"
Mary saw the king was right. She turned to the girl-wives of the king.
"You have brought shame to the king and the tribe by the silly foolish
things you did. God's Word teaches men to be kind and merciful and
generous, but it does not pass over sin or permit it. I cannot ask the king
not to punish you. Ask God to help you in the future, so that you will not
do bad or foolish things."
All the chief men of the tribe grunted their approval of what Mary had said
to the girls. But then Mary turned to the chief men and said:
"You are to blame. Your custom of one man marrying many wives is wrong and
cruel. These girls are only sixteen years old and still love fun and
play. They are too young to be married. They meant no real harm."
The men did not like to hear that. They did not like to hear that their
ways were wrong.
"If punishment is hard," said the old men, "wife and slave will be afraid
to disobey."
"King Okon," said Mary, "show that you are a good king by being kind and
merciful. Don't be too hard on these young girls."
"All right, Ma," said the king, "I will make it only ten blows with the
whip. Also we will not rub salt into the wounds to make them sting."
When the whipping was over, Mary took the girls into her room. There she
put healing medicine on their backs while she told them about Jesus who
could heal their souls.
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