God's New Bible

The Second Book of the Chronicles

Douay-Rheims :: World English Bible Catholic

- Chapter 9 -

(1 Kings 10:1–13)
1
And when the queen of Saba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to try him with hard questions at Jerusalem, with great riches, and camels, which carried spices, and abundance of gold, and precious stones. And when she was come to Solomon, she proposed to him all that was in her heart.
2
And Solomon explained to her all that she proposed: and there was not any thing that he did not make clear unto her.
3
And when she had seen these things, to wit, the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he had built,
4
And the meats of his table, and the dwelling places of his servants, and the attendance of his officers, and their apparel, his cupbearers also, and their garments, and the victims which he offered in the house of the Lord: there was no more spirit in her, she was so astonished.
5
And she said to the king: The word is true which I heard in my country of thy virtues and wisdom.
6
I did not believe them that told it, until I came, and my eyes had seen, and I had proved that scarce one half of thy wisdom had been told me: thou hast exceeded the same with thy virtues.
7
Happy are thy men, and happy are thy servants, who stand always before thee, and hear thy wisdom.
8
Blessed be the Lord thy God, who hath been pleased to set thee on his throne, king of the Lord thy God. Because God loveth Israel, and will preserve them for ever: therefore hath he made thee king over them, to do judgment and justice.
9
And she gave to the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and most precious stones: there were no such spices as these which the queen of Saba gave to king Solomon.
10
And the servants also of Hiram, with the servants of Solomon, brought gold from Ophir, and thyine trees, and most precious stones:
11
And the king made of the thyine trees stairs in the house of the Lord, and in the king’s house, and harps and psalteries for the singing men: never were there seen such trees in the land of Juda.
12
And king Solomon gave to the queen of Saba all that she desired, and that she asked, and many more things than she brought to him: so she returned, and went to her own country with her servants.

Solomon’s Wealth and Splendor

(1 Kings 10:14–29)
13
And the weight of the gold, that was brought to Solomon every year, was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold:
14
Beside the sum which the deputies of divers nations, and the merchants were accustomed to bring, and all the kings of Arabia, and the lords of the lands, who I brought gold and silver to Solomon.
15
And king Solomon made two hundred golden spears, of the sum of six hundred pieces of gold, which went to every spear:
16
And three hundred golden shields of three hundred pieces of gold, which went to the covering of every shield: and the king put them in the armoury, which was compassed with a wood.
17
The king also made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold.
18
And six steps to go up to the throne, and a footstool of gold, and two arms one on either side, and two lions standing by the arms:
19
Moreover twelve other little lions standing upon the steps on both sides: there was not such a throne in any kingdom.
20
And all the vessels of the king’s table were of gold, and the vessels of the house of the forest of Libanus were of the purest gold. For no account was made of silver in those days.
21
For the king’s ships went to Tharsis with the servants of Hiram, once in three years: and they brought thence gold and silver, and ivory, and apes, and peacocks.
22
And Solomon was magnified above all the kings of the earth for riches and glory.
23
And all the kings of the earth desired to see the face of Solomon, that they might hear the wisdom which God had given in his heart.
24
And every year they brought him presents, vessels of silver and of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, and horses, and mules.
25
And Solomon had forty thousand horses in the stables, and twelve thousand chariots, and horsemen, and he placed them in the cities of the chariots, and where the king was in Jerusalem.
26
And he exercised authority over all the kings from the river Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, and to the borders of Egypt.
27
And he made silver as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones: and cedars as common as the sycamores, which grow in the plains.
28
And horses were brought to him out of Egypt, and out of all countries.

The Death of Solomon

(1 Kings 11:41–43)
29
Now the rest of the acts of Solomon first and last are written in the words of Nathan the prophet, and in the boobs of Ahias the Silonite, and in the vision of Addo the seer, against Jeroboam the son of Nabat.
30
And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.
31
And he slept with his fathers: and they buried him in the city of David: and Roboam his son reigned in his stead.
(1 Kings 10:1–13)
1
When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to test Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great caravan, including camels that bore spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones. When she had come to Solomon, she talked with him about all that was in her heart.
2
Solomon answered all her questions. There wasn’t anything hidden from Solomon which he didn’t tell her.
3
When the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built,
4
the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his ministers, their clothing, his cup bearers and their clothing, and his ascent by which he went up to the LORD’s house, there was no more spirit in her.(a)
5
She said to the king, “It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts and of your wisdom.
6
However I didn’t believe their words until I came, and my eyes had seen it; and behold half of the greatness of your wisdom wasn’t told me. You exceed the fame that I heard!
7
Happy are your men, and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom.
8
Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you and set you on his throne to be king for the LORD your God, because your God loved Israel, to establish them forever. Therefore he made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.”
9
She gave the king one hundred and twenty talents (b) of gold, spices in great abundance, and precious stones. There was never before such spice as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
10
The servants of Huram and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, also brought algum trees (c) and precious stones.
11
The king used algum tree wood to make terraces for the LORD’s house and for the king’s house, and harps and stringed instruments for the singers. There were none like these seen before in the land of Judah.
12
King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, more than that which she had brought to the king. So she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants.

Solomon’s Wealth and Splendor

(1 Kings 10:14–29)
13
Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents (d) of gold,
14
in addition to that which the traders and merchants brought. All the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.
15
King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold. Six hundred shekels(e) of beaten gold went to one large shield.
16
He made three hundred shields of beaten gold. Three hundred shekels(f) of gold went to one shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
17
Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold.
18
There were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and armrests on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests.
19
Twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other on the six steps. There was nothing like it made in any other kingdom.
20
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. Silver was not considered valuable in the days of Solomon.
21
For the king had ships that went to Tarshish with Huram’s servants. Once every three years, the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
22
So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.
23
All the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.
24
They each brought tribute: vessels of silver, vessels of gold, clothing, armor, spices, horses, and mules every year.
25
Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen that he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem.
26
He ruled over all the kings from the River even to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt.
27
The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars to be as abundant as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland.
28
They brought horses for Solomon out of Egypt and out of all lands.

The Death of Solomon

(1 Kings 11:41–43)
29
Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, aren’t they written in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat?
30
Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.
31
Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in his father David’s city; and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

Footnotes

(a)9:4 or, she was breathless.
(b)9:9 A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds or 965 Troy ounces, so 120 talents is about 3.6 metric tons
(c)9:10 possibly Indian sandalwood, which has nice grain and a pleasant scent and is good for woodworking
(d)9:13 A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds or 965 Troy ounces, so 666 talents is about 20 metric tons
(e)9:15 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.32 Troy ounces, so 600 shekels was about 6 kilograms or about 192 Troy ounces.
(f)9:16 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.32 Troy ounces, so 300 shekels was about 3 kilograms or about 96 Troy ounces.