The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon
1The queen of Sheba heard about how famous Solomon was. So she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. She arrived 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. 2He answered all her questions. There wasn’t anything too hard for him to explain to her. 3So the queen of Sheba saw how wise Solomon was. She saw the palace he had built. 4She 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 the robes the wine tasters were wearing. And she saw the burnt offerings Solomon sacrificed at the Lord’s temple. She could hardly believe everything she had seen.
5She 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. 6But I didn’t believe what people were saying. So I came to see for myself. And now I believe it! You are twice as wise as people say you are. The report I heard doesn’t even begin to tell the whole story about you. 7How happy your people must be! How happy your officials must be! They always get to serve you and hear the wise things you say. 8May the Lord your God be praised. He takes great delight in you. He placed you on his throne as king. He put you there to rule for him. Your God loves Israel very much. He longs to take good care of them forever. That’s why he has made you king over them. He knows that you will do what is fair and right.”
9She gave the king four and a half tons of gold. She also gave him huge amounts of spices and valuable jewels. There had never been as many spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
10The servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon brought gold from Ophir. They also brought algumwood and valuable jewels. 11The king used the algumwood to make steps for the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. He also used it to make harps and lyres for those who played the music. No one had ever seen anything like those instruments in Judah before.
12King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she wanted and asked for. In fact, he gave her more than she had brought to him. Then she left. She returned to her own country with her attendants.
Solomon’s Greatness
13Each year Solomon received 25 tons of gold. 14That didn’t include the money brought in by business and trade. All the kings of Arabia also brought gold and silver to Solomon. So did the governors of the territories.
15King Solomon made 200 large shields out of hammered gold. Each one weighed 15 pounds. 16He also made 300 small shields out of hammered gold. Each one weighed almost eight pounds. The king put all the shields in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
17Then he made a large throne. It was covered with ivory. And that was covered with pure gold. 18The throne had six steps. A gold stool for the king’s feet was connected to it. The throne had armrests on both sides of the seat. A statue of a lion stood on each side of the throne. 19Twelve 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. 20All 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. 21He had many ships that carried goods to be traded. The crews of those ships were made up of Hiram’s servants. Once every three years the ships returned. They brought gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks.
22King Solomon was richer than all the other kings on earth. He was also wiser than they were. 23All these kings wanted to meet Solomon in person. They wanted to see for themselves how wise God had made him. 24Year 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.
25Solomon had 4,000 spaces where he kept his horses and chariots. He had 12,000 horses. He kept some of his horses and chariots in the chariot cities. He kept the others with him in Jerusalem. 26Solomon ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines. He ruled all the way to the border of Egypt. 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. He also got them from many other countries.
Solomon Dies
29The other events of Solomon’s rule from beginning to end are written down. They are written in the records of Nathan the prophet. They are written in the prophecy of Ahijah. He was from Shiloh. They are also written in the records of the visions of Iddo the prophet about Jeroboam. Jeroboam was the son of Nebat. 30Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over the whole nation of Israel for 40 years. 31Then he joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried in the city of his father David. Solomon’s son Rehoboam became the next king after him.
A visita da rainha de Sabá
(1 Rs 10.1-13)
1Ouvindo a rainha de Sabá toda a fama de Salomão, resolveu vir apresentar-lhe pessoalmente algumas questões bastante complexas, para ver a resposta que daria. Chegou a Jerusalém com uma grande comitiva e muitos camelos carregados de especiarias, ouro e joias, e colocou-lhe as questões que entendeu. 2Salomão a tudo respondeu; nada se revelou demasiado difícil para ele; deu-lhe sempre a resposta exata. 3Ela depressa se deu conta de que tudo o que lhe tinham dito, quanto à sua grande sabedoria, era verdadeiro. Pôde igualmente constatar a beleza do seu palácio. 4Quando viu os ricos pratos que vinham à mesa, o grande número de criados a servir nos seus belos uniformes, os copeiros e os inúmeros sacrifícios que oferecia pelo fogo ao Senhor, ficou como que fora de si, de espanto!
5A rainha disse a Salomão: “O que ouvi no meu país, acerca da tua sabedoria e das belíssimas coisas que aqui há, é tudo verdade. 6Antes de chegar não podia acreditar, mas agora eu própria pude verificar tudo isso com os meus próprios olhos. O que me tinham contado não correspondia sequer a metade da realidade! A tua sabedoria é muito maior do que aquilo que tinha ouvido! 7O teu povo é feliz, o pessoal do teu palácio está satisfeito; e não podia ser de outra forma, se vivem constantemente a ouvir a tua sabedoria! 8Bendito seja o Senhor, o teu Deus, que te escolheu e te colocou sobre o trono de Israel. Como o Senhor, o teu Deus, deve amar Israel, para o estabelecer para sempre, porque lhe deu um rei como tu! E tu ofereces ao teu povo uma governação justa e boa!”
9Depois deu ao rei um presente de 4000 quilos de ouro e uma enorme quantidade de especiarias e de pedras preciosas. Nunca se viu em Israel tantas e tais especiarias como as que ofereceu a rainha de Sabá a Salomão.
10As tripulações do rei Hirão, com as do rei Salomão, trouxeram ouro de Ofir, madeira de sândalo e pedras preciosas. 11A madeira, usou-a o rei para fazer soalhos para a casa do Senhor e para o palácio real e para fabricar instrumentos, como harpas e liras, que acompanhassem os cantores. Nunca antes tinha havido instrumentos de tanta beleza em toda a terra de Judá.
12O rei Salomão ofereceu à rainha de Sabá presentes do mesmo valor daqueles que ela lhe trouxera, e ainda tudo aquilo que lhe pediu. Depois disso, a rainha regressou à sua terra acompanhada de toda a sua comitiva.
A magnificência de Salomão
(1 Rs 10.14-29; 2 Cr 1.14-17)
13Todos os anos Salomão recebia 23 toneladas de ouro. 14Além disso, mantinha relações comerciais com a Arábia, exportando mercadorias em troca do ouro e da prata que lhe enviavam.
15Salomão mandou fazer, com parte desse ouro, 200 peças de armadura, pesando cada uma 7 quilos. 16E ainda 300 escudos, tendo mandado pesar para cada um aproximadamente 3,5 quilos de ouro. Conservou-os no Salão da Floresta do Líbano.
17Também mandou construir um enorme trono de marfim e revesti-lo de ouro puro. 18Tinha seis degraus e um estrado, tudo em ouro; os apoios de braços eram igualmente de ouro, assim com os dois leões que lhe estavam juntos. 19Nos degraus havia igualmente dois leões, de cada lado, ao todo doze. Não havia no mundo outro trono tão deslumbrante como aquele.
20Todas as taças que o rei Salomão usava eram de ouro puro, e no Salão da Floresta do Líbano todo o serviço de jantar era feito em ouro. Não se usava prata, porque nesse tempo não tinha muito valor. 21De três em três anos, o rei enviava barcos a Társis, tripulados por marinheiros enviados pelo rei Hirão, para trazerem ouro, prata, marfim, macacos e pavões.
22Desta forma, o rei Salomão era o mais rico e o mais sábio de todos os reis da Terra. 23Soberanos de todos os países vinham visitá-lo e ouvir da sua boca a sabedoria que Deus lhe pusera no coração. 24Traziam-lhe igualmente, todos os anos, presentes em prata e ouro, armas, rico vestuário, especiarias, cavalos e mulas.
25Para além disso, Salomão tinha 4000 estábulos e cocheiros para guardar carros de guerra; eram 12 000 os seus cavaleiros. O local de estacionamento de todo este equipamento e das tropas era nas cidades destinadas a carros de combate, e também em Jerusalém, sob o controlo direto do soberano. 26O seu domínio exercia-se sobre todos os reis, desde o rio Eufrates até à terra dos filisteus e até à fronteira do Egito. 27Naqueles dias, o rei tornou a prata tão abundante como as pedras em Jerusalém; o cedro também não tinha muito mais valor do que a madeira de uma simples figueira brava de planície. 28Traziam-lhe cavalos de toda a parte, tanto do Egito como doutros sítios.
A morte de Salomão
(1 Rs 11.41-43)
29Quanto ao resto dos feitos de Salomão está escrito nas Crónicas do Profeta Natã, nos escritos proféticos de Aías, o silonita, e nas visões de Ido, o vidente, no que concerne a Jeroboão, filho de Nebate. 30Salomão reinou em Jerusalém, sobre todo o Israel, durante 40 anos. 31Depois morreu e foi enterrado na Cidade de David. O seu filho Roboão reinou em seu lugar.
