1 Kings 9:15-10:13

New American Standard Bible

¹⁵ Now this is the account of the forced labor which King Solomon ^(A)conscripted to build the house of the Lord, his own house, the ^[a](B)Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, ^(C)Hazor, ^(D)Megiddo, and ^(E)Gezer. ¹⁶ For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and overthrown Gezer and burned it with fire, and killed the ^(F)Canaanites who lived in the city; and he had ^(G)given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. ¹⁷ So Solomon rebuilt Gezer and the lower ^(H)Beth-horon, ¹⁸ and ^(I)Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah, ¹⁹ and all the storage cities which Solomon had, that is, ^(J)the cities for ^[b]his chariots and the cities for ^[c](K)his horsemen, and ^[d](L)everything that it pleased Solomon to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land ^[e]under his rule. ²⁰ As for all the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the sons of Israel, ^21 (M)their descendants who were left after them in the land, ^(N)whom the sons of Israel were unable to completely eliminate, ^(O)from them Solomon conscripted ^(P)forced laborers, as they are to this day. ²² But Solomon ^(Q)did not make slaves of the sons of Israel; for they were men of war, his servants, his commanders, his charioteers, his chariot commanders, and his horsemen.

²³ These were the ^[f](R)chief officers who were in charge of Solomon’s work, 550, ^(S)who ruled over the people doing the work.

²⁴ As soon as ^(T)Pharaoh’s daughter came up from the city of David to her house which Solomon had built for her, ^(U)he then built the Millo.

²⁵ Now ^(V)three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he had built for the Lord, burning incense with them on the altar which was before the Lord. So he finished the house.

²⁶ King Solomon also built a ^(W)fleet of ships in ^(X)Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the ^[g]Red Sea, in the land of Edom. ^27 (Y)And Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who knew the sea, along with the servants of Solomon. ²⁸ And they went to ^(Z)Ophir and received ^[h]420 talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.

The Queen of Sheba

10 ^(AA)Now when the ^(AB)queen of ^(AC)Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon in relation to the name of the Lord, she came ^(AD)to test him with riddles. ² So she came to Jerusalem with a very large entourage, with camels ^(AE)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 ^[i]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, ^[j]she was breathless. ⁶ Then she said to the king, “It was a true ^[k]story that I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. ⁷ But I did not believe the ^[l]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 (AF)Blessed are your men, and blessed are these servants of yours who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom! ^9 (AG)Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you to put you on the throne of Israel; ^(AH)because the Lord loves Israel forever, He made you king, ^(AI)to do justice and righteousness.” ¹⁰ Then ^(AJ)she gave the king ^[m]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 (AK)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 (AL)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 ^[n]his royal bounty. Then she ^[o]departed and went to her own land ^[p]together with her servants.