⁵ And the king said to her, What is your trouble? And her answer was, Truly I am a widow, and my husband is dead.

⁸ One day the trees went out to make a king for themselves; and they said to the olive-tree, Be king over us.

⁹ But the olive-tree said to them, Am I to give up my wealth of oil, by which men give honour to God, and go waving over the trees?

¹⁰ Then the trees said to the fig-tree, You come and be king over us.

¹¹ But the fig-tree said to them, Am I to give up my sweet taste and my good fruit and go waving over the trees?

¹² Then the trees said to the vine, You come and be king over us.

¹³ But the vine said to them, Am I to give up my wine, which makes glad God and men, to go waving over the trees?

¹⁴ Then all the trees said to the thorn, You come and be king over us.

¹⁵ And the thorn said to the trees, If it is truly your desire to make me your king, then come and put your faith in my shade; and if not, may fire come out of the thorn, burning up the cedars of Lebanon.

¹ And the Lord sent Nathan to David. And Nathan came to him and said, There were two men in the same town: one a man of great wealth, and the other a poor man.

² The man of wealth had great numbers of flocks and herds;

³ But the poor man had only one little she-lamb, which he had got and taken care of: from its birth it had been with him like one of his children; his meat was its food, and from his cup it took its drink, resting in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him.