Bible Reading for April 13

1 Kings Chapter 3

1 And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took
Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the 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 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 statutes of David his
father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in 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 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 shewed unto thy servant David my father
great mercy, 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 kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on
his throne, as it is 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 little child: I know not how to go out
or 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 thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people,
that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this
thy so great a people?

10 And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked 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 enemies; but hast asked for thyself
understanding to discern judgment;

12 Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a
wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like 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 honour: 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 lengthen 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 the LORD, and
offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a
feast to all his servants.

16 Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and
stood before him.

17 And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell 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 that I was delivered, that
this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no
stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.

19 And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it.

20 And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while
thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child
in my bosom.

21 And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was
dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my
son, which I did bear.

22 And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead
is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living
is my son. Thus they spake before the king.

23 Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and
thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but 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 spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for
her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the
living child, and in no wise slay it. 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 in no
wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.

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 judgment.

1 Kings Chapter 4

1 So king Solomon was king over all Israel.

2 And these were the princes which he had; Azariah the son of Zadok the
priest,

3 Elihoreph and Ahiah, 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
Abiathar were the priests:

5 And Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers: and Zabud the son
of Nathan was principal officer, and the king's friend:

6 And Ahishar was over the household: and 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 his month in a year
made provision.

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

9 The son of Dekar, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Bethshemesh, and
Elonbethhanan:

10 The son of Hesed, in Aruboth; to him 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; to him pertained Taanach and Megiddo, and
all Bethshean, which is by Zartanah beneath Jezreel, from Bethshean to
Abelmeholah, even unto the place that is beyond Jokneam:

13 The son of Geber, in Ramothgilead; to him pertained the towns of Jair
the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; to him also pertained the
region of Argob, which is in Bashan, threescore great cities with walls
and brasen bars:

14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo had Mahanaim:

15 Ahimaaz was in Naphtali; he also took Basmath the daughter of Solomon
to wife:

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

17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar:

18 Shimei the son of Elah, in Benjamin:

19 Geber the son of Uri was in the country of Gilead, in the country of
Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the
only officer which 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 reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of
the Philistines, and unto 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 threescore measures of meal,

23 Ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred
sheep, beside harts, and roebucks, and fallowdeer, and fatted fowl.

24 For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from
Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and he
had peace on all sides round about him.

25 And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under
his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, 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 victual for king Solomon, and for all
that came unto king Solomon's table, every man in his month: they lacked
nothing.

28 Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries 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
largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.

30 And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the
east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.

31 For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman,
and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all
nations round about.

32 And he spake three thousand 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 hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts,
and of fowl, 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.

1 Kings Chapter 5

1 And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had
heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for
Hiram was ever a lover of David.

2 And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying,

3 Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto
the name of the LORD his God for the wars which were about him on every
side, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet.

4 But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side, so that
there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent.

5 And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the LORD my
God, as the LORD spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I
will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house unto my name.