列王紀上 10
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
示巴女王拜訪所羅門
10 示巴女王聽說所羅門因耶和華而名聲大震，便來用難題考問他。 2 她率領許多隨從，用駱駝馱著香料、寶石和大量黃金到耶路撒冷晉見所羅門王，與所羅門談論她心中的疑問。 3 所羅門王解答了她所有的問題，沒有一樣難得住他。 4 示巴女王見所羅門智慧非凡，又看見他建的宮殿、 5 席上的美味、入座的群臣、侍立一旁的僕人及其服裝、酒政以及他在耶和華殿裡獻的燔祭，感到萬分驚奇。
6 她對所羅門說：「我在本國聽到的有關你的功業和智慧原來都是真的。 7 若不是親眼目睹，我不會相信。事實上，我聽到的還不到一半！你的智慧和財富遠超過我聽到的傳聞。 8 你的臣僕能經常侍立在你面前聆聽智慧之言，真有福氣！ 9 你的上帝耶和華當受稱頌！祂喜愛你，立你為以色列的王。因為祂永遠愛以色列，所以立你為王，使你秉公行義。」
10 示巴女王將四噸黃金、大量香料和寶石獻給所羅門王。此後，再無人像示巴女王那樣獻給所羅門王那麼多香料。
11 希蘭王的船隻從俄斐運來黃金、大量的檀香木和寶石。 12 所羅門王用這些檀香木為耶和華的殿和王宮造欄杆，又為歌樂手製作琴瑟。此後，再沒有人運來或見過這樣的檀香木。
13 所羅門王除了厚贈示巴女王禮物以外，還滿足了她的一切要求。之後，女王和隨從就回示巴去了。
所羅門的財富
14 所羅門每年收到的黃金約二十三噸。 15 此外，還有商人、阿拉伯諸王和國中各總督送來的貢稅。 16 所羅門用錘好的金子打造了二百面大盾牌，每面用七公斤金子； 17 又用錘好的金子打造了三百面小盾牌，每面用三點五公斤金子，全部存放在黎巴嫩林宮。
18 王又造了一個象牙寶座，外面用純金包裹。 19 這寶座有六級臺階，靠背是圓形的，兩旁有扶手，扶手兩邊各站著一頭獅子。 20 六級臺階上共站著十二頭獅子，每級臺階兩端各站一頭。這寶座舉世無雙。 21 所羅門王所有的杯子都是金的，黎巴嫩林宮裡的所有器皿都是純金的，沒有一件是用銀子造的，因為所羅門年間銀子不算什麼。 22 王有他施船隊和希蘭的船隊一起出海，每三年就運回金銀、象牙、猿猴和孔雀。
23 所羅門王的財富和智慧超過天下諸王。 24 天下的人都紛紛來朝見他，聆聽上帝賜給他的智言慧語。 25 他們年年都帶來禮物，有金銀器皿、衣服、兵器、香料和騾馬。
26 所羅門組建了戰車和騎兵，有一千四百輛戰車、一萬二千名騎兵，駐紮在屯車城和他所在的耶路撒冷。 27 王使耶路撒冷的金銀多如石頭，使香柏木多如丘陵的無花果樹。 28 所羅門的馬匹都是由王室商隊從埃及和古厄按定價買來的。 29 他們從埃及買來車馬，每輛車六百塊銀子，每匹馬一百五十塊銀子，他們也把車馬賣給赫人諸王和亞蘭諸王。
1 Kings 10
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 10
The Queen of Sheba’s Visit.[a] 1 When the Queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s reputation, she came to test him with difficult questions.[b] 2 She came to Jerusalem with a very large caravan, with camels carrying spices and large quantities of gold and precious stones. When she arrived upon her visit to Solomon, she told him everything that was on her mind. 3 Solomon answered all of her questions. There were no hidden things that Solomon could not tell her.
4 When the Queen of Sheba saw all of Solomon’s wisdom, the palace that he had built, 5 the food on his table, the assembly of his servants, the attendance of his ministers in their robes and their cupbearers, and the way that he went up into the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed. 6 She said to the king, “The report that I heard in my own land concerning your actions and your wisdom are true. 7 However, I could not believe the report until I had come and seen it with my own eyes. They did not tell me the half of it. Your wisdom and your wealth exceed the report that I heard. 8 Happy are your men and happy are these, your servants, who always stand before you and hear your wisdom. 9 Blessed be the Lord, your God, who delights in you, placing you upon the throne of Israel. The Lord of Israel has established you as king to exercise justice and righteousness because he has loved you forever.”
10 She then gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, great quantities of spices, and precious stones. A more abundant quantity of spices never arrived than that which the Queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
11 Furthermore, the ships of Hiram that had brought the gold from Ophir also brought large quantities of almug wood and precious stones from Ophir. 12 The king made steps of almug wood for the temple of the Lord and for the king’s palace as well as harps and stringed instruments for accompanying singers. Almug wood such as this has not arrived or been seen up to the present day.
13 King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba whatever she desired. He gave her whatever she asked for in addition to what King Solomon had already given her. She then returned, going to her own country along with her servants.
14 Solomon’s Wealth.[c]The weight of the gold that Solomon would receive in a year was six hundred, sixty-six talents 15 in addition to what he received from merchants and the profits from trade, as well as from the Arabian kings and the governors of the land.
16 King Solomon made two hundred shields from beaten gold. Each of the shields contained six hundred shekels of gold. 17 He also made three hundred shields from beaten gold. Three minas of gold went into each shield. The king placed them in the palace built with the wood of Lebanon. 18 The king also made an ivory throne and had it overlaid with fine gold. 19 The throne had six steps, and the back of the throne had a rounded top. On either side of the seat there were armrests, and there was a lion standing alongside each of the armrests. 20 There were twelve lions standing upon the six steps, with one on each side of the step. Nothing like this had ever been made in any other kingdom.
21 All of King Solomon’s goblets were made of gold, and all of the other utensils in the palace made from Lebanon wood were also made from the finest gold. Nothing was made from silver, for it was not considered to be worth anything in Solomon’s time.
22 The king also had ships of Tarshish at sea along with Hiram’s ships. Once every three years the ships of Tarshish would return, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and baboons with them. 23 King Solomon was greater in wealth and wisdom than all of the other kings on the earth.
24 Solomon’s Acclaim. Everyone on the earth sought to visit Solomon to listen to his wisdom which God had placed in his heart. 25 Year after year, everyone brought him presents of things made from silver, things made from gold, garments, armor, spices, horses, and donkeys.
26 Solomon’s Chariots and Horses. Solomon collected chariots and horsemen. He had one thousand, four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen. He stationed them in cities and with the king in Jerusalem.
27 The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem. Cedar became as common as the sycamore that abounds in the Shephelah.[d] 28 Solomon brought horses from Egypt and Cilicia. The king’s merchants bought them in Cilicia. 29 They imported chariots from Egypt that cost six hundred silver shekels and horses that cost one hundred and fifty. They also exported them to all of the Hittite and Aramean kings.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 10:1 Solomon’s reputation drew foreign rulers. The prophet Isaiah (60:6) will use the memory of the visit of the Queen of Sheba (Arabia) to exalt Jerusalem as spiritual capital of all peoples in Messianic times; it is due to Isaiah that the queen plays a part in our Epiphany liturgy. Our Lord will also recall her in his comparison of himself and Solomon (Mt 12:42).
- 1 Kings 10:1 The kingdom of Sheba was located in the southeastern part of the Arabian peninsula (this explains our Lord’s reference to the “queen of the south” in Mt 12:42; Lk 11:31); in fact, however, the visitor was probably the queen of a Sheban colony in northern Arabia.
- 1 Kings 10:14 God was generous to Solomon and rewarded him with enormous wealth and power because when presented with the opportunity, he had humbly asked for wisdom (1 Ki 3:13).
- 1 Kings 10:27 Shephelah: the hilly region between the mountains of Judea and the Mediterranean.
