Historical
The Queen of Sheba
10 (A)Now the (B)queen of (C)Sheba heard the report about Solomon concerning the name of Yahweh. So she came (D)to test him with riddles. 2 She came to Jerusalem with a very glorious retinue, with camels (E)carrying spices and very much gold and precious stones. And she came to Solomon and spoke to him about all that was in her heart. 3 And Solomon declared to her the answer to all her matters; there was not a matter which was hidden from the king which he did not declare to her. 4 Then the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 5 the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the disposition of his attendants and their attire, his cupbearers, and [a]his stairway by which he went up to the house of Yahweh, so that there was no more spirit in her. 6 Then she said to the king, “The word is true which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. 7 Nevertheless I did not believe those words, until I came and my eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not declared to me. You exceed, in wisdom and prosperity, the report which I heard. 8 How (F)blessed are your men, how blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom. 9 (G)Blessed be Yahweh your God who delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel; (H)because Yahweh loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, (I)to do justice and righteousness.” 10 (J)Then she gave the king [b]120 talents of gold and a very great amount of spices and precious stones. Never again did such abundance of spices come in as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.
11 (K)Also, the ships of Hiram, which carried gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir a very great number of almug trees and precious stones. 12 (L)And the king made of the almug trees supports for the house of Yahweh and for the king’s house, also lyres and harps for the singers; such almug trees have not come in again nor have they been seen to this day.
13 Thus King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire which she asked, besides what he gave her according to [c]his royal bounty. Then she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants.
Solomon’s Riches and Wisdom
14 (M)Now the weight of gold which came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, 15 besides that from the traders and the [d]wares of the merchants and all the kings of the (N)Arabs and the governors of the country. 16 (O)And King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold, [e]using 600 shekels of gold on each large shield. 17 And he made (P)300 shields of beaten gold, [f]using [g]three minas of gold on each shield, and (Q)the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. 18 Moreover, the king made a great throne of (R)ivory and overlaid it with refined gold. 19 There were six steps to the throne and a round top to the throne at its rear, and [h]arms [i]on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the [j]arms. 20 Twelve lions were also standing there on the six steps on the one side and on the other; nothing like it was made for all the other kingdoms. 21 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. None was of silver; it was not considered [k]valuable in the days of Solomon. 22 For (S)the king had at sea the ships of Tarshish with the ships of Hiram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came carrying gold and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks.
23 (T)So King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. 24 And all the earth was seeking the presence of Solomon, (U)to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. 25 (V)And they brought every man his present, articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses, and mules, a set amount year by year.
26 (W)And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen. And he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen and [l]stationed them in the (X)chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 27 (Y)The king also made silver as plentiful as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the [m]Shephelah. 28 (Z)Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Kue; the king’s merchants procured them from Kue for a price. 29 And a chariot [n]was imported from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver, and a horse for 150; and [o]by the same means they exported them (AA)to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram.
Solomon Turns from Yahweh
11 Now (AB)King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations concerning which Yahweh had said to the sons of Israel, “(AC)You shall not [p]go along with them, nor shall they [q]go along with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 (AD)And he had 700 wives—princesses—and 300 concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. 4 Now it happened at the time that Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and (AE)his heart was not [r]wholly devoted to Yahweh his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 5 For Solomon went after (AF)Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after [s](AG)Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites. 6 And Solomon did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and did not follow Yahweh fully, as David his father had done. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for (AH)Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is [t]east of Jerusalem, and for (AI)Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon. 8 Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
9 Now (AJ)Yahweh was angry with Solomon (AK)because his heart was turned away from Yahweh, the God of Israel, (AL)who had appeared to him twice, 10 and (AM)had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not walk after other gods; but he did not keep what Yahweh had commanded. 11 So Yahweh said to Solomon, “Because this has happened with you: you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, so (AN)I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. 12 Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 However, (AO)I will not tear away all the kingdom, but (AP)I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and (AQ)for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”
Yahweh Raises Up Adversaries
14 Then Yahweh raised up an adversary to Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the seed of the king in Edom.
15 Now it happened that (AR)when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury the slain, and had (AS)struck down every male in Edom 16 (for Joab and all Israel stayed there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom), 17 that Hadad fled [u]to Egypt, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him, while Hadad was a young boy. 18 Then they arose from Midian and came to (AT)Paran; and they took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt. And he gave him a house and assigned him food and gave him land. 19 And Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh. So he gave him as a wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. 20 And the sister of Tahpenes bore his son Genubath. And Tahpenes weaned him in Pharaoh’s house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh’s house among the sons of Pharaoh.
21 But (AU)Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army had died. So Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Send me away, that I may go to my own country.” 22 Then Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me, that behold, you are seeking to go to your own country?” And he answered, “Nothing; nevertheless you must surely [v]let me go.”
23 (AV)And God raised up another adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord (AW)Hadadezer king of Zobah. 24 And he gathered men to himself and became commander of a marauding band, (AX)after David killed some of [w]them; and they went to Damascus and stayed [x]there, and reigned in Damascus. 25 So he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, along with the evil that Hadad did; and he abhorred Israel and reigned over Aram.
26 Now (AY)Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, Solomon’s servant, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, (AZ)also [y]raised his hand against the king. 27 Now this was the reason why he [z]raised his hand against the king: (BA)Solomon built the [aa]Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of his father David. 28 Now the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor. And (BB)Solomon saw that the young man was [ab]industrious and appointed him over all the load-bearers of the house of Joseph. 29 Now it happened at that time, that Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, and (BC)that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now [ac]he had covered himself with a new cloak; and both of them were alone in the field. 30 Then (BD)Ahijah took hold of the new cloak which was on him and tore it into twelve pieces. 31 And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces; for thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, (BE)I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes, 32 (BF)but he will have one tribe, for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, (BG)the city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, 33 because they have forsaken Me, and (BH)have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, (BI)Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon; and they have not walked in My ways to do what is right in My sight and to keep My statutes and My judgments, as his father David did. 34 Nevertheless I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him [ad]ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of My servant David whom I chose, who kept My commandments and My statutes; 35 but (BJ)I will take the kingdom from his son’s hand and give it to you—the ten tribes. 36 But (BK)to his son I will give one tribe, (BL)that My servant David may have a lamp always before Me in Jerusalem, (BM)the city where I have chosen for Myself to put My name. 37 And I will take you, and you shall reign over whatever your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. 38 Then it will be, that if you listen to all that I command you and walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then (BN)I will be with you and (BO)build you an enduring house as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. 39 Thus I will afflict the seed of David for this, but not always.’” 40 Solomon sought therefore to put Jeroboam to death; but Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt to (BP)Shishak king of Egypt, and he was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
The Death of Solomon
41 (BQ)Now the rest of the acts of Solomon and whatever he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon? 42 Thus (BR)the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. 43 And Solomon (BS)slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David, and his son (BT)Rehoboam became king in his place.
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