31 And Solomon allied himself by marriage with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had ended building his own house, and the house of Jehovah, and the wall of Jerusalem round about. 2 Only, the people sacrificed on the high places; for there was no house built to the name of Jehovah, until those days.
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.
41 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.
51 And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the place of his father; for Hiram always loved David. 2 And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, 3 Thou knowest that David my father could not build a house unto the name of Jehovah his God, because of the wars which were about him on every side, until Jehovah put them under the soles of his feet. 4 But now Jehovah my God has given me rest on every side: there is neither adversary nor evil event. 5 And behold, I purpose to build a house unto the name of Jehovah my God, as Jehovah spoke to David my father saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy stead, he shall build a house unto my name. 6 And now command that they hew me cedar-trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants; and I will give thee hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt say; for thou knowest that there is not among us any that are experienced in cutting timber like to the Zidonians. 7 And it came to pass when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be Jehovah this day, who has given to David a wise son over this great people. 8 And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have heard the things which thou sentest to me for: I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of cypress. 9 My servants shall bring [them] down from Lebanon to the sea; and I will convey them by sea [in] rafts to the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be broken up there, and thou shalt receive them. And thou shalt accomplish my desire in giving food for my household.
10 So Hiram gave Solomon cedar-trees and cypress-trees [according to] all his desire. 11 And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat as food for his household, and twenty measures of beaten oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year. 12 And Jehovah gave Solomon wisdom as he promised him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league. 13 And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men. 14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses; a month they were in Lebanon, two months at home; and Adoniram was over the levy. 15 And Solomon had seventy thousand that bore burdens, and eighty thousand stone-masons in the mountains; 16 besides the overseers whom Solomon had set over the work, three thousand three hundred, who ruled over the people that wrought in the work. 17 And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, hewn stones, to lay the foundation of the house. 18 And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the Giblites hewed them, and prepared timber and stones to build the house.
201 And it came to pass on one of the days, as he was teaching the people in the temple, and announcing the glad tidings, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up, 2 and spoke to him saying, Tell us by what authority thou doest these things, or who is it who has given thee this authority? 3 And he answering said to them, I also will ask you [one] thing, and tell me: 4 The baptism of John, was it of heaven or of men? 5 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, If we should say, Of heaven, he will say, Why have ye not believed him? 6 but if we should say, Of men, the whole people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet. 7 And they answered, they did not know whence. 8 And Jesus said to them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.
9 And he began to speak to the people this parable: A man planted a vineyard and let it out to husbandmen, and left the country for a long time. 10 And in the season he sent to the husbandmen a bondman, that they might give to him of the fruit of the vineyard; but the husbandmen, having beaten him, sent [him] away empty. 11 And again he sent another bondman; but they, having beaten him also, and cast insult upon him, sent [him] away empty. 12 And again he sent a third; and they, having wounded him also, cast [him] out. 13 And the lord of the vineyard said, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: perhaps when they see him they will respect [him]. 14 But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir; [come,] let us kill him, that the inheritance may become ours. 15 And having cast him forth out of the vineyard, they killed [him]. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and destroy those husbandmen, and will give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it they said, May it never be! 17 But he looking at them said, What then is this that is written, The stone which they that builded rejected, this has become the corner-stone? 18 Every one falling on this stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder.
19 And the chief priests and the scribes sought the same hour to lay hands on him, and they feared the people; for they knew that he had spoken this parable of them.
20 And having watched [him], they sent out suborned persons, pretending to be just men, that they might take hold of him in [his] language, so that they might deliver him up to the power and authority of the governor. 21 And they asked him saying, Teacher, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, and acceptest no [man's] person, but teachest with truth the way of God: 22 Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not? 23 But perceiving their deceit he said to them, Why do ye tempt me? 24 Shew me a denarius. Whose image and superscription has it? And answering they said, Caesar's. 25 And he said to them, Pay therefore what is Caesar's to Caesar, and what is God's to God. 26 And they were not able to take hold of him in [his] expressions before the people, and, wondering at his answer, they were silent.
(Read Luke 20:1-8)
Men often pretend to examine the evidences of revelation, and the truth of the gospel, when only seeking excuses for their own unbelief and disobedience. Christ answered these priests and scribes with a plain question about the baptism of John, which the common people could answer. They all knew it was from heaven, nothing in it had an earthly tendency. Those that bury the knowledge they have, are justly denied further knowledge. It was just with Christ to refuse to give account of his authority, to those who knew the baptism of John to be from heaven, yet would not believe in him, nor own their knowledge.
(Read Luke 20:9-19)
Christ spake this parable against those who resolved not to own his authority, though the evidence of it was so full. How many resemble the Jews who murdered the prophets and crucified Christ, in their enmity to God, and aversion to his service, desiring to live according to their lusts, without control! Let all who are favoured with God's word, look to it that they make proper use of their advantages. Awful will be the doom, both of those who reject the Son, and of those who profess to reverence Him, yet render not the fruits in due season. Though they could not but own that for such a sin, such a punishment was just, yet they could not bear to hear of it. It is the folly of sinners, that they persevere in sinful ways, though they dread the destruction at the end of those ways.
(Read Luke 20:20-26)
Those who are most crafty in their designs against Christ and his gospel, cannot hide them. He did not give a direct answer, but reproved them for offering to impose upon him; and they could not fasten upon any thing wherewith to stir up either the governor or the people against him. The wisdom which is from above, will direct all who teach the way of God truly, to avoid the snares laid for them by wicked men; and will teach our duty to God, to our rulers, and to all men, so clearly, that opposers will have no evil to say of us.
