1Now the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon in connection with the name of Yahweh, and she came to test him with riddles.
2And she came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. And she came to Solomon and spoke with him about all that was on her heart.
3And Solomon answered her all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he did not tell her.
4When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,
5and the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his ministers and their attire, and his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he would offer up at the house of Yahweh, there was no more breath left in her.
6And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land about your words and about your wisdom.
7But I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes saw; and behold, not even half was told to me. You have surpassed in wisdom and goodness the report that I heard.
8Blessed are your men; blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually, who hear your wisdom!
9Blessed be Yahweh your God, who delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel! Because Yahweh loved Israel forever, he made you king, to execute justice and righteousness.
10And she gave the king one hundred twenty talents of gold, and a very great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again did such an abundance of spices come as that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
11And also the fleet of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir a very great quantity of almug wood and precious stones.
12And the king made of the almug wood supports for the house of Yahweh and for the king’s house, and lyres and harps for the singers. No such almug wood has come or been seen to this day.
13And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire that she asked, besides what he gave her out of the bounty of King Solomon. Then she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants.
14Now the weight of the gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents of gold,
15besides that from the traders and the traffic of the merchants, and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land.
16And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield.
17And three hundred small shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. And the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
18And the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with refined gold.
19The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was rounded behind it, and there were armrests on either side of the seat, with two lions standing beside the armrests.
20And twelve lions stood there on the six steps, on either side. Nothing like it had been made for any kingdom.
21And 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 were of silver; it was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.
22For the king had a fleet of Tarshish at sea with the fleet of Hiram; once every three years the fleet of Tarshish would come, bearing gold and silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
23So King Solomon grew greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.
24And all the earth was seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.
25And each of them would bring his gift: articles of silver and articles of gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year.
26And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.
27And the king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and cedars he made as plentiful as the sycamores that are in the Shephelah.
28And Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and from Kue; the king’s merchants would obtain them from Kue at a price.
29A chariot could be imported from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty; and so, through them, they were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram.
Open in the interactive reader →