Sebahemmaa Nsrahwɛ
1Ɛberɛ a Sebahemmaa tee Salomo edin a ahyeta na ɛhyɛ Awurade din animuonyam no, ɔde nsɛmmisa a anoyie yɛ den bɛsɔɔ Salomo hwɛeɛ. 2Ɔde nʼasomfoɔ a wɔdɔɔso yie kaa ne ho baa Yerusalem. Na nyoma a wɔsoso nnuhwam, sikakɔkɔɔ bebree ne aboɔdemmoɔ ka wɔn ho. Ɛberɛ a ɔhyiaa Salomo no, wɔdwennwenee nsɛm bebree a na ɛwɔ ɔhemmaa ani so no ho. 3Wɔdii biribiara a enti ɔbaa saa nsrahwɛ no ho nkɔmmɔ, maa Salomo yii ne nsɛmmisa biara ano sɛdeɛ ɛsɛ. 4Seba Ɔhemmaa hunuu nyansa a Salomo wɔ ne ahemfie a wasi no, 5ne ho dwirii no. Nnuane a ɔhunuu sɛ ɛsisi ne didipono so no yɛɛ no nwanwa. Sɛdeɛ na wahyehyɛ ne fie so ahwɛfoɔ no ne wɔn ntadeɛ papa bi a ɛhyehyɛ wɔn, ne sɛdeɛ nkuruwakurafoɔ ne wɔn ntadeɛ yuu ne ɔhyeɛ afɔdeɛ a Salomo bɔɔ no Awurade Asɔredan mu hɔ no yɛɛ no ahodwirie.
6Ɔhemmaa no firii ahodwirie mu ka kyerɛɛ ɔhene no sɛ, “Nsɛm a metee wɔ me ɔman mu a ɛfa dwuma a woatumi adi ne wo nyansabunu ho no nyinaa yɛ nokorɛ! 7Na mennye nni kɔsii sɛ mebɛduruu ha a mʼankasa mede mʼani abɛhunu yi. Nokorɛm, sɛɛ mannte asɛm no mu fa mpo. Wo nyansa ne wo nkɔsoɔ no boro deɛ wɔka kyerɛɛ me no so koraa. 8Anigyeɛ bɛn na saa nnipa yi renya? Adom bɛn na wo mpanimfoɔ a wɔne wowɔ ha anɔpa ne awia tie wo renya mfiri wo nyansa yi mu? 9Awurade, wo Onyankopɔn no yɛ kɛseɛ ampa. Nʼani gye wo ho, enti ɔde wo asi Israel ahennwa so. Ɛfiri sɛ, ɔdɔ a Awurade de dɔ Israel no yɛ ɔdɔ a ɛnsa da. Wasi wo ɔhene sɛ wode atɛntenenee ne teneneeyɛ bɛbu ɔman no.”
10Na ɔkyɛɛ ɔhene no sikakɔkɔɔ tɔno 4 ne fa, nnuhwan bebree ne aboɔdemmoɔ. Obiara ammfa nnuhwam dodoɔ saa ammɛkyɛ Salomo bio, sɛdeɛ Sebahemmaa de bɛkyɛɛ no no.
11Nanso, ɛberɛ a Huram ahyɛn no firi Ofir de sikakɔkɔɔ baeɛ no, na samfona nnua bebree ne aboɔdemmoɔ ka ho. 12Ɔhene de samfona nnua no yɛɛ aforoeɛ wɔ Awurade Asɔredan ne ahemfie no mu, ɛnna ɔde bi yɛɛ asankuo ne mmɛnta maa nnwomsiaafoɔ. Ɛbɛsi saa ɛberɛ no ne saa ɛberɛ no akyi, na obiara mfaa samfona nnua a ɛyɛ fɛ saa nkɔɔ hɔ da.
13Biribiara a Sebahemmaa bisaa ɔhene Salomo no, ɔde maa no kaa deɛ amanneɛ enti, ɔnam ayamyɛ so de maa no no ho. Ɛno akyi, Sebahemmaa ne nʼasomfoɔ no sane kɔɔ wɔn kurom.
Salomo Ahonya Ne Nʼanimuonyam
14Afe biara, na Salomo nya sikakɔkɔɔ bɛyɛ tɔno 25. 15Adwadeɛ a na ɔnya firi adwadifoɔ, Arabia ahemfo ne asase no so amradofoɔ no nkyɛn nka ho.
16Ɔhene Salomo maa wɔde sikakɔkɔɔ a wɔaboro, yɛɛ akyɛm akɛseɛ ahanu a emu biara sikakɔkɔɔ a ɛwɔ mu no mu duru yɛ kilogram nson. 17Ɔsane yɛɛ sikakɔkɔɔ akokyɛm nketewa ahasa a wɔde hamre boroeɛ a na sikakɔkɔɔ a wɔde yɛɛ emu biara no mu duru bɛyɛ kilogram mmiɛnsa ne fa. Ɔhene no kɔkoraa saa akokyɛm yi wɔ Lebanon Kwaeɛ Ahemfie mu.
18Na ɔhene no de asonse yɛɛ ahennwa kɛseɛ bi, na ɔde sikakɔkɔɔ amapa huraa ho. 19Na ahennwa no wɔ atwedeɛ ntiasoɔ nsia na nʼakyi yɛ kurukuruwa. Ahennwa no wɔ nsa wɔ benkum ne nifa, na wɔayɛ agyata sɛso mmienu asisi hɔ. 20Salomo sane yɛɛ agyata sɛso dumienu a ɔbaako biara gyina atwedeɛ ntiasoɔ nsia no mu biara benkum ne nifa. Ahennwa biara nni ewiase a wɔbɛtumi de atoto Salomo deɛ no ho. 21Ɔhene Salomo nkuruwa nyinaa, sikakɔkɔɔ amapa na wɔde yɛeɛ. Saa ara na nneɛma ahodoɔ a ɛwɔ Lebanon Kwaeɛ Ahemfie mu no nso teɛ. Wɔamfa dwetɛ anyɛ, ɛfiri sɛ, Salomo berɛ so no, na wɔbu dwetɛ ade teta bi. 22Na ɔhene no wɔ ɛpo so adwadihyɛn bebree a ɛne Huram deɛ no yɛ adwuma bɔ mu. Mfeɛ mmiɛnsa biara, ahyɛn no ba prɛko a sikakɔkɔɔ, dwetɛ, asonse, nkaatia, nkontromfi ne kohaa ahyehyɛ wɔn ma.
23Enti, ɔhene Salomo bɛyɛɛ ɔdefoɔ ne onyansafoɔ sene ɔhene biara wɔ asase so nyinaa. 24Ahemfo fifiri aman nyinaa so bɛsraa no, tiee ne nyansasɛm a Onyankopɔn de adom no no bi. 25Afe biara mu, obiara a ɔbɛba abɛsra no no brɛ no akyɛdeɛ te sɛ dwetɛ, sikakɔkɔɔ, ntadeɛ, akodeɛ, nnuhwam, apɔnkɔ ne mfunumpɔnkɔ.
26Salomo nyaa nteaseɛnam ne apɔnkɔ bebree. Na ɔwɔ nteaseɛnam apem ahanan ne apɔnkɔ ɔpedumienu. Ɔde emu fa kɛseɛ guguu nteaseɛnam nkuropɔn no so ɛnna ɔmaa ebi nso kaa Yerusalem. 27Ɔhene no maa dwetɛ buu te sɛ aboɔ wɔ Yerusalem. Na ntweneduro nnua a ɛsom bo no nso buu so sɛ akyee nnua a ɛfifiri wɔ mmepɔ ase wɔ Yuda asase so. 28Na wɔkra Salomo apɔnkɔ no firi Misraim ne Kilikia, ɛfiri sɛ, na ɔhene adwadifoɔ no nya no yie wɔ Kilikia. 29Saa ɛberɛ no, na wɔtumi tɔ Misraim nteaseɛnam a wɔde ba Yerusalem no nnwetɛbena kilogram nson, na apɔnkɔ nso, wɔtumi tɔ no nnwetɛbena kilogram mmienu. Wɔn nso kɔtontɔnn wɔn mu pii nso maa Hetifoɔ ne Aram ahemfo.
The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon
1The queen of Sheba heard about how famous Solomon was. She also heard about how he served and worshiped the Lord. So she came to test Solomon with hard questions. 2She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large group of attendants. Her camels were carrying spices, huge amounts of gold, and valuable jewels. She came to Solomon and asked him about everything she wanted to know. 3Solomon answered all her questions. There wasn’t anything too hard for the king to explain to her. 4So the queen of Sheba saw how very wise Solomon was. She saw the palace he had built. 5She saw the food on his table. She saw his officials sitting there. She saw the robes of the servants who waited on everyone. She saw his wine tasters. And she saw the burnt offerings Solomon sacrificed at the Lord’s temple. She could hardly believe everything she had seen.
6She said to the king, “Back in my own country I heard a report about you. I heard about how much you had accomplished. I also heard about how wise you are. Everything I heard is true. 7But I didn’t believe those things. So I came to see for myself. And now I believe it! You are twice as wise and wealthy as people say you are. The report I heard doesn’t even begin to tell the whole story about you. 8How happy your people must be! How happy your officials must be! They always get to serve you and hear the wise things you say. 9May the Lord your God be praised. He takes great delight in you. He placed you on the throne of Israel. The Lord will love Israel for all time to come. That’s why he has made you king. He knows that you will do what is fair and right.”
10She gave the king four and a half tons of gold. She also gave him huge amounts of spices and valuable jewels. No one would ever bring to King Solomon as many spices as the queen of Sheba gave him.
11Hiram’s ships brought gold from Ophir. From there they also brought huge amounts of almugwood and valuable jewels. 12The king used the almugwood to make supports for the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. He also used it to make harps and lyres for those who played the music. That much almugwood has never been brought into Judah or seen there since that day.
13King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she wanted and asked for. That was in addition to what he had given her out of his royal riches. Then she left. She returned to her own country with her attendants.
Solomon’s Greatness
14Each year Solomon received 25 tons of gold. 15That didn’t include the money brought in by business and trade. It also didn’t include the money from all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the territories.
16King Solomon made 200 large shields out of hammered gold. Each one weighed 15 pounds. 17He also made 300 small shields out of hammered gold. Each one weighed seven and a half pounds. The king put all the shields in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
18Then he made a large throne. It was covered with ivory. And that was covered with fine gold. 19The throne had six steps. Its back had a rounded top. The throne had armrests on both sides of the seat. A statue of a lion stood on each side of the throne. 20Twelve lions stood on the six steps. There was one at each end of each step. Nothing like that throne had ever been made for any other kingdom. 21All of King Solomon’s cups were made out of gold. All the things used in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were made out of pure gold. Nothing was made out of silver. When Solomon was king, silver wasn’t considered to be worth very much. 22He had many ships that carried goods to be traded. His ships went to sea along with Hiram’s ships. Once every three years the ships returned. They brought gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks.
23King Solomon was richer than all the other kings on earth. He was also wiser than they were. 24People from the whole world wanted to meet Solomon in person. They wanted to see for themselves how wise God had made him. 25Year after year, everyone who came to him brought a gift. They brought gifts made out of silver and gold. They brought robes, weapons and spices. They also brought horses and mules.
26Solomon had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He kept some of his horses and chariots in the chariot cities. He kept the others with him in Jerusalem. 27The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones. He made cedar wood as common there as sycamore-fig trees in the western hills. 28Solomon got horses from Egypt and from Kue. The royal traders bought them from Kue at the current price. 29They weighed out 15 pounds of silver for a chariot from Egypt. And they weighed out almost four pounds of silver for a horse. They also sold horses and chariots to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Arameans.
