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3 And Solomon loved Jehovah, walking in the statutes of David his father; only, he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
4 And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt-offerings did Solomon offer up upon that altar.
5 In Gibeon Jehovah appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
6 And Solomon said, Thou hast shewn unto thy servant David my father great loving-kindness, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great loving-kindness, that thou hast given him a son who sits upon his throne, as it is this day.
7 And now, Jehovah my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father; and I am but a little child: I know not to go out and to come in.
8 And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.
9 Give therefore to thy servant an understanding heart, to judge thy people, to discern between good and bad; for who is able to judge this thy numerous people?
10 And the word pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
11 And God said to 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 thine enemies, but hast asked for thyself discernment to understand judgment;
12 behold, I have done according to thy word: behold, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart, so that there hath been none like unto thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
13 And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and glory; so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.
14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will prolong thy days.
15 And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and offered up burnt-offerings, and offered peace-offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.
16 Then came two women, harlots, to the king, and stood before him.
17 And the first woman said, Ah, my lord! I and this woman abode in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.
18 And it came to pass the third day after I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also; and we were together; no stranger was with us in the house, only we two were in the house.
19 And this woman's child died in the night; because she had lain upon it.
20 And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thy handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead son in my bosom.
21 And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead; and I considered it in the morning, and behold, it was not my son, whom I bore.
22 And the other woman said, No, for the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this one said, No, but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spoke before the king.
23 Then said the king, The one says, This that is living is my son, and thy son is the dead; and the other says, No, for thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.
24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.
25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.
26 Then spoke the woman whose was the living child to the king, for her bowels yearned over her son, and she said, Ah, my lord! give her the living child, and in no wise put it to death. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine; divide it.
27 And the king answered and said, Give this one the living child, and in no wise put it to death: she is its mother.
28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do justice.
4 And king Solomon was king over all Israel.
2 And these are the princes whom he had: Azariah the son of Zadok was priest;
3 Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, chronicler;
4 and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests;
5 and Azariah the son of Nathan was over the superintendents; and Zabud the son of Nathan was principal officer, the king's friend;
6 and Ahishar was over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the levy-service.
7 And Solomon had twelve superintendents over all Israel; and they provided food for the king and his household: each man his month in the year had to make provision.
8 And these are their names: Ben-Hur, in mount Ephraim.
9 Ben-Deker in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Beth-shemesh, and Elon-Beth-hanan.
10 Ben-Hesed, in Arubboth; he had Sochoh, and all the land of Hepher.
11 Ben-Abinadab had all the upland of Dor; Taphath the daughter of Solomon was his wife.
12 Baana the son of Ahilud had Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth-shean, which is by Zaretan beneath Jizreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-Meholah, as far as beyond Jokneam.
13 Ben-Geber, in Ramoth-Gilead; he had the villages of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; he had the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bars of bronze.
14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo, at Mahanaim.
15 Ahimaaz, in Nephtali; he also took Basmath the daughter of Solomon as wife.
16 Baanah the son of Hushai, in Asher and in Aloth.
17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar.
18 Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin.
19 Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the land of Sihon the king of the Amorites, and of Og the king of Bashan; and [he was] the only superintendent that was in the land.
20 Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry.
21 And Solomon ruled over all kingdoms from the river to the land of the Philistines, and as far as the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life.
22 And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and sixty measures of meal,
23 ten fatted oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, besides harts, and gazelles, and fallow-deer, and fatted fowl.
24 For he had dominion over all on this side the river, from Tiphsah as far as Gazah, over all the kings on this side the river; and he had peace on all sides round about.
25 And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.
26 And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.
27 And those officers provided food for king Solomon, and for all who came to king Solomon's table, every man in his month: they let nothing be wanting.
28 And the barley, and the straw for the horses and coursers, they brought to the place where [the superintendents] were, every man according to his charge.
29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and very great understanding and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea-shore.
30 And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the sons of the east, and all the wisdom of Egypt.
31 For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all the nations round about.
32 And he spoke three thousand proverbs; and his songs were a thousand and five.
33 And he spoke of the trees, from the cedar-tree that is on Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of cattle, and of fowls, and of creeping things, and of fishes.
34 And there came of all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.
6 But in those days, the disciples multiplying in number, there arose a murmuring of the Hellenists against the Hebrews because their widows were overlooked in the daily ministration.
2 And the twelve, having called the multitude of the disciples to [them], said, It is not right that we, leaving the word of God, should serve tables.
3 Look out therefore, brethren, from among yourselves seven men, well reported of, full of [the] [Holy] Spirit and wisdom, whom we will establish over this business:
4 but *we* will give ourselves up to prayer and the ministry of the word.
5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and [the] Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch,
6 whom they set before the apostles; and, having prayed, they laid their hands on them.
7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem was very greatly multiplied, and a great crowd of the priests obeyed the faith.
8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, wrought wonders and great signs among the people.
9 And there arose up certain of those of the synagogue called of freedmen, and of Cyrenians, and of Alexandrians, and of those of Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen.
10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.
11 Then they suborned men, saying, We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.
12 And they roused the people, and the elders, and the scribes. And coming upon [him] they seized him and brought [him] to the council.
13 And they set false witnesses, saying, This man does not cease speaking words against the holy place and the law;
14 for we have heard him saying, This Jesus the Nazaraean shall destroy this place, and change the customs which Moses taught us.
15 And all who sat in the council, looking fixedly on him, saw his face as [the] face of an angel.
A Song of degrees.
126 When Jehovah turned the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.
2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with rejoicing: then said they among the nations, Jehovah hath done great things for them.
3 Jehovah hath done great things for us; [and] we are joyful.
4 Turn our captivity, O Jehovah, as the streams in the south.
5 They that sow in tears shall reap with rejoicing:
6 He goeth forth and weepeth, bearing seed for scattering; he cometh again with rejoicing, bearing his sheaves.
26 The appetite of the labourer laboureth for him, for his mouth urgeth him on.
27 A man of Belial diggeth up evil, and on his lips there is as a scorching fire.
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