Textus Receptus Bibles
The Great Bible 1539
| 3:1 | Salomon made affinite with Pharao kynge of Egypt, & toke Pharaos daughter, and brought her into the cytie of Dauid, vntyll he had made an ende of buyldinge his awne house, & the house of the Lord, and the wall of Ierusalem rounde about. |
| 3:2 | Onely the people sacrificed in aultars made on hylles, because there was no house buylte vnto the name of the Lord, vntill those dayes. |
| 3:3 | And Salomon loued the Lorde, and walked in the ordynaunces of Dauid hys father, saue onely that he sacrificed and offered incense vpon aultares in hylles. |
| 3:4 | And the kyng went to Gibeon, to offer there: for that was a speciall offerynge place. A thousand burnt offeringes dyd Salomon offre vpon that aultare: |
| 3:5 | and in Gibeon the Lorde apeared to Salomon in a dreame by nyght. And God sayde: aske what thou wylt, that I maye geue it the. |
| 3:6 | And Salomon sayde: thou haste shewed vnto thy seruaunt Dauid my father great mercy, when he walked before the in trueth, in ryghtewesnes, & in playnesse of hert with the. And thou hast kepte for hym this greate mercy, that thou hast geuen hym a sonne, to sytt on hys seate: as it is come to passe thys daye. |
| 3:7 | And nowe, O Lord my God, it is thou that hast made thy seruaunt kynge in steade of Dauid my father, And I am but yonge, and wote not howe to go out and in. |
| 3:8 | And thy seruaunt is in the myddes of thy people, which thou haste chosen. And verely, the people are so manye, that they cannot be tolde nor nombred for multitude. |
| 3:9 | Geue therfore vnto thy seruaunt an vnderstandynge hert, to iudge thy people, that I maye decerne betwene good and bad. For who is able to iudge thys, thy so myghtye a people? |
| 3:10 | And thys pleased the Lorde well, that Salomon had desyred thys thynge. |
| 3:11 | And God sayde vnto him: because thou hast asked this thynge, and hast not asked longe lyfe, nether hast asked ryches, nor the soule of thyne enemyes, but hast asked vnderstandynge and discrecyon in iudgement. |
| 3:12 | Beholde, I haue done accordynge to thy peticyon. For I haue geuen the a wyse and an vnderstandynge herte, so that there was none like the before the, nether after the shal eny aryse lyke vnto the. |
| 3:13 | And I haue also geuen the, that which thou hast not asked, euen rychesse and honoure, so that there shalbe no kynge lyke vnto the all thy dayes. |
| 3:14 | And yf thou wylt walke in my wayes, to kepe myne ordinaunces and my commaundmentes, as thy father Dauid dyd walke, I will lengthen thy dayes. When Salomon awoke, behold, it was a dreame. |
| 3:15 | And he came to Ierusalem and stode before the arck of the testament of the Lorde, and offered burntofferynges and peace offerynges, and made a feaste to all his seruauntes. |
| 3:16 | Then came there two wemen, that were harlottes, vnto the kynge. and stode before hym. |
| 3:17 | And the one woman sayde: Oh my Lorde, I and thys woman dwell in one house. And I was delyuered of a chyld with her in the house. |
| 3:18 | And the thyrde daye after that I was delyuered, she was delyuered also: and we were together, and no straunger with vs in the house, saue we two. |
| 3:19 | And thys wyues chyde dyed in the nyght, for she smothered it. |
| 3:20 | And she rose at mydnyght, and toke my sonne from my syde, whyle thyne handemayde slepte, and layde it in her bosome, and putt her deed chylde in my bosome. |
| 3:21 | And when I rose vp to geue my chylde sucke: beholde, it was deed. But whan I had loked vpon it in the mornynge, beholde, it was not my sonne, which I dyd beare. |
| 3:22 | The other woman sayde: it is not so: but my sonne lyueth, and thy sonne is deed. And she sayde agayne: No, but thy sonne is deed, and my sonne is alyue. And thus they pleated before the kynge. |
| 3:23 | Then sayde the kyng: the one sayth, this that is alyue is my sonne: and the deed is thyne. And the other saythe, naye: but thy sonne is the deed, & the lyuinge chylde is myne, |
| 3:24 | And the kynge sayde: bryng me a swearde. And they brought out a swearde before the kynge. |
| 3:25 | And the kynge sayde. Deuyde the lyuinge chylde in two, and geue the one halfe to the one, and the other to the other. |
| 3:26 | Then spake the woman, whose the lyuynge chylde was, vnto the kynge, for her bowelles yerned vpon her sonne, and sayde: I beseche the my Lorde, geue her the lyuyng chylde, and in no wyse sleye it. But the other sayd: let it be nether myne nor thyne, but deuyde it. |
| 3:27 | Then the kynge answered and sayd: geue her the lyuing chylde, and sley it not: for she is the mother therof. |
| 3:28 | And all they of Israel hearde of the iudgement, which the kynge hath iudged, and feared the kynge: for they sawe that the wysdome of God was in hym, to do iustice. |
The Great Bible 1539
The Great Bible of 1539 was the first authorized edition of the Bible in English, authorized by King Henry VIII of England to be read aloud in the church services of the Church of England. The Great Bible was prepared by Myles Coverdale, working under commission of Thomas, Lord Cromwell, Secretary to Henry VIII and Vicar General. In 1538, Cromwell directed the clergy to provide "one book of the bible of the largest volume in English, and the same set up in some convenient place within the said church that ye have care of, whereas your parishioners may most commodiously resort to the same and read it."