22. “Not so!” said the other woman. “The living one’s mine; the dead one’s yours.”The first woman countered, “No! Your son’s the dead one; mine’s the living one.”They went back and forth this way in front of the king.
23. The king said, “What are we to do? This woman says, ‘The living son is mine and the dead one is yours,’ and this woman says, ‘No, the dead one’s yours and the living one’s mine.’”
24. After a moment the king said, “Bring me a sword.” They brought the sword to the king.
25. Then he said, “Cut the living baby in two—give half to one and half to the other.”
26. The real mother of the living baby was overcome with emotion for her son and said, “Oh no, master! Give her the whole baby alive; don’t kill him!”But the other one said, “If I can’t have him, you can’t have him—cut away!”
27. The king gave his decision: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Nobody is going to kill this baby. She is the real mother.”
28. The word got around—everyone in Israel heard of the king’s judgment. They were all in awe of the king, realizing that it was God’s wisdom that enabled him to judge truly.