1 Kings 10
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Queen of Sheba
10 The queen of Sheba(A) heard about Solomon’s fame(B) connected with the name of Yahweh and came to test him with difficult questions.(C) 2 She came to Jerusalem with a very large entourage, with camels bearing(D) spices, gold in great abundance, and precious stones.(E) She came to Solomon and spoke to him about everything that was on her mind. 3 So Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too difficult for the king to explain to her. 4 When the queen of Sheba observed all of Solomon’s wisdom, the palace he had built,(F) 5 the food at his table,(G) his servants’ residence, his attendants’ service and their attire, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he offered at the Lord’s temple, it took her breath away.
6 She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your words and about your wisdom is true. 7 But I didn’t believe the reports until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, I was not even told half. Your wisdom and prosperity far exceed the report I heard.(H) 8 How happy are your men.[a] How happy are these servants of yours, who always stand in your presence hearing your wisdom.(I) 9 May Yahweh your God be praised! He delighted in you and put you on the throne of Israel,(J) because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel.(K) He has made you king to carry out justice and righteousness.”(L)
10 Then she gave the king four and a half tons[b] of gold,(M) a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again did such a quantity of spices arrive as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
11 In addition, Hiram’s fleet that carried gold from Ophir brought from Ophir a large quantity of almug[c] wood and precious stones.(N) 12 The king made the almug wood into steps for the Lord’s temple and the king’s palace and into lyres and harps for the singers. Never before had such almug wood come, and the like has not been seen again even to this very day.
13 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba her every desire—whatever she asked—besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty. Then she, along with her servants, returned to her own country.(O)
Solomon’s Wealth
14 The weight(P) of gold that came to Solomon annually was 25 tons,[d] 15 besides what came from merchants,(Q) traders’ merchandise, and all the Arabian kings and governors of the land.(R)
16 King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold; 15 pounds[e] of gold went into each shield. 17 He made 300 small shields of hammered gold; about four pounds[f] of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.(S)
18 The king also made a large ivory throne and overlaid it with fine gold. 19 The throne had six steps; there was a rounded top at the back of the throne, armrests on either side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests. 20 Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps, one at each end. Nothing like it had ever been made in any other kingdom.
21 All of King Solomon’s drinking cups were gold, and all the utensils of the House of the Forest of Lebanon(T) were pure gold.(U) There was no silver, since it was considered as nothing in Solomon’s time, 22 for the king had ships of Tarshish(V) at sea with Hiram’s fleet, and once every three years the ships of Tarshish would arrive bearing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.[g](W)
23 King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the world in riches and in wisdom.(X) 24 The whole world wanted an audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom that God had put in his heart.(Y) 25 Every man would bring his annual tribute: items[h] of silver and gold, clothing, weapons,[i] spices, and horses and mules.(Z)
26 Solomon accumulated 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen(AA) and stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.(AB) 27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones,(AC) and he made cedar(AD) as abundant as sycamore in the Judean foothills. 28 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and Kue.[j] The king’s traders bought them from Kue at the going price.(AE) 29 A chariot was imported from Egypt for 15 pounds[k] of silver, and a horse for about four pounds.[l] In the same way, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram through their agents.(AF)
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 10:8 LXX, Syr read your wives
- 1 Kings 10:10 Lit 120 talents
- 1 Kings 10:11 = algum in 2Ch 2:8; 9:10-11
- 1 Kings 10:14 Lit 666 talents
- 1 Kings 10:16 Lit 600 (shekels)
- 1 Kings 10:17 Lit three minas
- 1 Kings 10:22 Or baboons
- 1 Kings 10:25 Or vessels, or weapons
- 1 Kings 10:25 Or fragrant balsam
- 1 Kings 10:28 = Cilicia
- 1 Kings 10:29 Lit 600 shekels
- 1 Kings 10:29 Lit 150 shekels
1 Kings 10
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
10 And the queen of Saba, having; heard of the fame of Solomon in the name of the Lord, came to try him with hard questions.
2 And entering into Jerusalem with a great train, and riches, and camels that carried spices, and an immense quantity of gold, and precious stones, she came to king Solomon, and spoke to him all that she had in her heart.
3 And Solomon informed her of all the things she proposed to him: there was not any word the king was ignorant of, and which he could not answer her.
4 And when the queen of Saba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he had built,
5 And the meat of his table, and the apartments of his servants, and the order of his ministers, and their apparel, and the cupbearers, and the holocausts, which he offered in the house of the Lord: she had no longer any spirit in her,
6 And she said to the king: The report is true, which I heard in my own country,
7 Concerning thy words, and concerning thy wisdom. And I did not believe them that told me, till I came myself, and saw with my own eyes, and have found that the half hath not been told me: thy wisdom and thy works, exceed the fame which I heard.
8 Blessed are thy men, and blessed are thy servants, who stand before thee always, and hear thy wisdom.
9 Blessed be the Lord thy God, whom thou hast pleased, and who hath set thee upon the throne of Israel, because the Lord hath loved Israel for ever, and hath appointed thee king, to do judgment and justice.
10 And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices a very great store, and precious stones: there was brought no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Saba gave to king Solomon.
11 (The navy also of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir great plenty of thyine trees, and precious stones.
12 And the king made of the thyine trees the rails of the house of the Lord, and of the king's house, and citterns and harps for singers: there were no such thyine trees as these brought, nor seen unto this day.)
13 And king Solomon gave the queen of Saba all that she desired, and asked of him: besides what he offered he himself of his royal bounty. And she returned, and went to her own country with her servants.
14 And the weight of the gold that was brought to Solomon every year, was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold:
15 Besides that which the men brought him that were over the tributes, and the merchants, and they that sold by retail, and all the kings of Arabia, and the governors of the country.
16 And Solomon made two hundred shields of the purest gold: he allowed six hundred sides of gold for the plates of one shield.
17 And three hundred targets of fine gold: three hundred pounds of gold covered one target: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Libanus.
18 King Solomon also made a great throne of ivory: and overlaid it with the finest gold.
19 It had six steps: and the top of the throne was round behind: and there were two hands on either side holding the seat: and two lions stood, one at each hand.
20 And twelve little lions stood upon the six steps on the one side and on the other: there was no such work made in any kingdom.
21 Moreover all the vessels, out of which king Solomon drank, were of gold: and all the furniture of the house of the forest of Libanus was of most pure gold: there was no silver, nor was any account made of it in the days of Solomon:
22 For the king's navy, once in three years, went with the navy of Hiram by sea to Tharsis, and brought from thence gold, and silver, and elephants' teeth, and apes, and peacocks.
23 And king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches, and wisdom.
24 And all the earth desired to see Solomon's face, to hear his wisdom, which God had given in his heart.
25 And every one brought him presents, vessels of silver and of gold, garments and armour, and spices, and horses and mules every year.
26 And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen, and he had a thousand four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horseman: and he bestowed them in fenced cities, and with the king in Jerusalem.
27 And he made silver to be as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones: and cedars to be as common as sycamores which grow in the plains.
28 And horses were brought for Solomon out of Egypt, and Coa: for the king's merchants brought them out of Coa, and bought them at a set price.
29 And a chariot of four horses came out of Egypt, for six hundred sides of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. And after this manner did all the kings of the Hethites, and of Syria, sell horses.
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