Primo libro dei Re 3

NOVA VULGATA	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Et affinitate coniunctus est pharaoni regi Aegypti. Accepit namque filiam eius et adduxit in civitatem David, donec compleret aedificans domum suam et domum Domini et murum Ierusalem per circuitum.	1 With the royal power firmly in his grasp, Solomon allied himself by marriage with Pharaoh, king of Egypt. The daughter of Pharaoh, whom he married, he brought to the City of David, until he should finish building his palace, and the temple of the LORD, and the wall around Jerusalem.
2 Attamen populus immolabat in excelsis; non enim aedificatum erat templum nomini Domini usque in diem illum.	2 However, the people were sacrificing on the high places, for up to that time no temple had been built to the name of the LORD.
3 Dilexit autem Salomon Dominum ambulans in praeceptis David patris sui, excepto quod in excelsis immolabat et accendebat thymiama.	3 Solomon loved the LORD, and obeyed the statutes of his father David; yet he offered sacrifice and burned incense on the high places.
4 Abiit itaque in Gabaon, ut immolaret ibi; illud quippe erat excelsum maximum. Mille hostias in holocaustum obtulit Salomon super altare illud.	4 The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, because that was the most renowned high place. Upon its altar Solomon offered a thousand holocausts.
5 In Gabaon apparuit Dominus Salomoni per somnium nocte dicens: “ Postula quod vis, ut dem tibi ”.	5 In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, "Ask something of me and I will give it to you."
6 Et ait Salomon: “ Tu fecisti cum servo tuo David patre meo misericordiam magnam, sicut ambulavit in conspectu tuo in veritate et iustitia et recto corde tecum; custodisti ei misericordiam tuam grandem et dedisti ei filium sedentem super thronum eius, sicut est hodie.	6 Solomon answered: "You have shown great favor to your servant, my father David, because he behaved faithfully toward you, with justice and an upright heart; and you have continued this great favor toward him, even today, seating a son of his on his throne.
7 Et nunc, Domine Deus meus, tu regnare fecisti servum tuum pro David patre meo. Ego autem sum puer parvus et ignorans egressum et introitum meum;	7 O LORD, my God, you have made me, your servant, king to succeed my father David; but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act.
8 et servus tuus in medio est populi, quem elegisti, populi infiniti, qui numerari et supputari non potest prae multitudine.	8 I serve you in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted.
9 Da ergo servo tuo cor docile, ut iudicare possit populum tuum et discernere inter bonum et malum. Quis enim potest iudicare populum tuum hunc multum? ”.	9 Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong. For who is able to govern this vast people of yours?"
10 Placuit ergo sermo coram Domino quod Salomon rem huiuscemodi postulasset,	10 The LORD was pleased that Solomon made this request.
11 et dixit Deus Salomoni: “ Quia postulasti verbum hoc et non petisti tibi dies multos nec divitias aut animam inimicorum tuorum, sed postulasti tibi sapientiam ad discernendum iudicium,	11 So God said to him: "Because you have asked for this--not for a long life for yourself, nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies, but for understanding so that you may know what is right--
12 ecce feci tibi secundum sermones tuos et dedi tibi cor sapiens et intellegens, in tantum ut nullus ante te similis tui fuerit nec post te surrecturus sit;	12 I do as you requested. I give you a heart so wise and understanding that there has never been anyone like you up to now, and after you there will come no one to equal you.
13 sed et haec, quae non postulasti, dedi tibi, divitias scilicet et gloriam, ut nemo fuerit similis tui in regibus cunctis diebus tuis.	13 In addition, I give you what you have not asked for, such riches and glory that among kings there is not your like.
14 Si autem ambulaveris in viis meis et custodieris praecepta mea et mandata mea, sicut ambulavit David pater tuus, longos faciam dies tuos ”.	14 And if you follow me by keeping my statutes and commandments, as your father David did, I will give you a long life."
15 Igitur evigilavit Salomon et intellexit quod esset somnium. Cumque venisset Ierusalem, stetit coram arca foederis Domini et obtulit holocausta et fecit victimas pacificas et convivium universis famulis suis.	15 When Solomon awoke from his dream, he went to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, offered holocausts and peace offerings, and gave a banquet for all his servants.
16 Tunc venerunt duae mulieres meretrices ad regem steteruntque coram eo.	16 Later, two harlots came to the king and stood before him.
17 Quarum una ait: “ Obsecro, mi domine; ego et mulier haec habitabamus in domo una, et peperi apud eam in domo;	17 One woman said: "By your leave, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth in the house while she was present.
18 tertia vero die, postquam ego peperi, peperit et haec; et eramus simul, nullusque alius nobiscum in domo, exceptis nobis duabus.	18 On the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. We were alone in the house; there was no one there but us two.
19 Mortuus est autem filius mulieris huius nocte; dormiens quippe oppressit eum.	19 This woman's son died during the night; she smothered him by lying on him.
20 Et consurgens intempesta nocte, silentio tulit filium meum de latere meo ancillae tuae dormientis et collocavit in sinu suo; suum autem filium, qui erat mortuus, posuit in sinu meo.	20 Later that night she got up and took my son from my side, as I, your handmaid, was sleeping. Then she laid him in her bosom, after she had laid her dead child in my bosom.
21 Cumque surrexissem mane, ut darem lac filio meo, apparuit mortuus; quem diligentius intuens clara luce, deprehendi non esse meum, quem genueram ”.	21 I rose in the morning to nurse my child, and I found him dead. But when I examined him in the morning light, I saw it was not the son whom I had borne."
22 Responditque altera mulier: “ Non est ita, sed filius meus vivit, tuus autem mortuus est ”. E contrario illa dicebat: “ Mentiris. Filius quippe tuus mortuus est, meus autem vivit ”. Atque in hunc modum contendebant coram rege.	22 The other woman answered, "It is not so! The living one is my son, the dead one is yours." But the first kept saying, "No, the dead one is your child, the living one is mine!" Thus they argued before the king.
23 Tunc rex ait: “ Haec dicit: “Filius meus vivit, et filius tuus mortuus est”; et ista respondit: “Non, sed filius tuus mortuus est, et filius meus vivit” ”.	23 Then the king said: "One woman claims, 'This, the living one, is my child, and the dead one is yours.' The other answers, 'No! The dead one is your child; the living one is mine.'"
24 Dixit ergo rex: “ Afferte mihi gladium! ”. Cumque attulissent gladium coram rege:	24 The king continued, "Get me a sword." When they brought the sword before him,
25 “ Dividite, inquit, infantem vivum in duas partes, et date dimidiam partem uni et dimidiam partem alteri ”.	25 he said, "Cut the living child in two, and give half to one woman and half to the other."
26 Dixit autem mulier, cuius filius erat vivus, ad regem — commota sunt quippe viscera eius super filio suo —: “ Obsecro, domine, date illi infantem vivum et nolite interficere eum ”. E contrario illa dicebat: “ Nec mihi nec tibi sit; dividatur ”.	26 The woman whose son it was, in the anguish she felt for it, said to the king, "Please, my lord, give her the living child--please do not kill it!" The other, however, said, "It shall be neither mine nor yours. Divide it!"
27 Respondens rex ait: “ Date huic infantem vivum, et non occidatur; haec est mater eius ”.	27 The king then answered, "Give the first one the living child! By no means kill it, for she is the mother."
28 Audivit itaque omnis Israel iudicium, quod iudicasset rex; et timuerunt regem videntes sapientiam Dei esse in eo ad faciendum iudicium.	28 When all Israel heard the judgment the king had given, they were in awe of him, because they saw that the king had in him the wisdom of God for giving judgment.