1 Kings 3

All 28 verses in the Clear Bible Translation. Tap a verse to compare the KJV and read what it means.

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1. 1Solomon formed an alliance with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, by marrying Pharaoh's daughter. He brought her to live in the city of David while he finished building his own palace, the house of the LORD, and the wall around Jerusalem.
2. 2At that time, the people were still offering sacrifices at hilltop shrines, because no house had yet been built for the name of the LORD.
3. 3Solomon loved the LORD and followed the ways his father David had taught him, though he still offered sacrifices and burned incense at the hilltop shrines.
4. 4The king traveled to Gibeon to offer sacrifices there, because it was the most important of the hilltop shrines. Solomon presented 1,000 burnt offerings on that altar.
5. 5That night at Gibeon, the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream. God said, "Ask what I should give you."
6. 6Solomon said, "You showed great mercy to your servant David, my father, because he was faithful, righteous, and true to you in his heart. You have continued this great kindness to him by giving him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today."
7. 7Now, LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father. I am only like a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in.
8. 8Your servant stands in the middle of the people you have chosen — a nation so vast it can't be numbered or counted.
9. 9So give your servant an understanding heart to judge your people, so I can discern between good and bad. For who is able to judge such a great people as yours?
10. 10The LORD was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.
11. 11God said to him, "Because you asked for this and did not ask for a long life for yourself, riches for yourself, or the death of your enemies, but asked for understanding for yourself to know how to judge—"
12. 12I have done according to your words: I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there was none like you before you, nor shall any arise like you after you.
13. 13And I have also given you what you did not ask for, both riches and honor, so that no other king will be like you all your days.
14. 14And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands, just as your father David did, then I will also give you a long life."
15. 15Solomon woke up and realized it had been a dream. He went 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 officials.
16. 16Then two women who were prostitutes came and stood before the king.
17. 17The first woman said, "My lord, this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a baby while she was there with me.
18. 183 days after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. We were together — no stranger was with us in the house, just the 2 of us.
19. 19During the night, her baby died because she rolled over on it.
20. 20So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while I was sleeping. She put him at her breast and laid her dead child next to me.
21. 21When I got up in the morning to nurse my baby, I saw that it was dead. But when I looked more closely in the daylight, I realized it wasn't my son at all."
22. 22The other woman said, 'No, the living one is my son, and the dead one is yours.' But the first woman said, 'No, the dead one is yours, and the living one is mine.' They spoke like this before the king.
23. 23The king said, "So one of you claims, 'My son is the one who's alive, and your son is dead,' and the other one says, 'No, your son is dead, and my son is alive.'"
24. 24Then the king said, "Bring me a sword." So they brought a sword to him.
25. 25The king ordered, "Cut the living child in 2 and give half to each woman."
26. 26Then the woman whose son was alive spoke to the king, for her heart yearned for her son. She said, "Please, my lord, give her the living child, and do not kill him." But the other said, "Let neither of us have him; divide him."
27. 27Then the king answered, "Give her the living child, and do not kill him at all. She is his mother."
28. 28When all of Israel heard about the king's judgment, they feared the king, because they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to carry out justice.