The King and a Wise Judgement

15 The King and a Wise Judgement Wisdom is a wonderful thing. Long ago, a king named Solomon asked his God to make him wise so that he could help his people. God saw that the king was good because he asked not for riches and power for himself but only for the wisdom to make good decisions for his people. One day, two women from the kingdom came to see the king. They had a small baby with them and were fighting over whose baby it was. The two women lived in the same house, and they each had a child. But during the night, one woman rolled over on her baby and crushed it. The baby died. This woman snuck over to the other woman's bed, stole her baby, and took it to her side as if it were her own.

When the other woman awoke, she shouted, “ Where is my baby? You have stolen my baby! " The woman whose child was dead said, “ No, this is my baby. Your baby is the one that is dead. " There was no way to settle this problem, so the two women went to King Solomon and asked for his judgement. The king was wise. He thought for a minute and then called for his sword. " Put the baby on this table, " he commanded. “ Since you cannot agree who is the mother of this child, I shall cut it in two pieces and each of you shall have one half. " He raised his sword above the baby, but as he was about to cut, one woman (the rightful mother) cried, " No, no! Please. Do not kill my baby. I will let her have it. It is mine, but it's better that she has it so that it can live. " The king put down his sword and turned to this woman. He gave her the child and said, “ You are the real mother of this child. Take it, and go. " Such was the wisdom of the great king. And wisdom is indeed a wonderful thing.