The Queen of Sheba

9 ^(A)Now when ^(B)the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions, having a very great retinue and 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. ² And Solomon answered all her questions. There was nothing hidden from Solomon that he could not explain to her. ³ And when ^(C)the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, ⁴ the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, and their clothing, his cupbearers, and their clothing, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more breath in her.

⁵ And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, ⁶ but I did not believe the^[a] reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, half the greatness of your wisdom was not told me; you surpass the report that I heard. ⁷ Happy are your men! Happy are these your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! ⁸ Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you ^(D)and set you on his throne as king for the Lord your God! ^(E)Because your God loved Israel and would establish them forever, he has made you king over them, that you may execute justice and righteousness.” ⁹ Then she gave the king 120 talents^[b] of gold, and a very great quantity of spices, and precious stones. There were no spices such as those that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹⁰ Moreover, the servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon, ^(F)who brought gold from Ophir, brought algum wood and precious stones. ¹¹ And the king made from the algum wood ^(G)supports for the house of the Lord and for the king's house, lyres also and harps for the singers. There never was seen the like of them before in the land of Judah.

¹² And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all that she desired, whatever she asked ^(H)besides what she had brought to the king. So she turned and went back to her own land with her servants.

Solomon's Wealth

^13 (I)Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, ¹⁴ besides that which the explorers and merchants brought. ^(J)And all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land brought gold and silver to Solomon. ¹⁵ King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold; 600 shekels^[c] of beaten gold went into each shield. ¹⁶ And he made 300 shields of beaten gold; ^(K)300 shekels of gold went into each shield; and the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. ¹⁷ The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with pure gold. ¹⁸ The throne had six steps and a footstool of gold, which were attached to the throne, and on each side of the seat were armrests and two lions standing beside the armrests, ¹⁹ while twelve lions stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps. Nothing like it was ever made for any kingdom. ²⁰ 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 as anything in the days of Solomon. ²¹ For the king's ships went to ^(L)Tarshish with the servants of Hiram. Once every three years the ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.^[d]

²² Thus King Solomon ^(M)excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. ²³ And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind. ²⁴ Every one of them brought his present, articles of silver and of gold, garments, myrrh,^[e] spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year. ²⁵ And Solomon had ^(N)4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ^26 (O)And he ruled over all the kings ^(P)from the Euphrates^[f] to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. ^27 (Q)And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah. ^28 (R)And horses were imported for Solomon from Egypt and from all lands.

Solomon's Death

^29 (S)Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from ^(T)first to last, are they not written in the history of ^(U)Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of ^(V)Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of ^(W)Iddo ^(X)the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? ³⁰ Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. ³¹ And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in ^(Y)the city of David his father, and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

The Revolt Against Rehoboam

10 ^(Z)Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. ² And as soon as Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was in Egypt, ^(AA)where he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam returned from Egypt. ³ And they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all Israel came and said to Rehoboam, ^4 (AB)“Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.” ⁵ He said to them, “Come to me again in three days.” So the people went away.

⁶ Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men,^[g] who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” ⁷ And they said to him, ^(AC)“If you will be good to this people and please them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” ⁸ But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him. ⁹ And he said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?” ¹⁰ And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus shall you speak to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us’; thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father's thighs. ¹¹ And now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”

¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king said, “Come to me again the third day.” ¹³ And the king answered them harshly; and forsaking the counsel of the old men, ¹⁴ King Rehoboam spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by God that the Lord might fulfill his word, ^(AD)which he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

¹⁶ And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. ^(AE)Each of you to your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So all Israel went to their tents. ¹⁷ But Rehoboam reigned over the people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah. ¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam sent ^(AF)Hadoram,^[h] who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and the people of Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam quickly mounted his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

The First Beast

13 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, ^(A)with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and ^(B)blasphemous names on its heads. ² And the beast that I saw was ^(C)like a leopard; its feet were like ^(D)a bear's, and its mouth was like ^(E)a lion's mouth. And to it ^(F)the dragon gave his power and ^(G)his throne and great authority. ³ One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and ^(H)the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. ⁴ And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, ^(I)“Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

⁵ And the beast was given ^(J)a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for ^(K)forty-two months. ⁶ It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling,^[a] that is, those who dwell in heaven. ⁷ Also it was allowed ^(L)to make war on the saints and to conquer them.^[b] And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, ⁸ and all ^(M)who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in ^(N)the book of life of ^(O)the Lamb ^(P)who was slain. ^9 (Q)If anyone has an ear, let him hear:

^(T)Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

The Second Beast

¹¹ Then ^(U)I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. ¹² It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence,^[c] and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, ^(V)whose mortal wound was healed. ^13 (W)It performs great signs, even ^(X)making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, ¹⁴ and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of^[d] the beast ^(Y)it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast ^(Z)that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. ¹⁵ And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not ^(AA)worship the image of the beast ^(AB)to be slain. ¹⁶ Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,^{[e] (AC)}to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, ¹⁷ so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, ^(AD)the name of the beast or ^(AE)the number of its name. ^18 (AF)This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number ^(AG)of a man, and his number is 666.^[f]

The Lamb and the 144,000

14 Then I looked, and behold, on ^(AH)Mount Zion ^(AI)stood the Lamb, and with him ^(AJ)144,000 who ^(AK)had his name and his Father's name written ^(AL)on their foreheads. ² And I heard a voice from heaven ^(AM)like the roar of many waters and ^(AN)like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of ^(AO)harpists playing on their harps, ³ and they were singing ^(AP)a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. ^(AQ)No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. ⁴ It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for ^(AR)they are virgins. It is these ^(AS)who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as ^(AT)firstfruits for God and the Lamb, ⁵ and ^(AU)in their mouth no lie was found, for they are ^(AV)blameless.

The Messages of the Three Angels

⁶ Then I saw another angel ^(AW)flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to ^(AX)those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. ⁷ And he said with a loud voice, ^(AY)“Fear God and ^(AZ)give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and ^(BA)worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the ^(BB)springs of water.”

⁸ Another angel, a second, followed, saying, ^(BC)“Fallen, fallen is ^(BD)Babylon the great, ^(BE)she who made all nations drink ^(BF)the wine of the passion^[g] of her sexual immorality.”

⁹ And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone ^(BG)worships the beast and its image and receives ^(BH)a mark on his forehead or on his hand, ¹⁰ he also will drink ^(BI)the wine of God's wrath, ^(BJ)poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and ^(BK)he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. ¹¹ And ^(BL)the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and ^(BM)they have no rest, day or night, these ^(BN)worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

^12 (BO)Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who ^(BP)keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.^[h]

¹³ And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: ^(BQ)Blessed are the dead ^(BR)who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, ^(BS)“that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

The Harvest of the Earth

¹⁴ Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one ^(BT)like a son of man, ^(BU)with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. ¹⁵ And another angel ^(BV)came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, ^(BW)“Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for ^(BX)the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” ¹⁶ So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.

¹⁷ Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. ¹⁸ And another angel came out from the altar, ^(BY)the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, ^(BZ)for its grapes are ripe.” ¹⁹ So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great ^(CA)winepress of the wrath of God. ²⁰ And ^(CB)the winepress was trodden ^(CC)outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as ^(CD)a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia.^[i]