3 1 Solomon taketh Pharaoh’s daughter to wife. 5 The Lord appeareth to him, and giveth him wisdom. 17 The pleading of the two harlots, and Solomon’s sentence therein.

¹ Solomon ^(A)then made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the ^[a]city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.

² Only the people sacrificed in the ^[b]high places, because there was no house built unto the Name of the Lord, until those days.

³ And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the ordinances of David his ^[c]father: only he sacrificed and offered incense in the high places.

⁴ And the King went to ^[d]Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the chief high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.

⁵ In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.

⁶ And Solomon said, Thou hast showed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, ^[e]when he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee: and thou hast ^[f]kept for him this great mercy, and hast given him a son, to sit on his throne, as appeareth this day.

⁷ And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a young child, and know not how to ^[g]go out and in.

⁸ And thy servant is in the midst of thy people, which thou hast chosen, even a great people, which cannot be told nor numbered for multitude.

^9 (B)Give therefore unto thy servant an ^[h]understanding heart, to judge thy people: that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy ^[i]mighty people?

¹⁰ And this pleased the Lord well, that Solomon had desired this thing.

¹¹ And God said unto 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 ^[j]enemies, but hast asked for thyself understanding to hear judgment,

¹² Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and understanding heart, so that there hath been none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall arise the like unto thee.

¹³ And I have also ^(C)given thee that, which thou hast not asked, both riches and honor, so that among the Kings there ^[k]shall be none like unto thee all thy days.

¹⁴ And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep mine ordinances and my commandments, ^(D)as thy father David did walk, I will prolong thy days.

¹⁵ And when Solomon awoke, behold it was ^[l]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 to all his servants.

¹⁶ ¶ Then came two ^[m]harlots unto the king, and ^[n]stood before him.

¹⁷ And the one woman said, Oh my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house, and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.

¹⁸ And the third day after that I was delivered, this woman was delivered also, and we were in the house together: no stranger was with us in the house save we twain.

¹⁹ And this woman’s son died in the night: for she overlay him.

²⁰ And she rose at midnight, and ^[o]took my son from my side, while thine handmaid slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead son in my bosom.

²¹ And when I arose in the morning to give my son suck, behold, he was dead: and when I had well considered him in the morning, behold, it was not my son, whom I had borne.

²² Then the other woman said, Nay, but my son liveth, and thy son is dead. Again she said, No, but thy son is dead, and mine alive: thus they spake before the king.

²³ Then said the king, She saith, This that liveth is my son, and the dead is thy son: and the other saith, Nay, but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son.

²⁴ Then the King said, ^[p]Bring me a sword: and they brought out a sword before the king.

²⁵ And the king said, Divide ye the living child in twain, and give the one half to the one, and the other half to the other.

²⁶ Then spake the woman, whose the living child was, unto the king, for her compassion was kindled toward her son, and she said, Oh my lord, give her the living child and ^[q]slay him not: but the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.

²⁷ Then the king answered, and said, Give her the living child, and slay him not: this is his mother.

²⁸ And all Israel heard 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 2 The princes and rulers under Solomon. 22 The purveyance for his victuals. 26 The number of his horses. 32 His books and writings.

¹ And king Solomon was king over all Israel.

² And these were ^[a]his princes, ^[b]Azariah the son of Zadok the Priest,

³ Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha, Scribes, Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the Recorder,

⁴ And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host, and Zadok and ^[c]Abiathar, Priests,

⁵ And Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers, and Zabud the son of Nathan, Priest, was the king’s friend,

⁶ And Ahishar was over the household, and ^(A)Adoniram the son of Abda was over the tribute.

⁷ ¶ And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, which provided victuals for the king and his household: each man had a month in the year to provide victuals.

⁸ And these are their names: the son of Hur in mount Ephraim:

⁹ The son of Deker in Makaz, and in Shaalbim and Beth Shemesh, and ^[d]Elon and Beth Hanan:

¹⁰ The son of Hesed in Arubboth, to whom pertained Sochoh, and all the land of Hepher:

¹¹ The son of Abinadab in all the region of Dor, which had Taphath the daughter of Solomon to wife.

¹² Baana the son of Ahilud in Taanach, and Megiddo, and in all Beth Shean, which is by Zaretan beneath Jezreel, from Beth Shean ^[e]to Abel Meholah, even till beyond over against Jokneam:

¹³ The son of Geber in Ramoth Gilead, and his were the towns of ^[f]Jair, the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and under him was the region of Argob, which is in Bashan: threescore great cities with walls and bars of brass.

¹⁴ ¶ Ahinadab the son of Iddo had to Mahanaim:

¹⁵ Ahimaaz in Naphtali, and he took Basemath the daughter of Solomon to wife:

¹⁶ Baanah the son of Hushai in Asher and in Aloth:

¹⁷ Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah in ^[g]Issachar:

¹⁸ Shimei the son of Elah in Benjamin:

¹⁹ Geber the son of Uri in the country of Gilead, the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan, and was officer alone in the land.

²⁰ Judah and Israel were many, as the sand of the sea in number, ^[h]eating, drinking, and making merry.

²¹ And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms, from the ^[i]River unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt, and they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life.

²² And Solomon’s victuals for one day were thirty ^[j]measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal:

²³ Ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, besides harts, and bucks, and bugles, and fat fowl.

²⁴ For he ruled in all the region on the other side of the River, from Tiphsah even unto ^[k]Gaza, over all the ^[l]kings on the other side the River: and he had peace round about him on every side.

²⁵ And Judah and Israel dwelt without fear every man under his vine, and under his fig tree, from ^[m]Dan, even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.

²⁶ ¶ And Solomon had ^(B)forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.

²⁷ And these officers provided victual for king Solomon, and for all that came to king Solomon’s table, every man his month, and they suffered to lack nothing.

²⁸ Barley also and straw for the horses and mules, brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge.

²⁹ ¶ And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and ^[n]a large heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore,

³⁰ And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the ^[o]East, and all the wisdom of Egypt.

³¹ For he was wiser than any man: yea, than were Ethan the Ezrahite, than Heman, than Chalcol, than Darda the sons of Mahol: and he was famous throughout all nations round about.

³² And Solomon spake three thousand ^[p]proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.

³³ And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon, even unto the ^[q]hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowls, and of creeping things, and of fishes.

³⁴ And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.

11 2 He testifieth that for the great loves sake he beareth to the Corinthians, he is compelled  5 to utter his own praises: 9 and that he bestowed his labor on them without any reward, 13 that the false apostles should not surpass him in anything, 22 whom he far excelled in those things which are praiseworthy indeed.

¹ Would ^[a]to God, ye could suffer a little my foolishness, and indeed, ye suffer me.

² For I am jealous over you, with ^[b]godly jealousy: for I have prepared you for one husband, to ^[c]present you as a pure virgin to Christ:

³ But I fear lest as the ^(A)serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be ^[d]corrupt from the simplicity that is in ^[e]Christ:

^4 [f]For if he that cometh, preacheth ^[g]another Jesus whom we have not preached: or if ye receive another spirit whom ye have not received: either another Gospel which ye have not received, ye might well have suffered him.

⁵ Verily I suppose that I was not inferior to the very chief Apostles.

^6 [h]And though I be ^[i]rude in speaking, yet I am not so in knowledge, but among you we have been made manifest to the uttermost, in all things.

^7 [j]Have I committed an offence, because I abased myself, that ye might be exalted, and because I preached to you the Gospel of God freely?

⁸ I robbed other Churches, and took wages of them to do you service.

⁹ And when I was present with you, and had need, ^(B)I was not slothful to the hindrance of any man: for that which was lacking unto me, the brethren which came from Macedonia, supplied, and in all things I kept, ^[k]and will keep myself, that I should not be grievous unto you.

¹⁰ The ^[l]truth of Christ is in me, that this rejoicing shall not be ^[m]shut up against me in the regions of Achaia.

¹¹ Wherefore? because I love you not? God knoweth.

¹² But what I do, that will I do, that I may cut away occasion from them which desire occasion, that they might be found like unto us in that wherein they ^[n]rejoice.

^13 [o]For such false apostles are deceitful workers, and transform themselves into the Apostles of Christ.

¹⁴ And no marvel: for Satan himself is transformed into an Angel of ^[p]light.

¹⁵ Therefore it is no great thing, though his ministers transform themselves, as though they were the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works.

^16 [q]I say again, Let no man think that I am foolish, or else take me even as a fool, that I also may boast myself a little.

¹⁷ That I speak, I speak it not after the Lord: but as it were foolishly, in this my great boasting.

¹⁸ Seeing that many rejoice after [the] flesh, I will rejoice also.

¹⁹ For ye suffer fools gladly, because that ye are wise.

^20 [r]For ye suffer, even if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take your goods, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face.

²¹ I speak as concerning the ^[s]reproach: as though that we had been ^[t]weak: but wherein any man is bold (I speak foolishly) I am bold also.

²² They are Hebrews, ^(C)so am I: they are Israelites, so am I: they are the seed of Abraham, so am I.

²³ They are the ministers of Christ (I speak as a fool) I am ^[u]more: in labors more abundant: in stripes above measure: in prison more plenteously: in ^[v]death oft.

²⁴ Of the Jews ^[w]five times received I forty stripes save one.

²⁵ I was ^[x]thrice ^(D)beaten with rods: I was ^(E)once stoned: I suffered thrice ^(F)shipwreck: night and day have I been in the deep sea.

²⁶ In journeying I was often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of mine own nation, in perils among the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren,

²⁷ In weariness and ^[y]painfulness, in watching often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and in nakedness.

^28 [z]Beside the things which are outward, I am cumbered daily, and have the care of all the Churches.

²⁹ Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I burn not?

^30 [aa]If I must needs rejoice, I will rejoice of mine infirmities.

³¹ The God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.

³² In ^(G)Damascus the governor of the people under King Aretas, laid watch in the city of the Damascenes, and would have caught me.

³³ But at a window was I let down in a basket through the wall, and escaped his hands.