1 Kings 9:5-10:9

English Standard Version

^5 (A)then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’ ^6 (B)But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, ^7 (C)then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, ^(D)and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, ^(E)and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. ⁸ And this house will become a heap of ruins.^[a] Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ^(F)‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ ⁹ Then they will say, ‘Because ^(G)they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the Lord has brought all this disaster on them.’”

Solomon's Other Acts

^10 (H)At the end of ^(I)twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king's house, ¹¹ and Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress timber and gold, as much as he desired, King Solomon gave to Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. ¹² But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, they did not please him. ¹³ Therefore he said, “What kind of cities are these that you have given me, my brother?” So they are called the land of ^(J)Cabul to this day. ¹⁴ Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents^[b] of gold.

¹⁵ And this is the account of ^(K)the forced labor that King Solomon drafted to build the house of the Lord and his own house and ^(L)the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem and ^(M)Hazor and ^(N)Megiddo and Gezer ¹⁶ (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and had killed ^(O)the Canaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as dowry to ^(P)his daughter, Solomon's wife; ¹⁷ so Solomon rebuilt Gezer) and ^(Q)Lower Beth-horon ¹⁸ and Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah,^{[c] 19} and all the store cities that Solomon had, and ^(R)the cities for his chariots, and the cities for ^(S)his horsemen, and whatever Solomon ^(T)desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. ²⁰ All the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the people of Israel— ^21 (U)their descendants who were left after them in the land, ^(V)whom the people of Israel were unable to devote to destruction^[d]—^(W)these Solomon drafted to be ^(X)slaves, and so they are to this day. ²² But ^(Y)of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves. They were the soldiers, they were his officials, his commanders, his captains, his chariot commanders and his horsemen.

²³ These were the chief officers who were over Solomon's work: ^(Z)550 ^(AA)who had charge of the people who carried on the work.

²⁴ But ^(AB)Pharaoh's daughter went up from the city of David to ^(AC)her own house that Solomon had built for her. ^(AD)Then he built ^(AE)the Millo.

²⁵ Three times a year Solomon used to offer up burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar that he built to the Lord, making offerings with it^[e] before the Lord. So he finished the house.

²⁶ King Solomon built a fleet of ships at ^(AF)Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. ²⁷ And Hiram sent ^(AG)with the fleet his servants, seamen who were familiar with the sea, together with the servants of Solomon. ²⁸ And they went to ^(AH)Ophir and brought from there gold, 420 talents, and they brought it to King Solomon.

The Queen of Sheba

10 ^(AI)Now when ^(AJ)the queen of ^(AK)Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came ^(AL)to test him with hard questions. ² She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels ^(AM)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 And Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain 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 of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more breath in her.

⁶ And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, ⁷ but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard. ^8 (AN)Happy are your men! Happy are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! ^9 (AO)Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! ^(AP)Because the Lord loved Israel forever, he has made you king, ^(AQ)that you may execute justice and righteousness.”