During the time of King Saul, there lived a widow in the city of Ashkelon. Dying, her husband left her a rich inheritance: many gold and silver coins and bars. The widow was still afraid that she would be robbed, and could not figure out where to hide her treasures. Finally, she put them in clay jugs, poured honey on top and put them in the pantry.
One day the widow had to go to distant lands for a long time. Before leaving, she brought jars of treasure to a neighbor and asked her to keep them until her arrival. She, of course, did not tell him what was in these jugs and hoped that he himself would not look into them. But very soon the neighbor had a big feast at his house, and by the end of the meal the guests at the table did not have enough honey. The neighbor decided to pour honey from the widow's jug. As soon as he scooped it up, he saw that it was gold, and not honey at all. He looked into the widow's other jars and saw that they were full of treasures, just like the first. Then the neighbor, without thinking twice, transferred all the riches into his dishes, left the pantry and did not say anything to anyone.
After many days, the widow returned to Ashkelon, took her jugs from her neighbor, brought them home and... Ah! The jugs were empty. The widow began to cry, ran to King Saul and told him that her neighbor had robbed her. And according to the law, widows were not supposed to be offended. - Do you have any witnesses? - asked the king. “Did anyone see how you put money in honey?”
- Who could see? - the widow cried. “I did it in secret.”
“Since there are no witnesses, I can’t help you,” said the king. “Now only the Almighty will help you.”
The widow began to cry, left the royal palace and wandered along the road. And the guys were playing near the road. One of them, red-haired, with beautiful golden eyes, noticed the widow, ran up to her and asked with sympathy:
- What's wrong with you? Why are you crying so much? The widow told him how her neighbor had robbed her, as the king had judged, and since she had no witnesses, she was left poor and alone in the world.
- Don't cry, good woman. There is still hope,” the boy said. - Quickly go to the king and ask him to call me to be a judge. And the truth will come out.
The widow hurried to King Saul and told him everything as the boy had ordered.
“Let him come and judge,” the king agreed. The boy came to the palace. The king saw him and laughed:
- So small, and yet you’re ready to judge?
“It’s not I who judge, but the Lord,” the boy answered proudly, “I’ll just do what I can.” Allow me, and I will judge these people. The truth will come out on its own.
“Well, judge,” the king nodded.
The boy ordered the neighbor to be brought, and the widow was ordered to bring the jugs that she had left for him. When the widow brought the jugs, the boy pointed them out to his neighbor:
— Did the woman leave these jugs for you?
“These,” answered the neighbor.
Then the boy began to take the jugs one by one and break them into small fragments. Nobody understood why he was doing this. Suddenly, two gold coins flashed brightly on one of the fragments. They stuck to the bottom of the jug and did not fall into the hands of the thief.
- Here are two witnesses! — the boy pointed to the coins. - And this is a thief! - He pointed to his neighbor. “And the witnesses told the truth.”
The thief realized that the truth had come to light and returned to the widow all the money he had stolen from her.
Soon the entire Jewish people knew the story of how the boy reasoned with the widow and her neighbor and brought the truth to light. And everyone said that he was smart and God was with him. This boy's name was David, and the time came when he became king of Israel.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru