I was there watching the door as a guard as David made Solomon his successor¹ as the King of Israel and Solomon receiving his last instructions from his father, David.

作为一个以色列王家卫队士兵，我亲眼目睹了以色列大卫王指定他儿子所罗门作为以色列王位继承人以及所罗门王如何听取父王大卫最后遗言的全过程。

God had given Solomon any wish, and he chose wisdom. This I heard from another guard. I couldn’t believe it! Why hadn’t he picked other things like riches, long life, or the death of his enemies? Now I know why because he is one of the youngest rulers ever and he needs wisdom to rule the people. God thought that it was such a good answer so he gave him wisdom, riches, power and fame.

上帝能满足所罗门的任何愿望，但是他选择了要智慧。这一段情景是我从另外的王家卫兵那里听来的。当时我很纳闷，为什么他不选择其他的愿望呢，比如财富、永生、或敌国灭亡之类的？现在我明白了，因为他是史上最年轻的国王，所以他需要更多的智慧来统领大家。智慧来自于上帝。上帝对他的选择很满意，结果除了智慧以外，上帝还赐给他财富、权利以及名誉。

When Pharaoh came to Jerusalem to speak with Solomon, I was called to stand behind King Solomon. I was listening to their conversation when finally they came to a point. Solomon had made an alliance² or a so-called treaty of peace by marrying Pharaoh’s daughter. I was at their wedding too. I soon overheard³ about how King Solomon was making a temple to the one and only God above. I was sent to work at the masonry⁴, because I was once a stone mason and they are short of masons so they are pulling everybody with rock carving⁵ experience to the masonry. At least I don’t have to worked like those labour slaves have to. They are worked until they are almost dead. It looks like they never stop working. I feel that those labour enforcers are working the slaves too hard that the slaves might not want to work.

有一次埃及的法老前来耶路撒冷与所罗门王商谈要事，我有幸守在所罗门王身边，目睹了全过程。他们商谈的结果是，所罗门王须与法老的公主联姻，以达成两国的和平共处协议。我也参加了他们的结婚大典。不久我听说所罗门王正在为上帝建造圣殿。由于当时急缺泥石匠师，加上我之前有类似经验，所以我被调去做泥石部门的工头。至少我不必像那些出卖苦力的一样劳力至死。

13 years later...

十三年后……

We are finally finished the temple! That was hard work! I love the new looks now. It must be a grand place in there. I can’t wait to worship the Lord! I have bad news though, we are going to have to build a palace for King Solomon. At least I don’t have to work in it this time.

我们终于把圣殿建好了！这是一件很不容易的工作！新圣殿看起来富丽堂皇极了。吹号的、歌唱的都一齐发声，声合为一，赞美感谢耶和华。吹号、敲钹，用各种乐器，扬声赞美耶和华说：“耶和华本为善，他的慈爱永远长存！”那时，耶和华的殿有云充满，甚至祭司不能站立供职，因为耶和华的荣光充满了 神的殿。我迫不及待想朝拜上帝。可是我们又收到一项新的任务：为所罗王建行宫。这一次我不用再去做那种活了。我又回到王宫卫队当小队长。

Just a few days ago, I was at the door guarding when I saw two women coming out to the King to ask for requests. The first and second woman were fighting over a baby. The first woman said to King Solomon “Both of us have had babies and when we were sleeping, her baby died so she replaced her baby with my baby and when I woke up, I knew it wasn’t mine. The other woman said that same thing. King Solomon said to me to bring a sword and cut the baby in half. Just as King Solomon said that , The first woman said, “Don’t kill him! Give it to the other woman but don’t kill it!” The second woman said “Let him be not mine or hers so divide him. The King said to give the baby to the first one because she is the real mother. When all Israel heard of his wisdom, they were amazed and they knew that his request for wisdom was a good choice

几天前，我正在宫门当值，有两个女人为了一个婴儿的归属吵着要见所罗门王。在宫内，所罗门王认真听取每个人的辩白。一个女人说“我们俩都各有一个孩子，可当我们睡着的时候，她的孩子死了，于是她抱走了我的孩子，留下一个死的在我这里。当我醒来后，我知道那根本不是我的孩子。”另一个女人也说了一模一样的话。所罗门王听完，就叫我过来，下令让我用一把利剑把那个婴儿斩成两半。这时候，第一个说话的女人马上说：“不要杀孩子，若她要就把孩子带走好了，千万不要害死孩子。”而另外那个女人却说：“既然分不出，那就斩成两半，一人一半好了。”所罗门王就让我把婴儿抱给第一个女人，因为她才是孩子真正的母亲。 当人们听说了这件事以后，纷纷赞扬所罗门王是最聪明最有智慧的国王。