3And Solomon loved the Lord and walked in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

4 Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for it was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on the altar there.

5 One night at Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “Ask, and I will give it to you!”

6 Solomon replied, “You have shown much loving devotion to Your servant, my father David, because he walked before You in faithfulness, righteousness, and uprightness of heart. And You have maintained this loving devotion by giving him a son to sit on his throne this very day.

7 And now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in my father David’s place. But I am only a little child, not knowing how to go out or come in. 8Your servant is here among the people You have chosen, a people too numerous to count or number.

9 Therefore give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to govern this great people of Yours?”

10 Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had made this request. 11So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this instead of requesting long life or wealth for yourself or death for your enemies — but you have asked for discernment to administer justice — 12behold, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been another like you, nor will there ever be.

13 Moreover, I will give you what you did not request — both riches and honor — so that during all your days no man in any kingdom will be your equal. 14So if you walk in My ways and keep My statutes and commandments, just as your father David did, I will prolong your days.”

15 Then Solomon awoke, and indeed it had been a dream. So he returned 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 servants.

16 At that time two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.

17 One woman said, “Please, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth while she was in the house. 18On the third day after I gave birth, this woman also had a baby. We were alone, with no one in the house but the two of us. 19During the night this woman’s son died because she rolled over on him. 20So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I was asleep. She laid him in her bosom and put her dead son at my bosom. 21The next morning, when I got up to nurse my son, I discovered he was dead. But when I examined him, I realized that he was not the son I had borne.”

22“No,” said the other woman, “the living one is my son and the dead one is your son.”

But the first woman insisted, “No, the dead one is yours and the living one is mine.” So they argued before the king.

23 Then the king replied, “This woman says, ‘My son is alive and yours is dead,’ but that woman says, ‘No, your son is dead and mine is alive.’”

24 The king continued, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought him a sword, 25and the king declared, “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.”

26 Then the woman whose son was alive spoke to the king because she yearned with compassion for her son. “Please, my lord,” she said, “give her the living baby. Do not kill him!”

But the other woman said, “He will be neither mine nor yours. Cut him in two!”

27 Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. By no means should you kill him; she is his mother.”

28 When all Israel heard of the judgment the king had given, they stood in awe of him, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.

1 So King Solomon ruled over Israel, 2and these were his chief officials:

7 Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel to provide food for the king and his household. Each one would arrange provisions for one month of the year, 8and these were their names:

There was also one governor in the land of Judah.

20 The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore, and they were eating and drinking and rejoicing. 21And Solomon reigned over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These kingdoms offered tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

22 Solomon’s provisions for a single day were thirty cors of fine flour, sixty cors of meal, 23ten fat oxen, twenty range oxen, and a hundred sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened poultry. 24For Solomon had dominion over everything west of the Euphrates — over all the kingdoms from Tiphsah to Gaza — and he had peace on all sides. 25Throughout the days of Solomon, Judah and Israel dwelt securely from Dan to Beersheba, each man under his own vine and his own fig tree.

26 Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his chariot horses and 12,000 horses. 27Each month the governors in turn provided food for King Solomon and all who came to his table. They saw to it that nothing was lacking. 28Each one also brought to the required place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and other horses.

29 And God gave Solomon wisdom, exceedingly deep insight, and understanding beyond measure, like the sand on the seashore. 30Solomon’s wisdom was greater than that of all the men of the East, greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. 31He was wiser than all men— wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and wiser than Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread throughout the surrounding nations.

32 Solomon composed three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five. 33He spoke of trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop growing in the wall, and he taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish.

34 So men of all nations came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

1 In those days when the disciples were increasing in number, the Grecian Jews among them began to grumble against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food .

2 So the Twelve summoned all the disciples and said, “It is unacceptable for us to neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3Therefore, brothers, select from among you seven men confirmed to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will assign this responsibility to them 4and will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, as well as Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6They presented these seven to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

7 So the word of God continued to spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem grew rapidly, and a great number of priests became obedient to the faith.

8 Now Stephen, who was full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. 9But resistance arose from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and men from the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. They disputed with Stephen, 10but they could not stand up to his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.

11 Then they prompted some men to say, “We heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God.”

12 So they stirred up the people, elders, and scribes and confronted Stephen. They seized him and brought him before the Sanhedrin, 13where they presented false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14For we have heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.”

15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.