Old/New Testament

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon

10 Now the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s fame. So she came to test him with hard questions. ² She traveled to Jerusalem with a very large group of servants. There were many camels carrying spices, jewels and much gold. She came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had in mind. ³ Solomon answered all her questions. Nothing was too hard for him to explain to her. ⁴ The queen of Sheba learned that Solomon was very wise. She saw the palace he had built. ⁵ She saw his many officers and the food on his table. She saw the palace servants and their good clothes. She was shown the servants who served him at feasts. And she was shown the whole burnt offerings he made in the Temple of the Lord. All these things amazed her.

⁶ So she said to King Solomon, “I heard in my own country about your achievements and wisdom. And all of it is true. ⁷ I could not believe it then. But now I have come and seen it with my own eyes. I was not told even half of it! Your wisdom and wealth are much greater than I had heard. ⁸ Your men and officers are very lucky! In always serving you, they are able to hear your wisdom! ⁹ Praise the Lord your God! He was pleased to make you king of Israel. The Lord has constant love for Israel. So he made you king to keep justice and to rule fairly.”

¹⁰ Then the queen of Sheba gave the king about 9,000 pounds of gold. She also gave him many spices and jewels. No one since that time has brought more spices into Israel than the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.

¹¹ (Hiram’s ships brought gold from Ophir. They also brought from there very much juniper wood and jewels. ¹² Solomon used the juniper wood to build supports for the Temple of the Lord and the palace. He also used it to make harps and lyres for the musicians. Such fine juniper wood has not been brought in or seen since that time.)

¹³ King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba many gifts. He gave her gifts that a king would give to another ruler. Then he gave her whatever else she wanted and asked for. After this, she and her servants went back to her own country.

Solomon’s Wealth

¹⁴ Every year King Solomon received about 50,000 pounds of gold. ¹⁵ Besides that he also received gold from the traders and merchants. And he received gold from the kings of Arabia and governors of the land.

¹⁶ King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold. Each shield contained about seven and one-half pounds of gold. ¹⁷ He also made 300 smaller shields of hammered gold. They each contained about three and three-fourths pounds of gold. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.

¹⁸ Then King Solomon built a large throne of ivory. And he covered it with pure gold. ¹⁹ There were six steps leading up to the throne. The back of the throne was round at the top. There were armrests on both sides of the chair. And beside each armrest was a statue of a lion. ²⁰ Twelve lions stood on the six steps. There was one lion at each end of each step. Nothing like this had ever been made for any other kingdom. ²¹ All of Solomon’s drinking cups were made of gold. All of the dishes in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made from silver. In Solomon’s time people did not think silver was valuable.

²² King Solomon also had many trading ships at sea, along with Hiram’s ships. Every three years the ships returned. They brought back gold, silver, ivory, apes and baboons.

²³ So Solomon had more riches and wisdom than all the other kings on earth. ²⁴ People everywhere wanted to see King Solomon. They wanted to hear the wisdom God had given him. ²⁵ Every year everyone who came brought a gift. They brought things made of gold and silver, along with clothes, weapons, spices, horses and mules.

²⁶ So Solomon had many chariots and horses. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 chariot soldiers. He kept some in special cities for the chariots. And he kept some with him in Jerusalem. ²⁷ In Jerusalem silver was as common as stones while Solomon was king. Cedar trees were as common as the fig trees growing on the mountain slopes. ²⁸ Solomon brought in horses from Egypt and Kue. His traders bought them in Kue and brought them to Israel. ²⁹ A chariot from Egypt cost about 15 pounds of silver. And a horse cost about 3¾ pounds of silver. The traders also sold horses and chariots to the kings of the Hittites and the Arameans.

Solomon’s Many Wives

11 But King Solomon loved many women who were not from Israel. He loved the daughter of the king of Egypt. He also loved women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. ² The Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not marry people of other nations. If you do, they will cause you to follow their gods.” But Solomon fell in love with these women. ³ He had 700 wives who were from royal families. He also had 300 slave women who gave birth to his children. His wives caused him to turn away from God. ⁴ As Solomon grew old, his wives caused him to follow other gods. He did not follow the Lord completely as his father David had done. ⁵ Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the people of Sidon. And he worshiped Molech, the hated god of the Ammonites. ⁶ So Solomon did what the Lord said was wrong. He did not follow the Lord completely as his father David had done.

⁷ On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built two places for worship. He built a place to worship Chemosh, the hated god of the Moabites. And he built a place to worship Molech, the hated god of the Ammonites. ⁸ Solomon did the same thing for all of his foreign wives. So they burned incense and gave sacrifices to their gods.

⁹ The Lord had appeared to Solomon twice. But Solomon turned away from following the Lord, the God of Israel. So the Lord was angry with him. ¹⁰ The Lord had commanded Solomon not to follow other gods. But Solomon did not obey the Lord’s command. ¹¹ So the Lord said to Solomon, “You have chosen to break your agreement with me. You have not obeyed my commands. So I promise I will tear your kingdom away from you. I will give it to one of your officers. ¹² But I will not take it away while you are alive. This is because of my love for your father David. I will tear it away from your son when he becomes king. ¹³ But I will not tear away all the kingdom from him. I will leave him one tribe to rule. I will do this because of David, my servant. And I will do it because of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen.”

Solomon’s Enemies

¹⁴ Now Hadad was a member of the family of the king of Edom. And the Lord caused Hadad the Edomite to become Solomon’s enemy. ¹⁵ Earlier, David had defeated Edom. Joab, the commander of David’s army, went into Edom to bury the dead. While he was there, he killed all the males. ¹⁶ Joab and all the Israelites stayed in Edom for six months. During that time they killed every male in Edom. ¹⁷ But at that time Hadad was only a young boy. So he ran away to Egypt with some of his father’s officers. ¹⁸ They left Midian and went to Paran. In Paran other men joined them. Then they all went to Egypt to see the king. He gave Hadad a house, some land and food to eat.

¹⁹ The king liked Hadad so much he gave Hadad a wife. She was the sister of Tahpenes, the king’s wife. ²⁰ They had a son named Genubath. Queen Tahpenes allowed him to grow up in the royal palace. So he grew up with the king’s own children.

²¹ While he was in Egypt, Hadad heard that David had died. He also heard that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead. So Hadad said to the king, “Let me go home. Let me return to my own country.”

²² But the king said, “Why do you want to go back to your own country? What haven’t I given you here?”

Hadad answered, “Nothing. But please, let me go.”

²³ God also caused another man to be an enemy to Solomon. This man was Rezon son of Eliada. Rezon had run away from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah. ²⁴ After David defeated the army of Zobah, Rezon gathered some men. He became the leader of a small army. They went to Damascus and settled there. And Rezon became king of Damascus. ²⁵ Rezon ruled Aram, and he hated Israel. So he was an enemy of Israel all the time Solomon was alive. Rezon and Hadad caused some trouble for Israel.

²⁶ Jeroboam son of Nebat was one of Solomon’s officers. Jeroboam was one of the Ephraimite people. He was from the town of Zeredah. His mother was a widow named Zeruah. He turned against the king.

²⁷ This is the story of how Jeroboam turned against the king. Solomon was filling in the land on the east side of Jerusalem. He was also repairing the wall of Jerusalem. It was the city of David, his ancestor. ²⁸ Jeroboam was a capable man. Solomon saw that this young man was a good worker. So Solomon put him over all the workers from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.

²⁹ One day Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem. Ahijah, the prophet from Shiloh, met him on the road. Ahijah was wearing a new coat. The two men were alone out in the country. ³⁰ Ahijah took his new coat and tore it into 12 pieces. ³¹ Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take 10 pieces of this coat for yourself. The Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will tear the kingdom away from Solomon. Then I will give you 10 tribes. ³² But I will allow the family of David to control 1 tribe. I will do this for my servant David and for Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the city I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel. ³³ I will do this because Solomon has stopped following me. He worships the Sidonian god Ashtoreth and the Moabite god Chemosh. He also worships Molech, the Ammonite god. Solomon has not obeyed me. He has not done what I said is right. He has not obeyed my laws and commands. He is not living the way his father David lived.

³⁴ “‘But I will not take all the kingdom away from Solomon. I will let him rule all his life. I will do this because of my servant David. I chose David, and he obeyed all my commands and laws. ³⁵ But I will take the kingdom away from his son. Jeroboam, I will allow you to rule over the 10 tribes. ³⁶ I will allow Solomon’s son to continue to rule over 1 tribe. I will do this so that David, my servant, will always have a king before me in Jerusalem. It is the city where I chose to be worshiped. ³⁷ But I will make you rule over everything you want. You will rule over all of Israel. ³⁸ I will always be with you if you do what I say is right. You must obey all my commands. If you obey my laws and commands as David did, I will be with you. I will make your family a family of kings, as I did for David. I will give Israel to you. ³⁹ I will punish David’s children because of this. But I will not punish them forever.’”

Solomon’s Death

⁴⁰ Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam ran away to Egypt. He went to Shishak king of Egypt. And Jeroboam stayed there until Solomon died.

⁴¹ Everything else Solomon did is written down. He showed much wisdom. It is written in the book of the history of Solomon. ⁴² Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for 40 years. ⁴³ Then he died and was buried in Jerusalem, the city of David, his father. And his son Rehoboam became king after him.

Jerusalem Will Be Destroyed

²⁰ “When you see armies all around Jerusalem, then you will know that it will soon be destroyed. ²¹ At that time, the people in Judea should run away to the mountains. The people in Jerusalem must get out. If you are near the city, don’t go in! ²² These are the days of punishment to make come true all that is written in the Scriptures. ²³ At that time, it will be hard for women who are pregnant or have nursing babies! Great trouble will come upon this land, and God will be angry with these people. ²⁴ Some will be killed by the sword and taken as prisoners to all nations. Jerusalem will be crushed by non-Jewish people until their time is over.

Don’t Fear

²⁵ “Amazing things will happen to the sun, moon, and stars. On earth, nations will be afraid because of the roar and fury of the sea. They will not know what to do. ²⁶ People will be so afraid they will faint. They will wonder what is happening to the whole world. Everything in the sky will be changed. ²⁷ Then people will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ²⁸ When these things begin to happen, don’t fear. Look up and hold your heads high because the time when God will free you is near!”

My Words Will Live Forever

²⁹ Then Jesus told this story: “Look at the fig tree and all the other trees. ³⁰ When their leaves appear, you know that summer is near. ³¹ In the same way, when you see all these things happening, then you will know that God’s kingdom is coming very soon.

³² “I tell you the truth. All these things will happen while the people of this time are still living! ³³ The whole world, earth and sky, will be destroyed; but the words I have said will never be destroyed!

Be Ready All the Time

³⁴ “Be careful! Don’t spend your time feasting and drinking. Or don’t be too busy with worldly things. If you do that, you will not be able to think straight. And then that day might come when you are not ready. ³⁵ It will close like a trap on all people on earth. ³⁶ So be ready all the time. Pray that you will be strong enough to escape all these things that will happen. And pray that you will be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

³⁷ During the day, Jesus taught the people in the Temple. At night he went out of the city and stayed on the Mount of Olives. ³⁸ Every morning all the people got up early to go to the Temple to listen to him.