Add parallel Print Page Options

示巴女王来访所罗门(A)

示巴女王听见所罗门的名声,就来到耶路撒冷,要用难题试试所罗门。跟随她的人很多,又有骆驼驮着香料、大批黄金和宝石。她来到所罗门那里,就把她心里所有的难题,都对所罗门说出来。 所罗门把她的一切难题,都给她解答了;没有一样难倒所罗门,不能给她解答的。 示巴女王看见所罗门的智慧和他建造的宫殿, 他席上的食物,群臣的座位,仆人的侍候和他们的服饰,酒政和酒政的服饰,以及所罗门在耶和华殿里所献的燔祭,就十分惊讶。 于是她对王说:“我在本国听见关于你的事和你的智慧,实在是真的。 我先前不信他们的话,等到我来了,亲眼看见了,才知道你智慧的伟大,人告诉我的还不到一半。你实在是见面胜似闻名。 属你的人是有福的,你的臣仆是有福的,因为他们可以常常侍立在你面前,聆听你的智慧。 耶和华你的 神是应当称颂的,因他喜悦你,使你坐在他的王位上,为耶和华你的 神作王;因为你的 神爱以色列人,要永远坚立他们,所以立你作他们的王,好秉公行义。”

示巴女王赠送的礼物(B)

于是示巴女王把约四千公斤金子、大批香料和宝石送给所罗门王;示巴女王送给所罗门王的香料,是犹大地从来没有过的。 10 希兰的仆人和所罗门的仆人从俄斐把黄金运来,也把檀香木和宝石运了来。 11 王用檀香木为耶和华的殿和王宫作了台阶,又为唱歌的人作了琴瑟;像这样的东西,是在犹大地从来没有见过的。

所罗门的回礼(C)

12 所罗门王按着示巴女王带来给他的,回送她礼物;此外,还把女王所愿所求的,都送给她,于是女王和她的臣仆都返回本国去了。

所罗门的财富与智慧(D)

13 所罗门每年所得的金子,共重两万三千公斤, 14 另外,还有从商人和行商运来的,阿拉伯诸王和本国的各总督,都把金银运来给所罗门。 15 所罗门王用锤炼好的金子做了二百面大盾牌,每一面大盾牌用锤炼好的金子七公斤。 16 又用锤炼好的金子做了三百面小盾牌,每一面小盾牌用锤炼好的金子约三公斤;王把这些盾牌都放在黎巴嫩林宫。

17 王用象牙做了一个大宝座,包上纯金。 18 宝座有六级台阶,又用金脚凳和宝座相连,座位两边都有扶手,扶手旁边各有一只狮子站立。 19 六级台阶上共有十二只狮子站立;每级两只,一左一右;在列国中都没有这样做的。 20 所罗门王的一切杯爵都是金的;黎巴嫩林宫里的一切器皿都是精金做的;在所罗门的时代,银子算不得甚么。 21 因为王的船只和希兰的仆人一同到他施去;往他施的船只每三年回来一次,载着金银、象牙、猿猴和孔雀回来。

22 所罗门王的财富和智慧,胜过世上的列王。 23 世上的列王都求见所罗门的面,要听 神赐给他的智慧。 24 他们各人带来的礼物有:银器、金器、衣服、兵器、香料、骡马;每年都有一定的数量。

25 所罗门有四千马廊的车马,还有马兵一万二千,他把这些人马安置在囤车城和耶路撒冷,就是与王在一起。 26 所罗门统治列王,从幼发拉底河到非利士地,直到埃及的边界。 27 王在耶路撒冷使银子好象石头,使香柏木好象平原的桑树那么多。 28 人们从埃及和各地把马匹运到所罗门那里。

所罗门逝世(E)

29 所罗门其余的事迹,一生的始末,不是都记在拿单先知的记录上,示罗人亚希雅的预言上,以及先见易多论到尼八的儿子耶罗波安的启示录上吗? 30 所罗门在耶路撒冷作王统治全以色列共四十年。 31 所罗门和他的列祖同睡,埋葬在他父亲大卫的城里;他的儿子罗波安接续他作王。

Visit of the Queen of Sheba

When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. She arrived with a large group of attendants and a great caravan of camels loaded with spices, large quantities of gold, and precious jewels. When she met with Solomon, she talked with him about everything she had on her mind. Solomon had answers for all her questions; nothing was too hard for him to explain to her. When the queen of Sheba realized how wise Solomon was, and when she saw the palace he had built, she was overwhelmed. She was also amazed at the food on his tables, the organization of his officials and their splendid clothing, the cup-bearers and their robes, and the burnt offerings[a] Solomon made at the Temple of the Lord.

She exclaimed to the king, “Everything I heard in my country about your achievements[b] and wisdom is true! I didn’t believe what was said until I arrived here and saw it with my own eyes. In fact, I had not heard the half of your great wisdom! It is far beyond what I was told. How happy your people must be! What a privilege for your officials to stand here day after day, listening to your wisdom! Praise the Lord your God, who delights in you and has placed you on the throne as king to rule for him. Because God loves Israel and desires this kingdom to last forever, he has made you king over them so you can rule with justice and righteousness.”

Then she gave the king a gift of 9,000 pounds[c] of gold, great quantities of spices, and precious jewels. Never before had there been spices as fine as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

10 (In addition, the crews of Hiram and Solomon brought gold from Ophir, and they also brought red sandalwood[d] and precious jewels. 11 The king used the sandalwood to make steps[e] for the Temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and to construct lyres and harps for the musicians. Never before had such beautiful things been seen in Judah.)

12 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba whatever she asked for—gifts of greater value than the gifts she had given him. Then she and all her attendants returned to their own land.

Solomon’s Wealth and Splendor

13 Each year Solomon received about 25 tons[f] of gold. 14 This did not include the additional revenue he received from merchants and traders. All the kings of Arabia and the governors of the provinces also brought gold and silver to Solomon.

15 King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold, each weighing more than 15 pounds.[g] 16 He also made 300 smaller shields of hammered gold, each weighing more than 7 1⁄2 pounds.[h] The king placed these shields in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.

17 Then the king made a huge throne, decorated with ivory and overlaid with pure gold. 18 The throne had six steps, with a footstool of gold. There were armrests on both sides of the seat, and the figure of a lion stood on each side of the throne. 19 There were also twelve other lions, one standing on each end of the six steps. No other throne in all the world could be compared with it!

20 All of King Solomon’s drinking cups were solid gold, as were all the utensils in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. They were not made of silver, for silver was considered worthless in Solomon’s day!

21 The king had a fleet of trading ships of Tarshish manned by the sailors sent by Hiram.[i] Once every three years the ships returned, loaded with gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.[j]

22 So King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king on earth. 23 Kings from every nation came to consult him and to hear the wisdom God had given him. 24 Year after year everyone who visited brought him gifts of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.

25 Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his horses and chariots, and he had 12,000 horses.[k] He stationed some of them in the chariot cities, and some near him in Jerusalem. 26 He ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates River[l] in the north to the land of the Philistines and the border of Egypt in the south. 27 The king made silver as plentiful in Jerusalem as stone. And valuable cedar timber was as common as the sycamore-fig trees that grow in the foothills of Judah.[m] 28 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt[n] and many other countries.

Summary of Solomon’s Reign

29 The rest of the events of Solomon’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded in The Record of Nathan the Prophet, and The Prophecy of Ahijah from Shiloh, and also in The Visions of Iddo the Seer, concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat. 30 Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years. 31 When he died, he was buried in the City of David, named for his father. Then his son Rehoboam became the next king.

Footnotes

  1. 9:4 As in Greek and Syriac versions (see also 1 Kgs 10:5); Hebrew reads and the ascent.
  2. 9:5 Hebrew your words.
  3. 9:9 Hebrew 120 talents [4,000 kilograms].
  4. 9:10 Hebrew algum wood (also in 9:11); perhaps a variant spelling of almug. Compare parallel text at 1 Kgs 10:11-12.
  5. 9:11 Or gateways. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
  6. 9:13 Hebrew 666 talents [23 metric tons].
  7. 9:15 Hebrew 600 [shekels] of hammered gold [6.8 kilograms].
  8. 9:16 Hebrew 300 [shekels] of gold [3.4 kilograms].
  9. 9:21a Hebrew Huram, a variant spelling of Hiram.
  10. 9:21b Or and baboons.
  11. 9:25 Or 12,000 charioteers.
  12. 9:26 Hebrew the river.
  13. 9:27 Hebrew the Shephelah.
  14. 9:28 Possibly Muzur, a district near Cilicia.