²⁶ and they have judged the people at all times; the hard matter they bring in unto Moses, and every small matter they judge themselves.

²² and they have judged the people at all times; and it hath come to pass, every great matter they bring in unto thee, and every small matter they judge themselves; and lighten it from off thyself, and they have borne with thee.

¹⁴ and the father-in-law of Moses seeth all that he is doing to the people, and saith, `What `is' this thing which thou art doing to the people? wherefore art thou sitting by thyself, and all the people standing by thee from morning till evening?'

¹⁵ And Moses saith to his father-in-law, `Because the people come unto me to seek God;

⁸ `When anything is too hard for thee for judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke -- matters of strife within thy gates -- then thou hast risen, and gone up unto the place on which Jehovah thy God doth fix,

¹⁶ then come in do two women, harlots, unto the king, and stand before him,

¹⁷ and the one woman saith, `O, my lord, I and this woman are dwelling in one house, and I bring forth with her, in the house;

¹⁸ and it cometh to pass on the third day of my bringing forth, that this woman also bringeth forth, and we `are' together, there is no stranger with us in the house, save we two, in the house.

¹⁹ And the son of this woman dieth at night, because she hath lain upon it,

²⁰ and she riseth in the middle of the night, and taketh my son from beside me -- and thy handmaid is asleep -- and layeth it in her bosom, and her dead son she hath laid in my bosom;

²¹ and I rise in the morning to suckle my son, and lo, dead; and I consider concerning it in the morning, and lo, it was not my son whom I did bear.'

²² And the other woman saith, `Nay, but my son `is' the living, and thy son the dead;' and this `one' saith, `Nay, but thy son `is' the dead, and my son the living.' And they speak before the king.

²³ And the king saith, `This `one' saith, This `is' my son, the living, and thy son `is' the dead; and that `one' saith, Nay, but thy son `is' the dead, and my son the living.'

²⁴ And the king saith, `Take for me a sword;' and they bring the sword before the king,

²⁵ and the king saith, `Cut the living child into two, and give the half to the one, and the half to the other.'

²⁶ And the woman whose son `is' the living one saith unto the king (for her bowels yearned over her son), yea, she saith, `O, my lord, give to her the living child, and put it not at all to death;' and this `one' saith, `Let it be neither mine or thine -- cut `it'.'

²⁷ And the king answereth and saith, `Give ye to her the living child, and put it not at all to death; she `is' its mother.'

²⁸ And all Israel hear of the judgment that the king hath judged, and fear because of the king, for they have seen that the wisdom of God `is' in his heart, to do judgment.

¹ And the queen of Sheba is hearing of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of Jehovah, and cometh to try him with enigmas,

¹⁶ A father I `am' to the needy, And the cause I have not known I search out.