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10 But also the queen of Sheba, when the fame of Solomon was heard, came in the name of the Lord to assay him in dark and doubtful questions. (And the queen of Sheba, when she heard of Solomon’s fame, regarding his knowledge concerning the name of the Lord, came to test him with dark and doubtful questions.)

And she entered with much fellowship and riches into Jerusalem, and with camels bearing sweet smelling things, and gold greatly without number, and precious stones; and she came to king Solomon, and spake to him all things which she had in her heart.

And Solomon taught her all [the] words which she had put forth; no word was, that might be hid from the king, and which he answered not to her. (And Solomon taught her all the things that she asked him about; there was nothing that was hid from the king, and which he did not answer to her, or share with her.)

And the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had builded,

and the meats of his table (and the food on his table), and the dwelling places of his servants, and the orders of the men serving him, and the clothes of them, and the butlers, and the burnt sacrifices which he offered in the house of the Lord; and she had no more spirit.

And she said to the king, The word is true, that I heard in my land, of thy words, and of thy wisdom;

and I believed not to men telling to me, till I myself came, and saw with mine eyes, and proved that the half part was not told to me; thy wisdom is more and thy works, than the fame that I heard. (and I did not believe what they told me, until I came myself, and saw with my eyes, and proved that the half part was not told to me; thy wisdom and thy works be more than the reports that I have heard.)

Thy men be blessed, and thy servants be blessed, these that stand before thee ever[more] (those who stand before thee forevermore), and hear thy wisdom.

Blessed be thy Lord God, whom thou pleasedest, and hath set thee on the throne of Israel; for the Lord loved Israel without end, and hath ordained thee king, that thou shouldest do doom and rightfulness (so that thou can give judgement and show uprightness).

10 Therefore she gave to the king sixscore talents of gold, and full many sweet smelling things, and precious stones; so many sweet smelling things were no more brought (there were never brought there again so many sweet smelling things), as those which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.

11 But also the ship(s) of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir full many trees of thyine, and precious stones. (And the ships of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, also brought from Ophir a great deal of thyine wood, and precious stones.)

12 And king Solomon made of the trees of thyine undersettings of the house of the Lord, and of the king’s house, and harps, and citoles to singers; such (fine) trees of thyine were not brought (there), neither seen (again), till into this present day. (And King Solomon made from the thyine wood undersettings for the House of the Lord, and for the king’s house, and harps and lutes for the singers; there was never such fine thyine wood brought there, nor seen again, unto this present day.)

13 Soothly king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all things which she would have, and asked of him, besides these things which he had given to her by the king’s gift willfully; and she turned again, and went into her land with her servants. (And King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything that she desired, and asked for from him, besides those things which he had willingly, or freely, given to her by the king’s gift; and then she returned, and went back to her land with her servants.)

14 Forsooth the weight of gold, that was offered to Solomon by each year, was of six hundred and six and sixty talents of gold,

15 besides that which the men that were on the tollages, that is, rents of things borne about in the land (that is, the rents for things borne about in the land), and that (the) merchants, and all men selling shields, and that all the kings of Arabia, and the dukes of the land, gave.

16 And king Solomon made two hundred shields of purest gold; he gave six hundred shekels of gold into the plates of one shield (he gave six hundred shekels of gold to make the plates for one shield);

17 and he made three hundred bucklers of proved gold; three hundred talents of gold covered one buckler (three pounds of gold covered one buckler). And the king put those bucklers in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

18 Also king Solomon made a great throne of ivory, and covered it with full fine gold;

19 and the throne had six degrees; and the highness of the throne was round in the hinder part (and the throne had six steps; and the top of the throne was round on the back part); and twain hands were on this side and on that side, holding the seat, and two lions stood beside each hand;

20 and twelve little lions standing on [the] six degrees, (and twelve little lions standing on the six steps), on this side and on that side; such a work was not made in all realms.

21 But also all the vessels, of which king Solomon drank, were of gold, and all the purtenance of the house of the forest of Lebanon was of purest gold; silver was not (used at all), neither it was areckoned of any price in the days of Solomon.

22 For the ship(s) of the king went once by three years with the ship(s) of Hiram into Tharshish, and brought (back) from thence gold, and silver, and teeth of elephants, and apes, and peacocks.

23 Therefore king Solomon was magnified above all [the] kings of [the] earth in riches and wisdom.

24 And all earth desired to see the cheer of Solomon, to hear the wisdom of him, which wisdom God had given in his heart. (And the whole earth desired to come see Solomon’s face, to hear his wisdom, which wisdom God had placed in his heart.)

25 And all men brought gifts to him, vessels of gold, and of silver, clothes, and armours of battle (and arms, or weapons, of battle), and sweet smelling things, and horses, and mules, by each year.

26 And Solomon gathered together chariots, and horsemen; and a thousand and four hundred chariots were made to him, and twelve thousand horsemen; and he disposed them by [the] strengthened cities, and with the king in Jerusalem. (And Solomon gathered together chariots, and horsemen; and a thousand and four hundred chariots were made for him, and he had twelve thousand horsemen; and he stationed them in the fortified cities, and with the king himself in Jerusalem.)

27 And he made, that so great abundance of silver was in Jerusalem, (as) how great was also (that) of (the) stones; and he gave the multitude of cedars as (the) sycamores, that grow in field places (and he made cedars to be like the multitude of sycamores, which grow in the fields).

28 And the horses of Solomon were led out of Egypt, and (out) of Coa; for (the) merchants of the king bought them of Coa, and brought them to him, for [the] price ordained. (And Solomon’s horses were brought out of Egypt, and out of Coa; for the king’s merchants bought them in Coa, and then brought them to him, for the ordained price.)

29 For a chariot went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty shekels; and by this manner all the kings of Hittites, and of Syria, sold horses.

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon(A)

10 When the queen of Sheba(B) heard about the fame(C) of Solomon and his relationship to the Lord, she came to test Solomon with hard questions.(D) Arriving at Jerusalem with a very great caravan(E)—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had on her mind. Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her. When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, the food on his table,(F) the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at[a] the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.

She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. But I did not believe(G) these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth(H) you have far exceeded the report I heard. How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear(I) your wisdom! Praise(J) be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love(K) for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice(L) and righteousness.”

10 And she gave the king 120 talents[b] of gold,(M) large quantities of spices, and precious stones. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

11 (Hiram’s ships brought gold from Ophir;(N) and from there they brought great cargoes of almugwood[c] and precious stones. 12 The king used the almugwood to make supports[d] for the temple of the Lord and for the royal palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. So much almugwood has never been imported or seen since that day.)

13 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for, besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.

Solomon’s Splendor(O)

14 The weight of the gold(P) that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,[e] 15 not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the territories.

16 King Solomon made two hundred large shields(Q) of hammered gold; six hundred shekels[f] of gold went into each shield. 17 He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three minas[g] of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.(R)

18 Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. 19 The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. 20 Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. 21 All King Solomon’s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold.(S) Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon’s days. 22 The king had a fleet of trading ships[h](T) at sea along with the ships(U) of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.

23 King Solomon was greater in riches(V) and wisdom(W) than all the other kings of the earth. 24 The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom(X) God had put in his heart. 25 Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift(Y)—articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.

26 Solomon accumulated chariots and horses;(Z) he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses,[i] which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. 27 The king made silver as common(AA) in Jerusalem as stones,(AB) and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig(AC) trees in the foothills. 28 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue[j]—the royal merchants purchased them from Kue at the current price. 29 They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty.[k] They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites(AD) and of the Arameans.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 10:5 Or the ascent by which he went up to
  2. 1 Kings 10:10 That is, about 4 1/2 tons or about 4 metric tons
  3. 1 Kings 10:11 Probably a variant of algumwood; also in verse 12
  4. 1 Kings 10:12 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  5. 1 Kings 10:14 That is, about 25 tons or about 23 metric tons
  6. 1 Kings 10:16 That is, about 15 pounds or about 6.9 kilograms; also in verse 29
  7. 1 Kings 10:17 That is, about 3 3/4 pounds or about 1.7 kilograms; or perhaps reference is to double minas, that is, about 7 1/2 pounds or about 3.5 kilograms.
  8. 1 Kings 10:22 Hebrew of ships of Tarshish
  9. 1 Kings 10:26 Or charioteers
  10. 1 Kings 10:28 Probably Cilicia
  11. 1 Kings 10:29 That is, about 3 3/4 pounds or about 1.7 kilograms