Solomon Makes a Wise Decision

¹⁶ One day two women who were ·prostitutes [^Tharlots] came to Solomon. As they stood before him, ¹⁷ one of the women said, “My master, this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a baby while she was there with me. ¹⁸ Three days later this woman also gave birth to a baby. No one else was in the house with us; it was just the two of us. ¹⁹ One night this woman ·rolled over [lay] on her baby, and he died. ²⁰ So she took my son from my bed during the night while ·I [^Lyour servant] was asleep, and she ·carried him to her bed [^Llaid him at her breast]. Then she ·put the dead baby in my bed [^Llaid her dead son at my breast]. ²¹ The next morning when I got up to ·feed my baby [nurse my son], I saw that he was dead! When I looked at him more ·closely [carefully in the morning light], I realized he was not my son.”

²² “No!” the other woman cried. “The living baby is my son, and the dead baby is yours!”

But the first woman said, “No! The dead baby is yours, and the living ·one [son] is mine!” So the two women argued before the king.

²³ Then King Solomon said, “One of you says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead.’ Then the other one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and my son is alive.’”

²⁴ The king sent his servants to get a sword. When they brought it to him, ²⁵ he said, “·Cut [Divide] the living baby into two pieces, and give each woman half.”

²⁶ The real mother of the living child was ·full of love [filled with compassion; deeply moved] for her son. So she said to the king, “Please, my ·master [lord], don’t kill him! Give the baby to her!”

But the other woman said, “Neither of us will have him. ·Cut him into two pieces [Divide him]!”

²⁷ Then King Solomon said, “Don’t kill him. Give the baby to the first woman, because she is the real mother.”

²⁸ When the people of Israel heard about King Solomon’s ·decision [judgment; verdict], they ·respected him very much [^Lwere in awe of/feared the king]. They saw he had wisdom from God to ·make the right decisions [render/administer justice].