Solomon asks for wisdom
1Solomon son of David established himself firmly over his kingdom, for the Lord his God was with him and made him exceedingly great.
2Then Solomon spoke to all Israel – to the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, to the judges and to all the leaders in Israel, the heads of families – 3and Solomon and the whole assembly went to the high place at Gibeon, for God’s tent of meeting was there, which Moses the Lord’s servant had made in the wilderness. 4Now David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim to the place he had prepared for it, because he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem. 5But the bronze altar that Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was in Gibeon in front of the tabernacle of the Lord; so Solomon and the assembly enquired of him there. 6Solomon went up to the bronze altar before the Lord in the tent of meeting and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.
7That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, ‘Ask for whatever you want me to give you.’
8Solomon answered God, ‘You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place. 9Now, Lord God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the earth. 10Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?’
11God said to Solomon, ‘Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, possessions or honour, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, 12therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, possessions and honour, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.’
13Then Solomon went to Jerusalem from the high place at Gibeon, from before the tent of meeting. And he reigned over Israel.
14Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses,1:14 Or charioteers which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. 15The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. 16Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue1:16 Probably Cilicia – the royal merchants purchased them from Kue at the current price. 17They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels1:17 That is, about 6.9 kilograms of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty.1:17 That is, about 1.7 kilograms They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans.
ሰሎሞን ጥበብ እንዲሰጠው ጠየቀ
1፥2-13 ተጓ ምብ – 3፥4-15
1፥14-17 ተጓ ምብ – 1ነገ 10፥26-29፤ 2ዜና 9፥25-28
1አምላኩ እግዚአብሔር ከእርሱ ጋር ስለ ነበር፣ እጅግም ስላገነነው፣ የዳዊት ልጅ ሰሎሞን በመንግሥቱ ላይ ተደላድሎ ተቀመጠ።
2ከዚያም ሰሎሞን ለመላው እስራኤል፣ ለሻለቆች፣ ለመቶ አለቆች፣ ለዳኞች፣ ለእስራኤል መሪዎች ሁሉ እንዲሁም ለየቤተ ሰቡ አለቆች ተናገረ። 3የእግዚአብሔር ባሪያ ሙሴ በምድረ በዳ የሠራው የአምላክ የመገናኛ ድንኳን በዚያ ስለ ነበር፣ ሰሎሞንና መላው ጉባኤ በገባዖን ወዳለው ኰረብታ ሄዱ። 4በዚያ ጊዜ ዳዊት የአምላክን ታቦት ከቂሪያት ይዓሪም በኢየሩሳሌም ድንኳን ተክሎ ወዳዘጋጀለት ስፍራ አምጥቶት ነበር፤ 5ይሁን እንጂ የሆር ልጅ፣ የኡሪ ልጅ ባስልኤል የሠራው መሠዊያ በገባዖን በእግዚአብሔር ማደሪያ ድንኳን ፊት ለፊት ይገኝ ነበር፤ ስለዚህ ሰሎሞንና ጉባኤው ይህንኑ ፈለጉ። 6ሰሎሞንም በእግዚአብሔር ፊት በመገናኛው ድንኳን ውስጥ ወዳለው ወደ ናሱ መሠዊያ ወጥቶ በላዩ ላይ አንድ ሺሕ የሚቃጠል መሥዋዕት አቀረበ።
7በዚያ ሌሊት እግዚአብሔር ለሰሎሞን ተገልጦ፣ “እንድሰጥህ የምትፈልገውን ሁሉ ጠይቀኝ” አለው።
8ሰሎሞን እግዚአብሔርን እንዲህ አለው፤ “ለአባቴ ለዳዊት ታላቅ በጎነት አድርገህለታል፤ እኔንም በእግሩ ተክተህ አንግሠኸኛል። 9አሁንም እግዚአብሔር አምላክ ሆይ፤ ያነገሥኸኝ ብዛቱ እንደ ትቢያ በሆነ ሕዝብ ላይ ስለሆነ፣ ለአባቴ ለዳዊት የሰጠኸው ተስፋ ይጽና። 10ይህን ሕዝብ ለመምራት እንድችል፣ ጥበብና ዕውቀትን ስጠኝ፤ ይህ ካልሆነ ይህን ታላቅ ሕዝብህን ማን ሊገዛ ይችላል?”
11እግዚአብሔርም ሰሎሞንን እንዲህ አለው፤ “የልብህ መሻት ይህ ስለሆነ፣ ብልጽግናና ሀብት ወይም የጠላቶችህን ነፍስ ወይም ረዥም ዕድሜ ስላልጠየቅህ፣ ነገር ግን ባነገሥሁህ ሕዝቤ ላይ የምትገዛበትን ጥበብና ዕውቀት ስለ ጠየቅህ፣ 12ጥበብና ዕውቀት ይሰጥሃል፤ እንዲሁም ከአንተ በፊት የነበረ ማንኛውም ንጉሥ ያላገኘውን፣ ከአንተ በኋላም የሚነሣው የማያገኘውን ብልጽግና፣ ሀብትና ክብር እሰጥሃለሁ።”
13ሰሎሞንም የመገናኛው ድንኳን ካለበት ከገባዖን ኰረብታ ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም ተመለሰ፤ በእስራኤልም ላይ ነገሠ።
14ሰሎሞን ሠረገሎችንና1፥14 ወይም ሠረገለኞች ተብሎ መተርጐም ይችላል። ፈረሶችን ሰበሰበ፤ እርሱም አንድ ሺሕ አራት መቶ ሠረገሎችና ዐሥራ ሁለት ሺሕ ፈረሶች ነበሩት፤ እነርሱንም በሠረገላ ከተሞችና እርሱ ባለበት በኢየሩሳሌም ከተማ አኖራቸው። 15ንጉሡም ወርቁና ብሩ በኢየሩሳሌም እንደ ተራ ድንጋይ እንዲበዛ፣ ዝግባውም በየኰረብታው ግርጌ እንደሚገኝ የሾላ ዛፍ እንዲበዛ አደረገ። 16የሰሎሞንም ፈረሶች የመጡት ከግብፅና ከቀዌ1፥16 ምናልባት ኪልቂያ ናት ነበር፤ ከቀዌ የገዟቸውም የንጉሡ ነጋዴዎች ነበሩ። 17ከግብፅ ያስገቧቸውም አንዱን ሠረገላ በስድስት መቶ ሰቅል1፥17 7 ኪሎ ግራም ያህል ነው። ብር፣ አንዱን ፈረስ በአንድ መቶ አምሳ ሰቅል1፥17 1.7 ኪሎ ግራም ነው። ብር ገዝተው ነው። እነዚህንም ደግሞ ለኬጢያውያንና ለሶርያውያን ነገሥታት ሁሉ ይሸጡላቸው ነበር።
