19
And this woman’s child died in the night because she lay on top of him.
20
And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me while thy handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom and laid her dead child in my bosom.
21
And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead; but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I had given birth to.
22
And the other woman said, No, but my son is alive, and thy son is dead. And this one said, No, but thy son is dead, and my son is alive. Thus they spoke before the king.
23
Then said the king, The one saith, This
is my son that is alive, and thy son
is dead. And the other saith, No; but thy son
is dead, and my son
is alive.
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 the woman, of whom the living child
was, spoke 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, for she
is its mother.
28
And all Israel heard of that judgment which the king had judged, and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to judge.