1 Kings 3:16-28

New International Reader's Version

A Wise Ruling

¹⁶ Two prostitutes came to the king. They stood in front of him. ¹⁷ One of them said, “Pardon me, my master, this woman and I live in the same house. I had a baby while she was there with me. ¹⁸ Three days after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone. There wasn’t anyone in the house but the two of us.

¹⁹ “During the night this woman’s baby died. It happened because she was lying on top of him. ²⁰ So she got up in the middle of the night. She took my son from my side while I was asleep. She put him by her breast. Then she put her dead son by my breast. ²¹ The next morning, I got up to nurse my son. But he was dead! I looked at him closely in the morning light. And I saw that it wasn’t my baby.”

²² The other woman said, “No! The living baby is my son. The dead one belongs to you.”

But the first woman said, “No! The dead baby is yours. The living one belongs to me.” So they argued in front of the king.

²³ The king said, “One of you says, ‘My son is alive. Your son is dead.’ The other one says, ‘No! Your son is dead. Mine is alive.’ ”

²⁴ He continued, “Bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought to him. ²⁵ Then he gave an order. He said, “Cut the living child in two. Give half to one woman and half to the other.”

²⁶ The woman whose son was alive was filled with deep love for her son. She said to the king, “My master, please give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!”

But the other woman said, “Neither one of us will have him. Cut him in two!”

²⁷ Then the king made his decision. He said, “Give the living baby to the first woman. Don’t kill him. She’s his mother.”

²⁸ All the Israelites heard about the decision the king had given. That gave them great respect for him. They saw that God had given him wisdom. They knew that Solomon would do what was right and fair when he judged people.