31 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 finished building his own house and the house of the Lord 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 the Lord until those days .
3 Now Solomon loved the Lord , walking in the statutes of his father David , except he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places . 4 The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there , for that was the great high place ; Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar .
5 In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night ; and God said , " Ask what you wish me to give you." 6 Then Solomon said , " You have shown great lovingkindness to Your servant David my father , according as he walked before You in truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward You; and You have reserved for him this great lovingkindness , that You have given him a son to sit on his throne , as it is this day . 7 "Now , O Lord my God , You have made Your servant 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 " Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen , a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted . 9 "So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil . For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?" 10 It was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing . 11 God said to him, "Because e 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 understand 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 " 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 .
16 Then two women who were harlots came to the king and stood before him. 17 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 "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 "This woman's son died in the night , because she lay on it. 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 The king said , "Get me a sword ." So they brought a sword before the king . 25 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 child was the living one spoke to the king , for she was deeply e stirred over her son and said , "Oh , my lord , give her the living child , and by no means kill him." But the other said , "He shall be neither e mine nor yours; divide him!" 27 Then the king said , "Give the first woman the living child , and by no means kill him. She is his mother ." 28 When all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had handed down , they feared the king , for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice .
41 Now King Solomon was king over all Israel . 2 These were his officials : Azariah the son of Zadok was the priest ; 3 Elihoreph and Ahijah , the sons of Shisha were secretaries ; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder ; 4 and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army ; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests ; 5 and Azariah the son of Nathan was over the deputies ; and Zabud the son of Nathan , a priest , was the king's friend ; 6 and Ahishar was over the household ; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the men subject to forced labor . 7 Solomon had twelve e deputies over all Israel , who provided for the king and his household ; each man had to provide for a month in the year . 8 These are their names : Ben-hur , in the hill country of Ephraim ; 9 Ben-deker in Makaz and Shaalbim and Beth-shemesh and Elonbeth-hanan ; 10 Ben-hesed , in Arubboth ( Socoh was his and all the land of Hepher ); 11 Ben-abinadab , in all the height of Dor (Taphath the daughter of Solomon was his wife ); 12 Baana the son of Ahilud , in Taanach and Megiddo , and all Beth-shean which is beside Zarethan below e Jezreel , from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah as far as the other side of Jokmeam ; 13 Ben-geber , in Ramoth-gilead ( the towns of Jair , the son of Manasseh , which are in Gilead were his: the region of Argob , which is in Bashan , sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars were his); 14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo , in Mahanaim ; 15 Ahimaaz , in Naphtali (he also married Basemath the daughter of Solomon ); 16 Baana the son of Hushai , in Asher and Bealoth ; 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 country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan ; and he was the only deputy who was in the land .
20 Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance ; they were eating and drinking and rejoicing . 21 Now Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt ; they brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life . 22 Solomon's provision for one day was thirty kors of fine flour and sixty kors of meal , 23 ten fat oxen , twenty pasture-fed oxen , a hundred sheep besides e deer , gazelles , roebucks , and fattened fowl . 24 For he had dominion over everything west of the River , from Tiphsah even to Gaza , over all the kings west of the River ; and he had peace on all sides around about him. 25 So Judah and Israel lived in safety , every man under his vine and his fig tree , from Dan even to Beersheba , all the days of Solomon . 26 Solomon had 40,000 e stalls of horses for his chariots , and 12,000 e e horsemen . 27 Those deputies provided for King Solomon and all who came to King Solomon's table , each in his month ; they left nothing e lacking . 28 They also brought barley and straw for the horses and swift steeds to the place where e it should be, each according to his charge .
29 Now God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind , like the sand that is on the seashore e . 30 Solomon's wisdom surpassed 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 , Heman , Calcol and Darda , the sons of Mahol ; and his fame was known in all the surrounding nations . 32 He also spoke 3,000 e proverbs , and his songs were 1,005 e . 33 He spoke of trees , from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows on the wall ; he spoke also of animals and birds and creeping things and fish . 34 Men came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon , from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom .
51 Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon , when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father , for Hiram had always e been a friend of David . 2 Then Solomon sent word to Hiram , saying , 3 "You know that David my father was unable e to build a house for the name of the Lord his God because e of the wars which surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet . 4 "But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side ; there is neither adversary nor misfortune . 5 "Behold , I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God , as the Lord spoke to David my father , saying , 'Your son , whom I will set on your throne in your place , he will build the house for My name .' 6 "Now therefore, command that they cut for me cedars from Lebanon , and my servants will be with your servants ; and I will give you wages for your servants according to all that you say , for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians ." 7 When Hiram heard the words of Solomon , he rejoiced greatly and said , "Blessed be the Lord today , who has given to David a wise son over this great people ." 8 So Hiram sent word to Solomon , saying , "I have heard the message which you have sent me; I will do what you desire concerning the cedar and cypress timber . 9 "My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea ; and I will make them into rafts to go by sea to the place where you direct me, and I will have them broken up there , and you shall carry them away. Then you shall accomplish my desire by giving food to my household ."
10 So Hiram gave Solomon as much as he desired of the cedar and cypress timber . 11 Solomon then gave Hiram 20,000 e kors of wheat as food for his household , and twenty kors of beaten oil ; thus Solomon would give Hiram year by year . 12 The Lord gave wisdom to Solomon , just as He promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon , and the two of them made a covenant . 13 Now King Solomon levied forced laborers from all Israel ; and the forced laborers numbered 30,000 e men . 14 He sent them to Lebanon , 10,000 e a month in relays ; they were in Lebanon a month and two months at home . And Adoniram was over the forced laborers . 15 Now Solomon had 70,000 e transporters e , and 80,000 e hewers of stone in the mountains , 16 besides e Solomon's 3,300 e e e chief deputies who were over the project and who ruled over the people who were doing the work . 17 Then the king commanded , and they quarried great stones , costly stones , to lay the foundation of the house with cut stones . 18 So Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the Gebalites cut them, and prepared the timbers and the stones to build the house .
201 On one of the days while He was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel , the chief priests and the scribes with the elders confronted Him, 2 and they spoke , saying to Him, "Tell us by what authority You are doing these things , or who is the one who gave You this authority ?" 3 Jesus answered and said to them, "I will also ask you a question , and you tell Me: 4 "Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men ?" 5 They reasoned among themselves , saying , "If we say , 'From heaven ,' He will say , 'Why e did you not believe him?' 6 "But if we say , 'From men ,' all the people will stone us to death , for they are convinced that John was a prophet ." 7 So they answered that they did not know where it came from. 8 And Jesus said to them, "Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things ."
9 And He began to tell the people this parable : "A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to vine-growers , and went on a journey for a long time . 10 "At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers , so that they would give him some of the produce of the vineyard ; but the vine-growers beat him and sent him away empty-handed . 11 "And he proceeded to send another slave ; and they beat him also and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty-handed . 12 "And he proceeded to send a third ; and this one also they wounded and cast out. 13 "The owner of the vineyard said , 'What shall I do ? I will send my beloved son ; perhaps they will respect him.' 14 "But when the vine-growers saw him, they reasoned with one another , saying , 'This is the heir ; let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours .' 15 "So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What , then , will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 "He will come and destroy these vine-growers and will give the vineyard to others ." When they heard it, they said , " May it never be!" 17 But Jesus looked at them and said , "What then is this that is written : ' THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED , THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone'? 18 " Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces ; but on whomever e it falls , it will scatter him like dust ."
19 The scribes and the chief priests tried to lay hands on Him that very hour , and they feared the people ; for they understood that He spoke this parable against them.
20 So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous , in order that they might catch Him in some statement , so that they could deliver Him to the rule and the authority of the governor . 21 They questioned Him, saying , "Teacher , we know that You speak and teach correctly , and You are not partial e to any, but teach the way of God in truth . 22 "Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar , or not?" 23 But He detected their trickery and said to them, 24 "Show Me a denarius . Whose likeness and inscription does it have ?" They said , "Caesar's ." 25 And He said to them, "Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's , and to God the things that are God's ." 26 And they were unable e to catch Him in a saying in the presence of the people ; and being amazed at His answer , they became 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.
