²⁵ Then the king said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to this woman and half to that woman.”

²⁶ But the woman to whom the living child belonged spoke up, because her feelings for her son were very strong. She said, “Listen to me, my lord. Give her the living child. Please don’t kill him.”

But the other woman said, “He will be neither mine nor yours. Cut him in two!”

²⁷ The king answered, “Give the living child to the first woman, and do not kill him. She is his mother.”