1 Kings 3:16–28

Solomon’s Wisdom in Action

¹⁶A short time later two prostitutes came to the king and stood in front of him. ¹⁷One woman said to him, “Sir, this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth ⸤to a son⸥ while she was with me in the house. ¹⁸Two days later this woman also gave birth ⸤to a son⸥. We were alone. No one else was with us. Just the two of us were in the house. ¹⁹That night this woman’s son died because she rolled over on top of him. ²⁰So she got up during the night and took my son, who was beside me, while I was asleep. She held him in her arms. Then she laid her dead son in my arms. ²¹When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, he was dead! I took a good look at him and realized that he wasn’t my son at all!” 

²²The other woman said, “No! My son is alive—your son is dead.” 

The first woman kept on saying, “No! Your son is dead—my son is alive.” So they argued in front of the king. 

²³The king said, “This one keeps saying, ‘My son is alive—your son is dead,’ and that one keeps saying, ‘No! Your son is dead—my son is alive.’ ” 

²⁴So the king told his servants to bring him a sword. When they brought it, ²⁵he said, “Cut the living child in two. Give half to the one and half to the other.” 

²⁶Then the woman whose son was still alive was deeply moved by her love for the child. She said to the king, “Please, sir, give her the living child. Please don’t kill him!” 

But the other woman said, “He won’t be mine or yours. Cut him ⸤in two⸥.” 

²⁷The king replied, “Give the living child to the first woman. Don’t kill him. She is his mother.” 

²⁸All Israel heard about the decision the king made. They respected the king very highly, because they saw he possessed wisdom from God to do what was right.