The Queen of Sheba

10 ^(A)Now when the ^(B)queen of ^(C)Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon in relation to the name of the Lord, she came ^(D)to test him with riddles. ² So she came to Jerusalem with a very large entourage, with camels ^(E)carrying balsam oil and a very large quantity of gold and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke to him about everything that was in her heart. ³ And Solomon ^[a]answered all her questions; nothing was concealed from the king which he did not explain to her. ⁴ When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, ⁵ and the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their attire, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings which he offered at the house of the Lord, ^[b]she was breathless. ⁶ Then she said to the king, “It was a true ^[c]story that I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. ⁷ But I did not believe the ^[d]stories until I came and my own eyes saw it all. And behold, the half of it was not reported to me. You have exceeded in wisdom and prosperity the report which I heard. ^8 (F)Blessed are your men, and blessed are these servants of yours who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom! ^9 (G)Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you to put you on the throne of Israel; ^(H)because the Lord loves Israel forever, He made you king, ^(I)to do justice and righteousness.” ¹⁰ Then ^(J)she gave the king ^[e]120 talents of gold, and a very large amount of balsam oil and precious stones. Never again did such a large quantity of balsam oil come in as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.

^11 (K)And the ships of Hiram as well, which brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir a very great number of almug trees and precious stones. ^12 (L)The king made from the almug trees supports for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, and lyres and harps for the singers; such almug trees have not come in again, nor have they been seen to this day.

¹³ And King Solomon granted the queen of Sheba everything she desired, whatever she requested, besides what he gave her in proportion to ^[f]his royal bounty. Then she ^[g]departed and went to her own land ^[h]together with her servants.

Wealth, Splendor, and Wisdom

^14 (M)Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was ^[i]666 talents of gold, ¹⁵ besides that from the traders, and the ^[j]wares of the merchants and all the kings of the ^(N)Arabs and the governors of the country. ^16 (O)King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold, ^[k]using six hundred shekels of gold on each large shield. ¹⁷ And he made ^(P)three hundred small shields of beaten gold, ^[l]using ^[m]three minas of gold on each shield; and ^(Q)the king put them in the house of the timber of Lebanon. ¹⁸ Moreover, the king made a large throne of ^(R)ivory and overlaid it with fine gold. ¹⁹ There were six steps to the throne and a round top to the throne at its back, and ^[n]armrests ^[o]on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the ^[p]armrests. ²⁰ Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps on the one side and on the other; nothing like it was made for ^[q]any other kingdom. ²¹ Now all King Solomon’s drinking utensils were of gold, and all the utensils of the house of the timber of Lebanon were of pure gold. None was of silver; it was not considered as amounting to anything in the days of Solomon. ²² For ^(S)the king had the ships of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s ships; once every three years the ships of Tarshish would come carrying gold and silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks.

^23 (T)So King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom. ²⁴ And all the earth was seeking the ^[r]attention of Solomon, ^(U)to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. ²⁵ And ^(V)they were bringing, everyone, ^[s]a gift: articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, balsam oil, horses, and mules, so much year by year.

^26 (W)Now Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; and he had 1,400 chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, and he ^[t]stationed them in the ^(X)chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ^27 (Y)And the king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the ^[u]lowland. ^28 (Z)Also Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king’s merchants acquired them from Kue for a price. ²⁹ A chariot ^[v]was imported from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for 150; and ^[w]by the same means they exported them ^(AA)to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of the Arameans.

Solomon Turns from God

11 Now ^(A)King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, ² from the nations of which the Lord had said to the sons of Israel, “^(B)You shall not ^[a]associate with them, nor shall they ^[b]associate with you; they will certainly turn your heart away ^[c]to follow their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. ^3 (C)He had seven hundred wives, who were ^[d]princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned his heart away. ⁴ For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away ^[e]to follow other gods; and ^(D)his heart was not ^[f]wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of his father David had been. ⁵ For Solomon became a follower of ^(E)Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and of ^[g](F)Milcom the abhorrent idol of the Ammonites. ⁶ So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as his father David had done. ⁷ Then Solomon built a high place for ^(G)Chemosh, the abhorrent idol of Moab, on the mountain that is ^[h]east of Jerusalem, and for ^(H)Molech, the abhorrent idol of the sons of Ammon. ⁸ He also did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

⁹ Now ^(I)the Lord was angry with Solomon ^(J)because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(K)who had appeared to him twice, ¹⁰ and ^(L)had commanded him regarding this thing, that he was not to follow other gods; but he did not comply with what the Lord had commanded. ¹¹ So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since ^[i]you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, ^(M)I will certainly tear the kingdom away from you, and will give it to your servant. ¹² However, I will not do it in your days, only for the sake of your father David; but I will tear it away from the hand of your son. ¹³ Yet ^(N)I will not tear away all the kingdom, but ^(O)I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David, and ^(P)for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”

God Raises Adversaries

¹⁴ Then the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the ^[j]royal line in Edom. ¹⁵ For it came about, ^(Q)when David was in Edom and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury those killed in battle, and had ^(R)struck and killed every male in Edom ¹⁶ (for Joab and all Israel stayed there for six months, until he had eliminated every male in Edom), ¹⁷ that Hadad fled ^[k]to Egypt, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him, while Hadad was a young boy. ¹⁸ They set out from Midian and came to ^(S)Paran; and they took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house and assigned him food and gave him land. ¹⁹ Now Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. ²⁰ And the sister of Tahpenes gave birth to his son Genubath, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh’s house among the sons of Pharaoh. ²¹ But ^(T)when Hadad heard in Egypt that David ^[l]lay down with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me go, so that I may go to my own country.” ²² However, Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me that you are here, requesting to go to your own country?” And he answered, “Nothing; nevertheless you must let me go.”

^23 (U)God also raised up another adversary against him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master ^(V)Hadadezer, king of Zobah. ²⁴ And he gathered men to himself and became leader of a marauding band, ^(W)after David killed those of Zobah; and they went to Damascus and stayed ^[m]there, and reigned in Damascus. ²⁵ So he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, along with the harm that Hadad inflicted; and he felt disgust for Israel and reigned over Aram.

²⁶ Then ^(X)Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, Solomon’s servant, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, ^(Y)also ^[n]rebelled against the king. ²⁷ Now this was the reason why he ^[o]rebelled against the king: ^(Z)Solomon built the ^[p]Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of his father David. ²⁸ Now the man Jeroboam was a valiant warrior, and when ^(AA)Solomon saw that the young man was ^[q]industrious, he appointed him over all the ^[r]forced labor of the house of Joseph. ²⁹ And it came about at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that ^(AB)the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now ^[s]Ahijah had clothed himself with a new cloak; and both of them were alone in the field. ³⁰ Then ^(AC)Ahijah took hold of the new cloak which was on him and tore it into twelve pieces. ³¹ And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces; for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Behold, ^(AD)I am going to tear the kingdom away from the hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes ³² (^(AE)but he shall have one tribe, for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, ^(AF)the city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel), ³³ because they have abandoned Me, and ^(AG)have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, ^(AH)Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon; and they have not walked in My ways, doing what is right in My sight and keeping My statutes and My ordinances, as his father David did. ³⁴ Nevertheless I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of My servant David whom I chose, who kept My commandments and My statutes; ³⁵ but ^(AI)I will take the kingdom from his son’s hand and give it to you; that is, ten tribes. ³⁶ But ^(AJ)to his son I will give one tribe, ^(AK)so that My servant David may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, ^(AL)the city where I have chosen for Myself to put My name. ³⁷ However I will take you, and you shall reign over all that ^[t]you desire, and you shall be king over Israel. ³⁸ Then it shall be, that if you listen to all that I command you and walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight by keeping My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then ^(AM)I will be with you and ^(AN)build you an enduring house as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. ³⁹ So I will oppress the ^[u]descendants of David for this, but not always.’” ⁴⁰ Solomon sought therefore to put Jeroboam to death; but Jeroboam set out and fled to Egypt to ^(AO)Shishak king of Egypt, and he was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

The Death of Solomon

^41 (AP)Now the rest of the acts of Solomon and whatever he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? ⁴² So ^(AQ)the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. ⁴³ Then Solomon ^[v](AR)lay down with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David, and his son ^(AS)Rehoboam reigned in his place.

Visit of the Queen of Sheba

9 ^(A)Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with riddles. She had a very large entourage, with camels carrying balsam oil and a large amount of gold and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about everything that was on her heart. ² Solomon ^[a]answered all her questions; nothing was hidden from Solomon which he did not ^[b]explain to her. ³ When the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house which he had built, ⁴ the food at his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his ministers and their attire, his cupbearers and their attire, and ^[c]his stairway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, she was breathless. ⁵ Then she said to the king, “It was a true ^[d]story that I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. ⁶ But I did not believe their ^[e]stories until I came and my own eyes saw it all. And behold, not even half of the greatness of your wisdom was reported to me. You have surpassed the report that I heard. ⁷ How ^[f]blessed are your men, how ^[g]blessed are these servants of yours, who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom! ⁸ Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you, ^(B)setting you on His throne as king for the Lord your God; ^(C)because your God loved Israel, establishing them forever, He made you king over them, to carry out justice and righteousness.” ⁹ Then she gave the king ^[h]120 talents of gold and a very great amount of balsam oil and precious stones; there had never been balsam oil like that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.

¹⁰ The servants of Huram and the servants of Solomon ^(D)who brought gold from Ophir, also brought algum trees and precious stones. ¹¹ From the algum trees the king made steps to the house of the Lord and for the king’s palace, and lyres and harps for the singers; and nothing like them was seen before in the land of Judah.

¹² King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba her every desire, whatever she requested, besides gifts equal to what she had brought to the king. Then she turned and went to her own land with her servants.

Solomon’s Wealth and Power

^13 (E)Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was ^[i]666 talents of gold, ¹⁴ besides what the traders and merchants brought; and all ^(F)the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. ¹⁵ King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold, ^[j]using six hundred shekels of beaten gold on each large shield. ¹⁶ He made three hundred shields of beaten gold, ^[k]using three hundred shekels of gold on each shield; and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

¹⁷ Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. ¹⁸ There were six steps to the throne and a footstool in gold attached to the throne, and ^[l]arms ^[m]on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the ^[n]arms. ¹⁹ Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps on the one side and on the other; nothing like it was made for any other kingdom. ²⁰ All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; silver was not considered ^[o]valuable in the days of Solomon. ^21 (G)For the king had ships which went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold and silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

^22 (H)So King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom. ²³ And all the kings of the earth were seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. ^24 (I)They were bringing, each of them his gift: articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, balsam oil, horses, and mules, so much year by year.

²⁵ Now Solomon had ^(J)four thousand stalls for horses and chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ^26 (K)He was ruler over all the kings from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, and as far as the border of Egypt. ^27 (L)And the king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the ^[p]lowland. ^28 (M)And they were bringing horses for Solomon from Egypt and from all countries.

^29 (N)Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from the first to the last, ^(O)are they not written in the ^[q]records of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of ^[r]Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? ^30 (P)Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years.

Death of Solomon

³¹ And Solomon ^[s]lay down with his fathers and was buried in ^(Q)the city of his father David; and his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.