Solomon Asks God for Wisdom
1Solomon was the son of David. Solomon made his position secure over his kingdom. The Lord his God was with him. He made Solomon very great.
2Solomon spoke to the whole community of Israel. He spoke to the commanders of thousands of men and commanders of hundreds. He spoke to the judges and all the leaders in Israel. He spoke to the leaders of Israel’s families. 3Solomon and the whole community went to the high place at Gibeon. That’s because God’s tent of meeting was there. The Lord’s servant Moses had made the tent in the desert. 4David had carried up the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim. He had it brought to the place he had prepared for it. He had set up a tent for it in Jerusalem. 5But the bronze altar that Bezalel had made was in Gibeon. Bezalel was the son of Uri. Uri was the son of Hur. The altar was in front of the Lord’s holy tent. So Solomon and the whole community asked the Lord for advice in Gibeon. 6Solomon went up to the bronze altar in front of the Lord at the tent of meeting. Solomon sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings on the altar.
7That night God appeared to Solomon. He said to him, “Ask for anything you want me to give you.”
8Solomon answered God, “You were very kind to my father David. Now you have made me king in his place. 9Lord God, let the promise you gave to my father David come true. You have made me king. My people are as many as the dust of the earth. They can’t be counted. 10Give me wisdom and knowledge. Then I’ll be able to lead these people. Without your help, who would be able to rule this great nation of yours?”
11God said to Solomon, “I am glad that those are the things you really want. You have not asked for wealth, possessions or honor. You have not even asked to have your enemies killed. You have not asked to live for a long time. Instead, you have asked for wisdom and knowledge. You want to be able to rule my people wisely. I have made you king over them. 12So wisdom and knowledge will be given to you. I will also give you wealth, possessions and honor. You will have more than any king before you ever had. And no king after you will have as much.”
13Then Solomon left the high place at Gibeon. He went from the tent of meeting there to Jerusalem. And he ruled over Israel.
14Solomon had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He kept some of them in the chariot cities. He kept others with him in Jerusalem. 15The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones. He made cedar wood as common there as sycamore-fig trees in the western hills. 16Solomon got horses from Egypt and Kue. The king’s buyers purchased them from Kue at the current price. 17They could get a chariot from Egypt for 15 pounds of silver. They could get a horse for less than four pounds of silver. They sold horses and chariots to all the Hittite and Aramean kings.
Salomão Pede Sabedoria
1Salomão, filho de Davi, estabeleceu-se com firmeza em seu reino, pois o Senhor, o seu Deus, estava com ele e o tornou muito poderoso.
2Salomão falou a todo o Israel: os líderes de mil e de cem, os juízes, todos os líderes de Israel e os chefes de famílias. 3Depois o rei foi com toda a assembleia ao lugar sagrado, no alto de Gibeom, pois ali estava a Tenda do Encontro que Moisés, servo do Senhor, havia feito no deserto. 4Davi tinha transportado a arca de Deus de Quiriate-Jearim para a tenda que ele tinha armado para ela em Jerusalém. 5O altar de bronze que Bezalel, filho de Uri e neto de Hur, fizera estava em Gibeom, em frente do tabernáculo do Senhor; ali Salomão e a assembleia consultaram o Senhor. 6Salomão ofereceu ao Senhor mil holocaustos1.6 Isto é, sacrifícios totalmente queimados; também em todo o livro de 2Crônicas. sobre o altar de bronze, na Tenda do Encontro.
7Naquela noite Deus apareceu a Salomão e lhe disse: “Peça-me o que quiser, e eu darei a você”.
8Salomão respondeu: “Tu foste muito bondoso para com meu pai Davi e me fizeste rei em seu lugar. 9Agora, Senhor Deus, que se confirme a tua promessa a meu pai Davi, pois me fizeste rei sobre um povo tão numeroso quanto o pó da terra. 10Dá-me sabedoria e conhecimento, para que eu possa liderar esta nação, pois quem pode governar este teu grande povo?”
11Deus disse a Salomão: “Já que este é o desejo de seu coração e você não pediu riquezas, nem bens, nem honra, nem a morte dos seus inimigos, nem vida longa, mas sabedoria e conhecimento para governar o meu povo, sobre o qual o fiz rei, 12você receberá o que pediu, mas também lhe darei riquezas, bens e honra, como nenhum rei antes de você teve e nenhum depois de você terá”.
13Então Salomão voltou de Gibeom, de diante da Tenda do Encontro, para Jerusalém, e reinou sobre Israel.
14Salomão juntou carros e cavalos; chegou a ter mil e quatrocentos carros e doze mil cavalos1.14 Ou condutores de carros, dos quais mantinha uma parte nas guarnições de algumas cidades e a outra perto dele, em Jerusalém. 15O rei tornou tão comuns a prata e o ouro em Jerusalém quanto as pedras, e o cedro tão numeroso quanto as figueiras bravas da Sefelá1.15 Pequena faixa de terra de relevo variável entre a planície costeira e as montanhas; também em 9.27; 26.10 e 28.18.. 16Os cavalos de Salomão eram importados do Egito1.16 Ou Muzur, região da Cilícia; também no versículo 17. e da Cilícia1.16 Hebraico: Cuve., onde os fornecedores do rei os compravam. 17Importavam do Egito um carro por sete quilos e duzentos gramas1.17 Hebraico: 600 siclos. Um siclo equivalia a 12 gramas. de prata, e um cavalo por um quilo e oitocentos gramas, e os exportavam para todos os reis dos hititas e dos arameus.
