God's New Bible

The First Book of the Kings

Literal Standard Version :: World English Bible Catholic

- Chapter 10 -

(2 Chronicles 9:1–12)
1
And the queen of Sheba is hearing of the fame of Solomon concerning the Name of YHWH, and comes to try him with enigmas,
2
and she comes to Jerusalem, with a very great company, camels carrying spices, and very much gold, and precious stone, and she comes to Solomon, and speaks to him all that has been with her heart.
3
And Solomon declares to her all her mattersthere has not been a thing hid from the king that he has not declared to her.
4
And the queen of Sheba sees all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he built,
5
and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the standing of his ministers, and their clothing, and his butlers, and his burnt-offering that he causes to ascend in the house of YHWH, and there has not been anymore spirit in her.
6
And she says to the king, “The word that I heard in my land has been true concerning your matters and your wisdom;
7
and I gave no credence to the words until I have come, and my eyes see, and behold, not [even] half was declared to me; you have added wisdom and goodness to the report that I heard.
8
O the blessedness of your men, O the blessedness of your servantsthesewho are standing before you continually, who are hearing your wisdom!
9
Your God YHWH is blessed, who delighted in you, to put you on the throne of Israel; in YHWH’s loving Israel for all time He sets you for king, to do judgment and righteousness.”
10
And she gives to the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and very many spices, and precious stone; there never again came in abundance like that spice that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
11
And also, the navy of Hiram that bore gold from Ophir, brought in very much almug-trees and precious stone from Ophir;
12
and the king makes the almug-trees a support for the house of YHWH, and for the house of the king, and harps and psalteries for singers; there have not come such almug-trees, nor have there been seen [such] to this day.
13
And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire that she asked, apart from that which he gave to her as a memorial of King Solomon, and she turns and goes to her land, she and her servants.

Solomon’s Wealth and Splendor

(2 Chronicles 1:14–17; 2 Chronicles 9:13–28)
14
And the weight of the gold that has come to Solomon in one year is six hundred sixty-six talents of gold,
15
apart from [that of] the tourists, and of the traffic of the merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the land.
16
And King Solomon makes two hundred bucklers of alloyed goldsix hundred [shekels] of gold go up on the one buckler;
17
and three hundred shields of alloyed goldthree pounds of gold go up on the one shield; and the king puts them [in] the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
18
And the king makes a great throne of ivory, and overlays it with refined gold;
19
the throne has six steps, and a round top [is] to the throne behind it, and hands [are] on this [side] and on that, to the place of the sitting, and two lions are standing near the hands,
20
and twelve lions are standing there on the six steps, on this [side] and on that; it has not been made so for any kingdom.
21
And all the drinking vessels of King Solomon [are] of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon [are] of refined goldthere are none of silver; it was not reckoned in the days of Solomon for anything,
22
for the king has a navy of Tarshish at sea with a navy of Hiram; once in three years the navy of Tarshish comes, carrying gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks [[ or monkeys]].
23
And King Solomon is greater than any of the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom,
24
and all the earth is seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom that God has put into his heart,
25
and they are each bringing his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armor, and spices, horses, and mules, the matter of a year in a year.
26
And Solomon gathers chariots, and horsemen, and he has one thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, and he places them in the cities of the chariot, and with the king in Jerusalem.
27
And the king makes the silver in Jerusalem as stones, and he has made the cedars as the sycamores that [are] in the low country, for abundance.
28
And the outgoing of the horses that King Solomon has [is] from Egypt, and from Keveh; merchants of the king take from Keveh at a price;
29
and a chariot comes up and comes out of Egypt for six hundred pieces of silver, and a horse for one hundred and fifty, and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Aram; they bring out by their hand.
(2 Chronicles 9:1–12)
1
When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the LORD’s name, she came to test him with hard questions.
2
She came to Jerusalem with a very great caravan, with camels that bore spices, very much gold, and precious stones; and when she had come to Solomon, she talked with him about all that was in her heart.
3
Solomon answered all her questions. There wasn’t anything hidden from the king which he didn’t tell her.
4
When the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built,
5
the food of his table, the sitting of his servants, the attendance of his officials, their clothing, his cup bearers, and his ascent by which he went up to the LORD’s house, there was no more spirit in her.
6
She said to the king, “It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts and of your wisdom.
7
However, I didn’t believe the words until I came and my eyes had seen it. Behold, not even half was told me! Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame which I heard.
8
Happy are your men, happy are these your servants who stand continually before you, who hear your wisdom.
9
Blessed is the LORD your God, who delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel. Because the LORD loved Israel forever, therefore he made you king, to do justice and righteousness.”
10
She gave the king one hundred twenty talents of gold, and a very great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again was there such an abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
11
The fleet of Hiram that brought gold from Ophir also brought in from Ophir great quantities of almug trees (a) and precious stones.
12
The king made of the almug trees pillars for the LORD’s house and for the king’s house, harps also and stringed instruments for the singers; no such almug trees came or were seen to this day.
13
King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, in addition to that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants.

Solomon’s Wealth and Splendor

(2 Chronicles 1:14–17; 2 Chronicles 9:13–28)
14
Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents (b) of gold,
15
in addition to that which the traders brought, and the traffic of the merchants, and of all the kings of the mixed people, and of the governors of the country.
16
King Solomon made two hundred bucklers of beaten gold; six hundred shekels(c) of gold went to one buckler.
17
He made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three minas (d) of gold went to one shield; and the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
18
Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the finest gold.
19
There were six steps to the throne, and the top of the throne was round behind; and there were armrests on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests.
20
Twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other on the six steps. Nothing like it was made in any kingdom.
21
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, because it was considered of little value in the days of Solomon.
22
For the king had a fleet of ships of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s fleet. Once every three years the fleet of Tarshish came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
23
So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.
24
All the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart.
25
Year after year, every man brought his tribute, vessels of silver, vessels of gold, clothing, armor, spices, horses, and mules.
26
Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen. He kept them in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem.
27
The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and cedars as common as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland.
28
The horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt. The king’s merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price.
29
A chariot was imported from Egypt for six hundred shekels (e) of silver, and a horse for one hundred fifty shekels; and so they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Syria.

Footnotes

(a)10:11 possibly an Indian sandalwood, with nice grain and a pleasant scent, and good for woodworking
(b)10:14 A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds or 965 Troy ounces, so 666 talents is about 20 metric tons
(c)10:16 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.32 Troy ounces, so 600 shekels is about 6 kilograms or 13.2 pounds or 192 Troy ounces.
(d)10:17 A mina is about 600 grams or 1.3 U. S. pounds.
(e)10:29 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces.