1 Salomón taketh Pharaohs daughter to wife. 5 The Lord appeareth to him, & giueth him wiſdome. 17 The pleading of the two harlottes, and Salomons ſentence therein.

1.1 SAlomón ^* made affinitie with Pharaóh King of Egypt, and toke Pharaohs daughter, and broght her into the ^a citie of Dauid, vntil he had made an end of buylding his owne houſe, and the houſe of the Lord, and the wall of Ieruſalém roũd about.

2.2 Onely the people ſacrificed in ^b the hie places, becauſe there was no houſe buylt vnto the Name of the Lord, vntil thoſe dayes.

3.3 And Salomón loued the Lord, walking in the ordinãces of Dauid his ^c father: onely he ſacrificed and offred incenſe in the hie places.

4.4 And the King wẽt to ^d Gibeón to ſacrifice there, for that was the chief hie place: a thouſand burnt offrings did Salomón offer vpon that altar.

5.5 In Gibeón the Lord appeared to Salomón in a dreame by night: and God ſaid, Aſke what I ſhal giue thee.

6.6 And Salomón ſaid, Thou haſt ſhewed vnto thy ſeruant Dauid my father great mercy, ^" when he walked before thee in trueth, & in righteouſnes, and in vprightnes of heart with thee: & thou haſt ^e kept for him this great mercy, and haſt giuen him a ſonne, to ſit on his throne, as appeareth this day.

7.7 And now, ô Lord, my God, thou haſt made thy ſeruant King in ſtead of Dauid my father: and I am but a yong childe, and knowe not how to ^f go out and in.

8.8 And thy ſeruant is in the middes of thy people, which y^u haſt choſen, euen a great people which cannot be tolde nor nombred for multitude.

9.9 ^* Giue therefore vnto thy ſeruant an ^" vnderſtãding heart, to iudge thy people, that I may diſcerne betwene good & bad: for who is able to iudge this thy ^g mighty people?

10.10 And this pleaſed the Lord wel, that Salomón had deſired this thing.

11.11 And God ſaid vnto him, Becauſe thou haſt aſked this thing, & haſt not aſked for thy ſelfe long life, nether haſt aſked riches for thy ſelfe, nor haſt aſked y^e life of thine ^h enemies, but haſt aſked for thy ſelfe vnderſtanding to heare iudgement,

12.12 Beholde, I haue done according to thy wordes: lo, I haue giuen thee a wiſe and an vnderſtanding heart, ſo that there hathe bene none like thee before thee, nether after thee ſhal ariſe the like vnto thee.

13.13 ^* And I haue alſo giuen thee that, which thou haſt not aſked, bothe riches and honour, ſo that among the Kings there ^" ſhal be none like vnto thee all thy dayes.

14.14 And if thou wilt walke in my wayes, to kepe mine ordinances and my commandements, ^* as thy father Dauid did walke, I wil prolong thy dayes.

15.15 And when Salomón awoke, beholde, it was ⁱ a dreame, and he came to Ieruſalém, and ſtode before the Arke of the couenant of the Lord, and offred burnt offrings and made peace offrings, and made a feaſt to all his ſeruants.

16.16 ¶ Then came two ^" harlottes vnto the King, and ^k ſtode before him.

17.17 And the one woman ſaid, Oh my lord, I & this woman dwel in one houſe, & I was deliuered of a childe with her in y^e houſe.

18.18 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.

19.19 And this womãs ſonne dyed in the night: for ſhe ouerlay him.

20.20 And ſhe roſe at midnight, and ^l toke my ſonne from my ſide, while thine hãdmaid ſlept, & layed him in her boſome, & layed her dead ſonne in my boſome.

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

22.22 Then the other woman ſaid, Nay, but my ſonne liueth, and thy ſonne is dead: againe ſhe ſaid, No, but thy ſonne is dead, & mine aliue: thus they ſpake before y^e King.

23.23 Thẽ ſaid the King, She ſayth, this that liueth is my ſonne, & the dead is thy ſonne: and y^e other ſaith, Naye, but the dead is thy ſonne, and the liuing is my ſonne.

24.24 Then y^e King ſaid, ^m Bring me a ſworde: & they broght out a ſworde before y^e King.

25.25 And the King ſaid, Deuide ye the liuing childe in twaine, and giue the one halfe to the one, and the other halfe to the other.

26.26 Then ſpake the woman, whoſe the liuing childe was, vnto the King, for her compaſſion was kindled toward her ſonne, & ſhe ſaid, Oh my lord, giue her the liuing childe, and ⁿ ſlay him not: but the other ſaid, Let it be nether mine nor thine, but deuide it.

27.27 Then the King anſwered, & ſaid, Giue her the liuing childe, and ſlay him not: this is his mother.

28.28 And all Iſraél heard y^e iudgement, which the King had iudged, and they feared the King: for they ſawe that the wiſdome of God was in him to do iuſtice.

1 Kings 3

Notes