The Queen of Sheba

9 ^(A)Now the queen of Sheba heard the report about Solomon. So she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with riddles. She had a very glorious retinue, with camels carrying spices and a large amount of gold and precious stones. And she came to Solomon and spoke with him about all that was in her heart. ² And Solomon declared to her the answer to all her matters; and not a matter was hidden from Solomon which he did not declare to her. ³ Then the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, the house which he had built, ⁴ the food at his table, the seating of his servants, the disposition of his attendants and their attire, his cupbearers and their attire, and ^[a]his stairway by which he went up to the house of Yahweh, so that there was no more spirit in her. ⁵ Then she said to the king, “The word is true which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. ⁶ Nevertheless I did not believe their words until I came and my eyes had seen it. And behold, the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not declared to me. You exceed the report which I heard. ⁷ How ^[b]blessed are your men, how ^[c]blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom. ⁸ Blessed be Yahweh your God who delighted in you, ^(B)to set you on His throne as king for Yahweh your God; ^(C)because your God loved Israel to cause them to stand forever, therefore He gave you as king over them, to do justice and righteousness.” ⁹ Then she gave the king ^[d]120 talents of gold and a very great amount of spices and precious stones. There had never been spice like that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹⁰ Also, the servants of Huram and the servants of Solomon, ^(D)who brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and precious stones. ¹¹ And the king made of the algum trees steps for the house of Yahweh and for the king’s house, and lyres and harps for the singers; and none like that was seen before in the land of Judah.

¹² Thus King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire which she asked, besides a return for what she had brought to the king. Then she turned around and went to her own land together with her servants.

Solomon’s Riches and Wisdom

^13 (E)Now the weight of gold which came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, ¹⁴ besides that which the traders and merchants brought; and all ^(F)the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. ¹⁵ And King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold, ^[e]using ^[f]600 shekels of beaten gold on each large shield. ¹⁶ And he made 300 shields of beaten gold, ^[g]using ^[h]300 shekels of gold on each shield, and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

¹⁷ Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold. ¹⁸ And there were six steps to the throne and a footstool in gold attached to the throne, and ^[i]arms ^[j]on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the ^[k]arms. ¹⁹ Twelve lions were also standing there on the six steps on the one side and on the other; nothing like it was made for any other kingdom. ²⁰ Now 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; silver was not considered ^[l]valuable in the days of Solomon. ^21 (G)For the king had ships which went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came carrying gold and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks.

^22 (H)So King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. ²³ And all the kings of the earth were seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. ^24 (I)And they brought every man his present, articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses and mules, a set amount year by year.

²⁵ And Solomon had ^(J)4,000 stalls for horses and chariots and 12,000 horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ^26 (K)And he was the ruler over all the kings from the ^[m]River even to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt. ^27 (L)The king also made silver as plentiful as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the ^[n]Shephelah. ^28 (M)And they were importing horses for Solomon from Egypt and from all countries.

The Death of Solomon

^29 (N)Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from first to last, ^(O)are they not written in the ^[o]chronicles of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of ^[p]Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? ^30 (P)Thus Solomon reigned forty years in Jerusalem over all Israel. ³¹ And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in ^(Q)the city of his father David; and his son Rehoboam became king in his place.