King Hiram’s Twenty Towns

¹⁰ At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon had built the two houses, the Lord’s temple and the royal palace^(A)— ¹¹ King Hiram of Tyre^(B) having supplied him with cedar and cypress logs and gold^(C) for his every wish^(D)—King Solomon gave Hiram twenty towns in the land of Galilee. ¹² So Hiram went out from Tyre to look over the towns that Solomon had given him, but he was not pleased with them. ¹³ So he said, “What are these towns you’ve given me, my brother?” So he called them the Land of Cabul,^[a] as they are still called today.^{(E) 14} Now Hiram had sent the king nine thousand pounds^[b] of gold.^(F)

Solomon’s Forced Labor

¹⁵ This is the account of the forced labor^(G) that King Solomon had imposed to build the Lord’s temple, his own palace, the supporting terraces,^(H) the wall of Jerusalem,^(I) and Hazor,^(J) Megiddo,^(K) and Gezer.^{(L) 16} Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He then burned it, killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and gave it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.^{(M) 17} Then Solomon rebuilt Gezer, Lower Beth-horon,^{(N) 18} Baalath,^(O) Tamar^[c][d] in the Wilderness of Judah, ¹⁹ all the storage cities that belonged to Solomon, the chariot cities,^(P) the cavalry cities,^(Q) and whatever Solomon desired to build^(R) in Jerusalem, Lebanon, or anywhere else in the land of his dominion.

²⁰ As for all the peoples who remained of the Amorites, Hethites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not Israelites— ²¹ their descendants who remained in the land after them, those whom the Israelites were unable to destroy completely^(S)—Solomon imposed forced labor on them; it is still this way today.^{(T) 22} But Solomon did not consign the Israelites to slavery;^(U) they were soldiers, his servants, his commanders, his captains, and commanders of his chariots and his cavalry. ²³ These were the deputies^(V) who were over Solomon’s work: 550 who supervised the people doing the work.^(W)

Solomon’s Other Activities

²⁴ Pharaoh’s daughter moved from the city of David^(X) to the house that Solomon had built for her;^(Y) he then built the terraces.^(Z)

²⁵ Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord, and he burned incense with them in the Lord’s presence.^(AA) So he completed the temple.^(AB)

²⁶ King Solomon put together a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber,^(AC) which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea in the land of Edom. ²⁷ With the fleet, Hiram sent his servants, experienced seamen, along with Solomon’s servants. ²⁸ They went to Ophir^(AD) and acquired gold there—sixteen tons^[e]—and delivered it to Solomon.^(AE)

The Queen of Sheba

10 The queen of Sheba^(A) heard about Solomon’s fame^(B) connected with the name of the Lord 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} Blessed be the Lord your God! 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 did such almug wood arrive, and the like has not been seen again.

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 twenty-five 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 two hundred large shields of hammered gold; fifteen pounds^[e] of gold went into each shield. ¹⁷ He made three hundred small shields of hammered gold; nearly 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 fifteen pounds^[k] of silver, and a horse for 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)

Solomon’s Unfaithfulness to God

11 King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh’s daughter:^(A) Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women^{(B) 2} from the nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, and they must not intermarry with you, because they will turn your heart away to follow their gods.”^(C) To these women Solomon was deeply attached^[a] in love. ³ He had seven hundred wives who were princesses and three hundred who were concubines,^(D) and they turned his heart away.^(E)

⁴ When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods. He was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his father David had been.^{(F) 5} Solomon followed Ashtoreth,^(G) the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom,^(H) the abhorrent idol of the Ammonites.^{(I) 6} Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, and unlike his father David, he did not remain loyal to the Lord.

⁷ At that time, Solomon built a high place^(J) for Chemosh,^(K) the abhorrent idol of Moab, and for Milcom,^[b](L) the abhorrent idol of the Ammonites, on the hill across from Jerusalem.^{(M) 8} He did the same for all his foreign wives, who were burning incense and offering sacrifices to their gods.

⁹ The Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.^{(N) 10} He had commanded him about this, so that he would not follow other gods, but Solomon did not do what the Lord had commanded.^(O)

¹¹ Then the Lord said to Solomon, “Since you have done this^[c] and did not keep my covenant and my statutes, which I commanded you, I will tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.^{(P) 12} However, I will not do it during your lifetime for the sake of your father David;^(Q) I will tear it out of your son’s hand. ¹³ Yet I will not tear the entire kingdom away from him. I will give one tribe to your son^(R) for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem that I chose.”