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Then two women, harlots, came in to the king and stood before him.

And the one woman said, O my lord, this woman and I were living in one house. And I gave birth, with her in the house.

And it happened on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were together; no stranger was with us in the house, only we two in the house.

And the son of this woman died at night, because she laid on it.

And she rose up in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me and laid it in her bosom; and your handmaid was asleep. And she laid her dead son in my bosom.

And I rose up in the morning to suckle my son; and behold! It was dead. And I looked at it in the morning; and, behold, it was not my son whom I had borne.

And the other woman said, No, but my son is the living, and your son the dead. And this one said, No, but your son is dead, and my son the living. And they spoke before the king.

And the king said, This one says, This is my son, the living one, and your son the dead. And that one says, No, but your son is the dead, and my son the living.

And the king said, Bring a sword to me. And they brought the sword before the king.

And the king said, Divide the living child into two, and give the half to the one, and the half to the other.

And the woman whose son was the living one said to the king (for her womb yearned over her son) yea, she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and do not at all put it to death. And this one said, Let it be neither yours or mine, divide it .

And the king answered and said, Give to her the living child, and do not put it to death at all; she is its mother.

And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had judged, and feared from the face of the king; for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do judgment.