1 Kings 3

3 ¹ Solomon allied by marriage with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh's daughter, bringing her to the City of David until he finished building his palace, the house of our Father, and Jerusalem's wall. ² But the people were still sacrificing at the high places, since no house had yet been built for the name of our Father. ^a a v2 The high places were local hilltop shrines where people sacrificed before the temple gave worship a single home. ³ Solomon loved our Father, living by the statutes of his father David; only he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places. ⁴ The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice, for it was the great high place; Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.

⁵ At Gibeon our Father appeared to Solomon in a dream at night, saying, "Ask what I should give you."

⁶ Solomon replied, "You showed your servant David, my father, great covenant love, for he walked before you faithfully, righteously, and with an upright heart toward you. You kept this great covenant love for him, giving him a son to sit on his throne today." ⁷ Now, my Father, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, though I am just a young child, not knowing how to go out or come in. ⁸ Your servant is among your people, the people you chose — too many to number or count. ⁹ So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people, telling good from evil. For who can govern this great people of yours?

¹⁰ It pleased the Sovereign Father that Solomon had asked this.

¹¹ Our Father said, "Because you asked this, not for long life or riches or your enemies' lives, but for discernment to understand justice, ¹² I now act on your word: I give you a wise, discerning heart—no one before you was like you, and none like you will rise after you. ¹³ I also give what you did not ask: riches and honor, so no king will compare with you all your days. ¹⁴ If you walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and commands as your father David did, I will lengthen your days.

¹⁵ Solomon awoke and realized it was a dream. He went to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Sovereign Father's covenant, offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and held a feast for all his servants.

The Father's Wisdom Reveals the True Mother

¹⁶ Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. ¹⁷ One woman said, "Please, my lord, this woman and I live in one house, and I gave birth with her in the house." ¹⁸ On the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. We were alone; no stranger was with us in the house, just the two of us. ¹⁹ During the night this woman's son died, because she lay on him. ²⁰ She got up at midnight, took my son from my side while your servant slept, laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at mine. ²¹ When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, he was dead. But looking closely in the morning light, I saw he was not the son I had borne.

²² The other woman said, "No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours." The first replied, "No! The dead one is your son; the living one is mine." So they argued before the king.

²³ The king said, "This one says, 'My son is alive, your son is dead,' and that one says, 'No, your son is dead, my son is alive.'"

²⁴ So the king said, "Bring me a sword." And they brought a sword before the king. ²⁵ The king said, "Cut the living child in two; give half to one, half to the other."

²⁶ The mother of the living son, her heart aching for her child, said, "Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don't kill him!" But the other said, "He'll be neither mine nor yours—cut him in two!"

²⁷ Then the king said, "Give the living child to the first woman; do not kill him. She is his mother."

²⁸ All Israel heard the judgment the king gave, and they were in awe of him, because they saw that the wisdom of our Father was in him to do justice.