Solomon’s Activities and Accomplishments

8 Now it came about at the end of the twenty years, in which Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his own house (palace), ² that he built and fortified ^[a]the cities which Huram (Hiram) had given to him, and settled the Israelites there.

³ Then Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and captured it. ⁴ He built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all his storage cities in Hamath. ⁵ He also built upper Beth-horon and lower Beth-horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars [to lock the gates]; ⁶ and Baalath and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for his chariots and the cities for his horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land under his rule.

⁷ All the people who were left of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel, ⁸ but were descendants of those who were left in the land, whom the Israelites had not destroyed—Solomon brought them up as forced laborers to this day. ⁹ But Solomon did not make slaves of the Israelites for his work; they were men of war, his chief captains, and commanders of his chariots and his horsemen. ¹⁰ These were the chief officers of King Solomon, two hundred and fifty [in authority] who ruled over the people.

¹¹ Then Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David into the house (palace) he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not live in the house of David king of Israel, because the places where the ark of the Lord has entered are holy.”

¹² Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord which he had built in front of the porch [of the temple], ¹³ a certain number every day, offering them up as Moses commanded for the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the three annual feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles).

¹⁴ Now in accordance with the ordinance of his father David, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites for their duties of praise and ministering and serving before the priests as every day required, and the gatekeepers by their divisions at every gate; for David the man of God had so commanded. ¹⁵ And they did not deviate from the commandment of the king to the priests and Levites in any respect or in regard to the storehouses or treasuries.

¹⁶ Thus all the work of Solomon was carried out from the day the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was completed.

¹⁷ Then Solomon went to Ezion-geber and to Eloth on the shore of the [Red] Sea in the land of Edom. ¹⁸ And Huram (Hiram) sent him, by his servants, ships and servants familiar with the sea; and they went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir, and took from there four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to King Solomon.

Visit of the Queen of Sheba

9 When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with riddles. She was accompanied by a very large number of attendants, with camels bearing spices (balsam oil) and a large amount of gold and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she talked with him about all that was on her mind. ² Solomon ^[b]answered all her questions; nothing was hidden from him which he did not make clear to her. ³ So when the queen of Sheba saw the [depth of] Solomon’s wisdom, and the house which he had built, ⁴ and the food of his table, the [vast] seating order of his officials, the attendance and service of his ministers and their attire, his cupbearers and their attire, and his ^[c]stairway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, she was breathless. ⁵ She said to the king, “The report which I heard in my own land regarding your [accomplishments and your] words and your wisdom was true, ⁶ but I did not believe the reports until I came and saw it with my own eyes. Behold, the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told to me; you have surpassed the report that I heard. ⁷ Blessed and fortunate are your people, how blessed and fortunate are these servants of yours who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom! ⁸ Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on His throne as king for the Lord your God; because your God loved Israel, establishing them forever, therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.” ⁹ Then she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, a very large amount of spices (balsam oil) and precious stones; there was no such spice [anywhere] like that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹⁰ The servants of Huram and those of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, also brought almug trees and precious stones. ¹¹ From the almug timber the king made ^[d]stairways for the house of the Lord and for the king’s palace, and lyres and harps for the singers; none like that was seen before in the land of Judah.

¹² King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all [the things] she desired, whatever she asked, ^[e]besides a return for what she had brought to the king. So she returned to her own land with her servants.

Solomon’s Wealth and Power

¹³ Now the weight of gold which came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents, ¹⁴ besides what the traders and merchants brought; and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. ¹⁵ King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold, using six hundred shekels of beaten gold on each large shield. ¹⁶ And he made three hundred [smaller] shields of beaten gold, using three hundred shekels of gold on each shield; and the king put them in the ^[f]house of the Forest of Lebanon.

¹⁷ Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold. ¹⁸ There were six steps to the throne and a golden footstool attached to the throne, and arms on each side of the seat, with two lions standing beside the arms. ¹⁹ Also, twelve lions were standing there, one on each side of the six steps. Nothing like it had ever been made for any [other] 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 valuable in the days of Solomon. ²¹ For the king’s ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks.

²² So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom. ²³ And all the kings of the earth were seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put into his heart. ²⁴ Each man brought his gift, articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses and mules, so much year by year.

²⁵ Now Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities or with the king at Jerusalem.^{(A) 26} He ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, and as far as the border of Egypt. ²⁷ The king made silver in Jerusalem as common as stones, and cedar wood as plentiful as the ^[g]sycamore-fig trees that are in the ^[h]lowland. ²⁸ And they were importing horses for Solomon from Egypt and from all [the other] countries.

²⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from the first to the last, are they not written in the records of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? ³⁰ Solomon reigned forty years in Jerusalem over all Israel.

Death of Solomon

³¹ And Solomon slept with his fathers [in death]; he was buried in the city of his father David. Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

Rehoboam’s Reign of Folly

10 Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, because all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. ² When Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard about the new king (for he was in ^[i]Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon), Jeroboam returned from Egypt.^{(B) 3} And the people sent messengers and summoned him. So when Jeroboam and all Israel came, they spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴ “Your father [King Solomon] made our yoke hard (heavy, difficult); so now lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.” ⁵ Rehoboam replied, “Come back to me again in three days.” So the people departed.

⁶ Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon [as advisers] while he was alive, asking, “What advice do you give me in answer to these people?” ⁷ They answered him, saying, “If you are kind to these people and please them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” ⁸ But the king rejected the advice which the elders gave him, and consulted with the young men who grew up with him and served him [as advisers]. ⁹ He asked them, “What advice do you give to us regarding the answer to these people, who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?” ¹⁰ The young men who grew up with him told him, “Tell the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter for us’: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s ^[j]loins! ¹¹ Now my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, but I will add [more weight] to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions (extremely painful scourges).’”

¹² So on the third day Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam just as the king had directed, saying, “Return to me on the third day.” ¹³ The king answered them harshly, for King Rehoboam rejected the counsel of the elders. ¹⁴ He spoke to them in accordance with the advice 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 the ^[k]turn of events was from God that the Lord might fulfill His word, which He had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.^(C)

¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king did not listen and pay attention to them, the people answered him,

So all Israel went to their tents. ¹⁷ But as for the Israelites who lived in Judah’s cities, Rehoboam ruled over them. ¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam ^[l]sent Hadoram, who was over the forced labor, and the Israelites stoned him and he died. And King Rehoboam hurried to mount his [royal] chariot to escape to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ And Israel has rebelled against the house of David to this day.