1 Kings
Chapter 10
1 When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s fame and his relationship with God, she came to test him with difficult questions.
2 She went to Jerusalem with a large group, camels carrying spices, lots of gold, and precious stones. When she met Solomon, she talked with him about everything on her mind.
3 Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was hidden from the king, which he did not explain to her.
4 When the queen of Sheba saw all of Solomon’s wisdom and the house he built,
5 The food at his table, how his servants sat, how his aides served, their clothes, his cup-bearers, and the way he went up to God’s house; it left her breathless.
6 She told the king, “The stories I heard in my country about your deeds and your wisdom were true.”
7 I didn’t believe what was said until I came and saw it myself. And what I saw was far greater than I was told; your wisdom and wealth are more than the stories I heard.
8 Your men are happy, your servants who always stand before you and hear your wisdom are happy too.
9 God blesses you because he took pleasure in you and made you king of Israel; God’s love for Israel is eternal, so he made you ruler to carry out fairness and justice.
10 She gave the king 120 talents of gold, lots of spices, and valuable stones. No one gave King Solomon as many spices as the Queen of Sheba did.
11 Hiram’s ships, which carried gold from Ophir, also brought back many almug trees and valuable gems from Ophir.
12 The king used almug wood to make columns for God’s house and the royal palace, and to make harps and stringed instruments for musicians. There had never been such almug wood before, and none has been seen since then.
13 King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba everything she wanted, beyond what he had already generously given her. Then she and her servants went back to her own country.
14 Every year, Solomon received 666 talents of gold.
15 He also received from the traders, spice sellers, all the kings of Arabia, and the country’s leaders.
16 King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold; each shield used 600 shekels of gold.
17 He made three hundred gold shields; each shield used three pounds of gold. The king placed them in the Lebanon Forest House.
18 The king also made a big throne out of ivory and covered it with pure gold.
19 The throne had six steps and a round top at the back. There were armrests on both sides of the seat with two lions standing next to the armrests.
20 Twelve lions stood on each side of the six steps; nothing like this was made in any other kingdom.
21 All of King Solomon’s cups were made of gold, and everything in the Lebanon Forest House was pure gold; nothing was made of silver, as silver was not valued much in Solomon’s time.
22 The king had a fleet of ships for sailing to Tarshish that worked with Hiram’s fleet. Every three years, Tarshish’s ships came, bringing gold, silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks.
23 King Solomon was richer and wiser than all other kings on earth.
24 Everyone in the world wanted to hear Solomon’s wisdom that God had given him.
25 Everyone brought gifts, including silver and gold containers, clothes, weapons, spices, horses, and mules, each year.
26 Solomon collected chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen. He placed them in chariot cities and with him in Jerusalem.
27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees as plentiful as sycamore trees in the lowlands.
28 Solomon got horses from Egypt, and fine thread. The king’s traders bought the thread at a cost.
29 A chariot was brought from Egypt for six hundred pieces of silver, and a horse for one hundred and fifty pieces. This was done for all the Hittite kings and the Syrian kings, brought out by their agents.