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1 Kings 3:24–28

24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. 25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. 26 Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. 27 Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof. 28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the lwisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.

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1 Kings 3:24–28 — The New International Version (NIV)

24 Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king. 25 He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.”

26 The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!”

But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!”

27 Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.”

28 When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.

1 Kings 3:24–28 — English Standard Version (ESV)

24 And the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought before the king. 25 And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” 26 Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.” 27 Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother.” 28 And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.

1 Kings 3:24–28 — New Living Translation (NLT)

24 All right, bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought to the king.

25 Then he said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to one woman and half to the other!”

26 Then the woman who was the real mother of the living child, and who loved him very much, cried out, “Oh no, my lord! Give her the child—please do not kill him!”

But the other woman said, “All right, he will be neither yours nor mine; divide him between us!”

27 Then the king said, “Do not kill the child, but give him to the woman who wants him to live, for she is his mother!”

28 When all Israel heard the king’s decision, the people were in awe of the king, for they saw the wisdom God had given him for rendering justice.

1 Kings 3:24–28 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

24 Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. 25 And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other.”

26 Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for she yearned with compassion for her son; and she said, “O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him!”

But the other said, “Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him.”

27 So the king answered and said, “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him; she is his mother.”

28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered; and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.

1 Kings 3:24–28 — New Century Version (NCV)

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

26 The real mother of the living child was full of love for her son. So she said to the king, “Please, my master, 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!”

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, they respected him very much. They saw he had wisdom from God to make the right decisions.

1 Kings 3:24–28 — American Standard Version (ASV)

24 And the king said, Fetch me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. 25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. 26 Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her heart yearned over her son, and she said, Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, It shall be neither mine nor thine; divide it. 27 Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof. 28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do justice.

1 Kings 3:24–28 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. 25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. 26 Then spoke the woman whose was the living child to the king, for her bowels yearned over her son, and she said, Ah, my lord! give her the living child, and in no wise put it to death. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine; divide it. 27 And the king answered and said, Give this one the living child, and in no wise put it to death: she is its mother. 28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do justice.

1 Kings 3:24–28 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

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

26 Then 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⸥.” 

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

28 All 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. 

1 Kings 3:24–28 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

24 The king continued, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought the sword to the king. 25 Solomon said, “Cut the living boy in two and give half to one and half to the other.”

26 The woman whose son was alive spoke to the king because she felt great compassion for her son. “My lord, give her the living baby,” she said, “but please don’t have him killed!”

But the other one said, “He will not be mine or yours. Cut him in two!”

27 The king responded, “Give the living baby to the first woman, and don’t kill him. She is his mother.” 28 All Israel heard about the judgment the king had given, and they stood in awe of the king because they saw that God’s wisdom was in him to carry out justice.

1 Kings 3:24–28 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

24 So the king said, “Bring me a sword,” and they brought a sword before the king. 25 The king said, “Divide the living boy in two; then give half to the one, and half to the other.” 26 But the woman whose son was alive said to the king—because compassion for her son burned within her—“Please, my lord, give her the living boy; certainly do not kill him!” The other said, “It shall be neither mine nor yours; divide it.” 27 Then the king responded: “Give the first woman the living boy; do not kill him. She is his mother.” 28 All Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered; and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him, to execute justice.

1 Kings 3:24–28 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

24 So the king said, “Bring me a sword,” and they brought the sword before the king. 25 Then the king said, “Divide the living child into two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” 26 Then the woman whose son was the living one spoke to the king because her compassion was aroused for her son, and she said, “Please, my lord, give her the living child, but certainly do not kill him!” The other one was saying, “As for me, so for you! Divide him!” 27 Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to her, and do not kill him; she is his mother.” 28 When all of Israel heard the judgment that the king had rendered, they stood in awe of the king, because they realized that the wisdom of God was in him to execute justice.

1 Kings 3:24–28 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

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 concern 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 of the people of Israel 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.

1 Kings 3:24–28 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

24 The king said, “Get me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king.

25 The king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.”

26 Then the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for she was deeply stirred over her son and said, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him!

27 Then the king said, “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother.”

28 When all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had handed down, they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.


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