1 Kings 3:9-28

9 ^aGive your servant therefore an understanding mind ^bto govern your people, that I may ^cdiscern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

10It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. 11And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, 12behold, ^dI now do according to your word. Behold, ^eI give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. 13 ^fI give you also what you have not asked, ^gboth riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. 14And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, ^has your father David walked, then ⁱI will lengthen your days.”

15And Solomon ^jawoke, and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.

Solomon’s Wisdom

16Then two prostitutes came to the king ^kand stood before him. 17The 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. 18Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were alone. There was no one else with us in the house; only we two were in the house. 19And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. 20And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. 21When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, he was dead. But when I looked at him closely in the morning, behold, he was not the child that I had borne.” 22But the other woman said, “No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine.” Thus they spoke before the king.

23Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead’; and the other says, ‘No; but your son is dead, and my son is the living one.’” 24And the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought before the king. 25And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” 26Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because ^lher heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.” 27Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother.” 28And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that ^mthe wisdom of God was in him to do justice.

1 Kings 4:29-34

29 ⁿAnd God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind ^olike the sand on the seashore, 30so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all ^pthe people of the east ^qand all the wisdom of Egypt. 31For he was ^rwiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. 32 ^sHe also spoke 3,000 proverbs, ^tand his songs were 1,005. 33He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. 34And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from ^uall the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

Ezra 4:15

15in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste.

Ezra 4:19

19And I made a decree, and search has been made, and it has been found that this city from of old has risen against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it.

Ezra 5:17

17Therefore, if it seems good to the king, ^vlet search be made in the royal archives there in Babylon, to see whether a decree was issued by Cyrus the king for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem. And let the king send us his pleasure in this matter.”

Ezra 6:1

The Decree of Darius

1Then Darius the king made a decree, and ^wsearch was made in Babylonia, in the house of the archives where the documents were stored.

Job 29:16

16I was a father to the needy,
and I searched out ^xthe cause of him whom I did not know.