¹Then Solomon contracted intermarriage with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her to the City of David, until he had finished building his house, and the house of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem. ²Nevertheless, the people would sacrifice on idolatrous raised sites, because a house to the name of the Lord had not been built until those days. ³But Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father, except that he would sacrifice and burn incense on the idolatrous raised sites. ⁴And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great idolatrous raised site. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. ⁵And in Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night, and God said, “Ask what you want me to give you.” ⁶And Solomon said, “You acted with much kindness towards your servant my father David when he walked before you in truth and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with you, and you maintained this great kindness towards him, and you have given him a son who is sitting on his throne on this very day. ⁷So now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king instead of David my father, but I am a small child and I do not know comings and goings. ⁸And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you chose, a numerous people who can not be numbered or counted for abundance. ⁹So give your servant a heart fit to hear cases at law in judging your people, to discern good from evil, for who is able to judge this substantial people?” ¹⁰And the words were approved of in the sight of the Lord^*, in that Solomon had asked for this thing. ¹¹And God said to him, “Since you have asked for this thing, and you did not ask for a long life, and you did not ask for riches, and you did not ask for the life of your enemies, but you asked for understanding in hearing cases at law, ¹²look, I have done according to your words – look, I have given you a wise and astute heart, such as never was before you, and such as never will arise after you. ¹³And I have also given you what you didn't ask for, both riches and honour, whereby no man among kings will be like you all your days. ¹⁴And if you walk in my ways, by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David your father did, then I will prolong your days.” ¹⁵Then Solomon woke up and realized that it was a dream, and he went to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord^*, and he made burnt offerings, and he made peace-offerings, and he held a feast for all his servants. ¹⁶Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. ¹⁷And one woman said, “Oh my lord, I and this woman live in the same house, and I gave birth, with her in the house. ¹⁸And it so happened on the third day after me giving birth, that this woman also gave birth, and we were together; there is no-one else with us in the house – just the two of us in the house. ¹⁹But this woman's son died at night because she lay on top of him. ²⁰And she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from me while your maidservant was asleep, and she laid him in her bosom, while she laid her dead son in my bosom. ²¹And when I arose in the morning to breastfeed my son, I realized that the child was dead, but I examined him in the morning and saw that he was not my son, whom I had given birth to.” ²²Then the other woman said, “No, for it is my son who is alive and your son who is dead.” And the former said, “No, for it is your son who is dead, and my son who is alive.” And so they spoke before the king. ²³Then the king said, “One says, ‘This is my son who is alive, and your son is dead’, whereas the other says, ‘No, for it is your son who is dead, and my son who is alive.’ ” ²⁴Then the king said, “Fetch me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. ²⁵Then the king said, “Divide the living child into two, and give half to one woman and half to the other.” ²⁶At this the woman whose son was the one who was alive spoke to the king, for her tender affections flared up for her son, and she said, “Please, my lord, give her the baby who is alive, and don't kill him at any event.” But the other was saying, “Neither I nor you will have him; divide him up.” ²⁷Then the king answered and said, “Give the baby who is alive to her, and do not kill him under any circumstances. She is his mother.” ²⁸And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had given, and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to execute justice.