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Solomon shows wisdom

Wise King Solomon, two mothers and a disputed baby.
Story also available on our translated websites: Polish, German, Hindi
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When Solomon became King he went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices to God. That night the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Ask for whatever you want Me to give you.’ – Slide 1
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Solomon thought hard then humbly said, ‘You have kindly let me be king after my father David. But I have very little experience of being a leader and ruling over so many people. So please give me wisdom to know what is right and wrong.’ – Slide 2
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The Lord replied, ‘Since you have asked for wisdom and not long life or wealth I will grant your request. And I will also give you wealth and honour so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. If you obey me I will also give you long life.’ When Solomon woke up he returned to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to God. – Slide 3
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Some time later two prostitutes came to the king asking him to make a ruling. One explained, This woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby. Three days later she had a baby too. During the night this woman’s baby died because she accidently lay on him. – Slide 4
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‘So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son and replaced him with her dead baby. The next morning, I got up to nurse my son and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t my son but hers.’ <br/>The other woman said, ‘No! My baby is the one who is alive, the dead one is yours.’ They continued arguing in front of the king. – Slide 5
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How would a wise king sort out this problem? Solomon ordered, ‘Bring me a sword.’ So they brought Solomon a sword. – Slide 6
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He then gave an order: ‘Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.’ – Slide 7
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The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her baby and said to the king, ‘Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!’ – Slide 8
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But the other said, ‘Neither I, nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!’ – Slide 9
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Then Solomon gave his ruling: ‘Give the living baby to the woman who wanted to keep the baby alive. Do not kill him, she is his mother.’ <br/>When people heard the verdict that Solomon had given, they knew that he had wisdom from God to administer justice. – Slide 10
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Slide 11