Cut the baby in half! That way each of you can have part of him.”

²⁶“Please don't kill my son,” the baby's mother screamed. “Your Majesty, I love him very much, but give him to her. Just don't kill him.”

The other woman shouted, “Go ahead and cut him in half. Then neither of us will have the baby.”

²⁷Solomon said, “Don't kill the baby.” Then he pointed to the first woman, “She is his real mother. Give the baby to her.”

²⁸Everyone in Israel was amazed when they heard how Solomon had made his decision. They realized that God had given him wisdom to judge fairly.