1 Kings 10
Authorized (King James) Version
10 And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions. 2 And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. 3 And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not. 4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon’s wisdom, and the house that he had built, 5 and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord; there was no more spirit in her. 6 And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. 7 Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. 8 Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom. 9 Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the Lord loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice. 10 And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon. 11 And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones. 12 And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the Lord, and for the king’s house, harps also and psalteries for singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day. 13 And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
14 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold, 15 beside that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffick of the spice merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the country.
16 And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of gold went to one target. 17 And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pound of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.
18 Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold. 19 The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round behind: and there were stays on either side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the stays. 20 And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps: there was not the like made in any kingdom.
21 And 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; none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon. 22 For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. 23 So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.
24 And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 25 And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.
26 And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem. 27 And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycomore trees that are in the vale, for abundance.
28 And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king’s merchants received the linen yarn at a price. 29 And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.
1 Kings 10
Modern English Version
The Queen of Sheba(A)
10 Now when the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame connected to the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. 2 She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices, and very much gold, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. 3 Solomon answered all her questions; there was not anything too difficult for the king which he could not answer. 4 When the queen of Sheba observed Solomon’s wisdom and the house he had built 5 and the meat of his table and the sitting of his servants and the attendance of his ministers and their clothing and his cupbearers and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, it took her breath away.
6 She said to the king, “What I heard in my own land about your acts and your wisdom was true! 7 I did not believe it until I came and saw it with my own eyes! In fact, I was not even told half. Your wisdom and prosperity are greater than the stories I heard! 8 Happy are your men, and happy are these your servants who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! 9 Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel, because the Lord loved Israel forever; therefore He made you king in order to execute judgment and justice.”
10 She gave the king a hundred and twenty talents[a] of gold and a great amount of spices and precious stones. No one gave as many spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
11 The ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, also brought from Ophir a large quantity of almug wood and precious stones. 12 The king made pillars for the house of the Lord out of the almug trees and harps also and psalteries for singers for the king’s house. Never before had such almug wood been brought, nor has any such been seen to this day.
13 King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all she desired, no matter what she asked for, in addition to what Solomon gave her from his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
Solomon’s Wealth(B)
14 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents[b] of gold. 15 In addition, he collected from the merchantmen and the traffic of the spice merchants and from all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country.
16 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold made of six hundred shekels[c] of gold each. 17 He made three hundred shields of beaten gold with three pounds[d] of gold in each shield. And the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
18 The king also made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with the best gold. 19 The throne had six steps, and the back of the throne was round, and there were armrests on either side of the seat with two lions standing beside the armrests. 20 Twelve lions stood on the sides of the six steps, and there was no other like it in any kingdom. 21 All of King Solomon’s drinking cups were made of gold, and all the cups of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were made of pure gold. None were made of silver, for it was not considered valuable in the days of Solomon. 22 For the king had ships at sea at Tarshish with the ships of Hiram. Every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
23 So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in terms of riches and wisdom. 24 All the earth came to Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 25 Everyone brought an annual tribute in the form of presents, silver and gold cups, garments, armor, spices, horses, and mules.
26 Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen whom he stationed in the cities for chariots and with the king at Jerusalem. 27 The king made silver to be in Jerusalem as plentiful as stones, and he made cedars to be as plentiful as sycamore trees in the valley. 28 Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt along with linen yarn. The king’s merchants received the linen yarn at a price. 29 He brought chariots from Egypt at a price of six hundred shekels of silver and a horse for a hundred and fifty.[e] And he exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram, by their means.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 10:10 About 4½ tons, or 4 metric tons.
- 1 Kings 10:14 About 25 tons, or 23 metric tons.
- 1 Kings 10:16 About 15 pounds, or 6.9 kilograms; and in v. 29.
- 1 Kings 10:17 About 3¾ pounds, or 1.7 kilograms, or if double minas, about 7½ pounds, or 3.5 kilograms.
- 1 Kings 10:29 About 3¾ pounds, or 1.7 kilograms.
1 Kings 10
New King James Version
The Queen of Sheba’s Praise of Solomon(A)
10 Now when the (B)queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came (C)to test him with hard questions. 2 She came to Jerusalem with a very great [a]retinue, with camels that bore spices, very much gold, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. 3 So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing [b]so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to her. 4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 5 the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers, (D)and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. 6 Then she said to the king: “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. 7 However I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard. 8 (E)Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! 9 (F)Blessed be the Lord your God, who (G)delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, (H)to do justice and righteousness.”
10 Then she (I)gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great quantity, and precious stones. There never again came such abundance of spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. 11 (J)Also, the ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought great quantities of [c]almug wood and precious stones from Ophir. 12 (K)And the king made [d]steps of the almug wood for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, also harps and stringed instruments for singers. There never again came such (L)almug wood, nor has the like been seen to this day.
13 Now King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked, besides what Solomon had given her according to the royal generosity. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
Solomon’s Great Wealth
14 The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, 15 besides that from the (M)traveling merchants, from the income of traders, (N)from all the kings of Arabia, and from the governors of the country.
16 And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. 17 He also made (O)three hundred shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the (P)House of the Forest of Lebanon.
18 (Q)Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. 19 The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round at the back; there were armrests on either side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests. 20 Twelve lions stood there, one on each side of the six steps; nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom.
21 (R)All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon. 22 For the king had (S)merchant[e] ships at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the merchant (T)ships came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and [f]monkeys. 23 So (U)King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.
24 Now all the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 25 Each man brought his present: articles of silver and gold, garments, armor, spices, horses, and mules, at a set rate year by year.
26 (V)And Solomon (W)gathered chariots and horsemen; he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he [g]stationed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem. 27 (X)The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland.
28 (Y)Also Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and Keveh; the king’s merchants bought them in Keveh at the current price. 29 Now a chariot that was imported from Egypt cost six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse one hundred and fifty; (Z)and [h]thus, through their agents, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 10:2 company
- 1 Kings 10:3 too
- 1 Kings 10:11 algum, 2 Chr. 9:10, 11
- 1 Kings 10:12 Or supports
- 1 Kings 10:22 Lit. ships of Tarshish, deep-sea vessels
- 1 Kings 10:22 Or peacocks
- 1 Kings 10:26 So with LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg. (cf. 2 Chr. 9:25); MT led
- 1 Kings 10:29 Lit. by their hands
KJV reproduced by permission of Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
