16 At that time two prostitutes came in to the king and stood before him. 17 The first woman said: “Please, my lord, this woman and I live in one house, and I gave birth while she was in the house. 18 On the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. We were together, just the two of us; there was no one else with us in the house. 19 During the night this woman’s son died, because she lay on him. 20 So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while your slave girl was asleep and laid him in her arms,* and she laid her dead son in my arms. 21 When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, I saw that he was dead. So I examined him closely in the morning and saw that it was not my son whom I had given birth to.” 22 But the other woman said: “No, my son is the living one, and your son is the dead one!” But the first woman was saying: “No, your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.” That is how they argued before the king.
23 Finally the king said: “This one says, ‘This is my son, the living one, and your son is the dead one!’ and that one says, ‘No, your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one!’” 24 The king said: “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword to the king. 25 The king then said: “Cut the living child in two, and give half to one woman and half to the other.” 26 At once the woman whose son was the living one pleaded with the king, for her compassions were stirred toward her son. She said: “Please, my lord! You should give her the living child! By no means put him to death!” But the other woman was saying: “He will be neither mine nor yours! Let them cut him in two!” 27 At that the king answered: “Give the living child to the first woman! By no means put him to death, for she is his mother.”
Drop the Mic
I am Ward......
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