1 Kings 3 - Legacy Standard Bible

1 Kings 3

Solomon’s Marriage and Sacrifices

Then Solomon formed a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her to the city of David until he had completed building his own house and the house of Yahweh and the wall around Jerusalem. 2 The people were still sacrificing on the high places because there was no house built for the name of Yahweh until those days. 3 And Solomon loved Yahweh, walking in the statutes of his father David, except 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; Solomon offered one thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 In Gibeon, Yahweh appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, “Ask what I should give to you.”

God Gives Wisdom to Solomon

6 Then Solomon said, “You have shown great lovingkindness to Your slave David my father, according to how he walked before You in truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward You; and You have kept for him this great lovingkindness, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7 So now, O Yahweh my God, You have made Your slave king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And Your slave is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, a numerous people who are too many to be numbered or counted. 9 So give Your slave a listening heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this glorious people of Yours?” 10 And it was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. 11 And God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to listen to justice, 12 behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you. 13 I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days. 14 Now if you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will prolong your days.” 15 Then Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and made peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.

Solomon Wisely Judges

16 Then two women who were harlots came to the king and stood before him. 17 And the one woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. 18 And it happened on the third day after I gave birth, that this woman also gave birth to a child, and we were together. There was no stranger with us in the house, only the two of us in the house. 19 And this woman’s son died in the night because she lay on him. 20 So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead son in my bosom. 21 When I rose in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead; but when I looked at him carefully in the morning, behold, he was not my son, whom I had borne.” 22 Then the other woman said, “No! For the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.” But the first woman said, “No! For the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.” Thus they spoke before the king. 23 Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son who is living, and your son is the dead one’; and the other says, ‘No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’” 24 And the king said, “Get me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. 25 Then the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” 26 Then the woman whose son was the living one spoke to the king, for she was deeply stirred with compassion over her son and said, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him!” 27 Then the king said, “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means put him to death. She is his mother.” 28 Then all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had handed down, and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.

2 Chronicles 1

Solomon Goes Before Yahweh

Now Solomon the son of David strengthened himself over his kingdom, and Yahweh his God was with him and highly exalted him. 2 And Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and to the judges and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ households. 3 Then Solomon and all the assembly with him went to the high place which was at Gibeon, for God’s tent of meeting was there, which Moses the servant of Yahweh had made in the wilderness. 4 However, David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place he had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem. 5 Now the bronze altar, which Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, was there before the tabernacle of Yahweh, and Solomon and the assembly sought it out. 6 And Solomon went up there before Yahweh to the bronze altar which was at the tent of meeting, and offered one thousand burnt offerings on it. 7 In that night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask what I should give to you.”

God Gives Wisdom to Solomon

8 Then Solomon said to God, “You have shown great lovingkindness to my father David, and have made me king in his place. 9 Now, O Yahweh God, let Your promise to my father David endure, for You have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. 10 Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can do justice for this great people of Yours?” 11 And God said to Solomon, “Because you had this in your heart, and did not ask for riches, wealth, or glory, or the life of those who hate you, nor have you even asked for long life, but you have asked for yourself wisdom and knowledge that you may do justice for My people over whom I have made you king, 12 wisdom and knowledge have been given to you. And I will give you riches and wealth and glory, such as none of the kings who were before you had nor those who will come after you.” 13 So Solomon went from the high place which was at Gibeon, from the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem, and he reigned over Israel.

Solomon’s Chariots and Horsemen

14 And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen. And he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 15 The king also made silver and gold as plentiful as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the Shephelah. 16 Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and from Kue; the king’s merchants procured them from Kue for a price. 17 And they imported a chariot from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver and a horse for 150; and by the same means they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.

Revelation 9 - 10

Then the fifth angel sounded. Then I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth, and the key of the pit of the abyss was given to him. 2 And he opened the pit of the abyss and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. 3 Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 And they were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And they were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment for five months, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man. 6 And in those days men will seek death and will never find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them. 7 And the appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. And on their heads appeared to be crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. 8 And they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions. 9 And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses running to battle. 10 And they have tails like scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men for five months. 11 They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon. 12 One woe is past; behold, two woes are still coming after these things. 13 Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14 one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who have been bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 And the four angels were released, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, so that they would kill a third of mankind. 16 And the number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them. 17 And this is how I saw in the vision the horses and those who sit on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone; and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths come fire and smoke and brimstone. 18 A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads, and with them they do harm. 20 And the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. 21 And they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their sexual immorality nor of their thefts.

The Angel and the Little Scroll

Then I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud, and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; 2 and he had in his hand a little scroll which was open. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the earth, 3 and he cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. And when he had cried out, the seven peals of thunder uttered their voices. 4 And when the seven peals of thunder had spoken, I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken and do not write them.” 5 Then the angel, whom I saw standing on the sea and on the earth, lifted up his right hand to heaven, 6 and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there will be delay no longer, 7 but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He proclaimed good news to His slaves, the prophets. 8 Then the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, “Go, take the scroll which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.” 9 So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little scroll. And he *said to me, “Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10 And I took the little scroll out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. 11 And they *said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”

Ecclesiastes 12

Remember Your Creator in Your Youth

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days happen and the years draw near in which you will say, “I have no delight in them”; 2 before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened, and clouds return after the rain; 3 in the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, and valiant men bend down, the grinding ones stand idle because they are few, and those who look through windows grow dark; 4 and the doors on the street are shut as the sound of the grinding mill is low, and one will arise at the sound of the bird, and all the daughters of song will sing softly. 5 Furthermore, men are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road; the almond tree blooms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and the caperberry is ineffective. For man goes to his eternal home, but the mourners go about in the street. 6 Remember Him before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the spring is broken and the wheel at the cistern is crushed; 7 then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. 8 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “all is vanity!”

Fear God and Keep His Commandments

9 In addition to being a wise man, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge; and he pondered, searched out, and arranged many proverbs. 10 The Preacher sought to find delightful words and words of truth written uprightly. 11 The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd. 12 But in addition to this, my son, be warned: the making of many books is endless, and much devotion to books is wearying to the flesh. 13 The end of the matter, all that has been heard: fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the end of the matter for all mankind. 14 For God will bring every work to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.