1And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. 2And Solomon told her all her questions: and there was nothing hid from Solomon which he told her not. 3And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, 4And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel; his cupbearers also, and their apparel; and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her.9.4 cupbearers: or, butlers 5And she said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom:9.5 report: Heb. word9.5 acts: or, sayings 6Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard. 7Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom. 8Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on his throne, to be king for the LORD thy God: because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore made he thee king over them, to do judgment and justice. 9And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave king Solomon. 10And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, which brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and precious stones.9.10 algum…: also called, almug trees 11And the king made of the algum trees terraces to the house of the LORD, and to the king’s palace, and harps and psalteries for singers: and there were none such seen before in the land of Judah.9.11 terraces: or, stairs: Heb. highways 12And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which she had brought unto the king. So she turned, and went away to her own land, she and her servants.
13¶ Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold; 14Beside that which chapmen and merchants brought. And all the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.9.14 governors: or, captains
15¶ And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of beaten gold went to one target. 16And three hundred shields made he of beaten gold: three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield. And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. 17Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. 18And there were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and stays on each side of the sitting place, and two lions standing by the stays:9.18 stays: Heb. hands 19And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps. There was not the like made in any kingdom.
20¶ And all the drinking vessels of king Solomon were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold: none were of silver; it was not any thing accounted of in the days of Solomon.9.20 pure: Heb. shut up9.20 none were of silver: or, there was no silver in them 21For the king’s ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.9.21 ivory: or, elephants’ teeth 22And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.
23¶ And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart. 24And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, harness, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.
25¶ And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; whom he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.
26¶ And he reigned over all the kings from the river even unto the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt.9.26 river: that is, Euphrates 27And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycomore trees that are in the low plains in abundance.9.27 made silver: Heb. gave silver 28And they brought unto Solomon horses out of Egypt, and out of all lands.
29¶ Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam the son of Nebat?9.29 book: Heb. words 30And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 31And Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.
The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon
1When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. Arriving with a very great caravan—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about all she had on her mind. 2Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for him to explain to her. 3When the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, as well as the palace he had built, 4the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, the cupbearers in their robes and the burnt offerings he made at9:4 Or and the ascent by which he went up to the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.
5She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. 6But I did not believe what they said until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half the greatness of your wisdom was told me; you have far exceeded the report I heard. 7How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! 8Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on his throne as king to rule for the Lord your God. Because of the love of your God for Israel and his desire to uphold them forever, he has made you king over them, to maintain justice and righteousness.”
9Then she gave the king 120 talents9:9 That is, about 4 1/2 tons or about 4 metric tons of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious stones. There had never been such spices as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
10(The servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon brought gold from Ophir; they also brought algumwood9:10 Probably a variant of almugwood and precious stones. 11The king used the algumwood to make steps for the temple of the Lord and for the royal palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. Nothing like them had ever been seen in Judah.)
12King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for; he gave her more than she had brought to him. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.
Solomon’s Splendor
13The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,9:13 That is, about 25 tons or about 23 metric tons 14not including the revenues brought in by merchants and traders. Also all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the territories brought gold and silver to Solomon.
15King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels9:15 That is, about 15 pounds or about 6.9 kilograms of hammered gold went into each shield. 16He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three hundred shekels9:16 That is, about 7 1/2 pounds or about 3.5 kilograms of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
17Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with pure gold. 18The throne had six steps, and a footstool of gold was attached to it. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. 19Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. 20All King Solomon’s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon’s day. 21The king had a fleet of trading ships9:21 Hebrew of ships that could go to Tarshish manned by Hiram’s9:21 Hebrew Huram, a variant of Hiram servants. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.
22King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. 23All the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. 24Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift—articles of silver and gold, and robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.
25Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horses,9:25 Or charioteers which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. 26He ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. 27The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. 28Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from all other countries.
Solomon’s Death
29As for the other events of Solomon’s reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the records of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat? 30Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 31Then he rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king.
