I Kings 10

¹Now the queen of Sheba, hearing great things of Solomon, came to put his wisdom to the test with hard questions.

²And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels weighted down with spices, and stores of gold and jewels: and when she came to Solomon she had talk with him of everything in her mind.

³And Solomon gave her answers to all her questions; there was no secret which the king did not make clear to her.

⁴And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he had made,

⁵And the food at his table, and all his servants seated there, and those who were waiting on him in their places, and their robes, and his wine-servants, and the burned offerings which he made in the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her.

⁶And she said to the king, The account which was given to me in my country of your acts and your wisdom was true.

⁷But I had no faith in what was said about you, till I came and saw for myself; and now I see that it was not half the story; your wisdom and your wealth are much greater than they said.

⁸Happy are your wives, happy are these your servants whose place is ever before you, hearing your words of wisdom.

⁹May the Lord your God be praised, whose pleasure it was to put you on the seat of the kingdom of Israel; because the Lord's love for Israel is eternal, he has made you king, to be their judge in righteousness.

¹⁰And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a great store of spices and jewels: never again was such a wealth of spices seen as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.

¹¹And the sea-force of Hiram, in addition to gold from Ophir, came back with much sandal-wood and jewels.

¹²And from the sandal-wood the king made pillars for the house of the Lord, and for the king's house, and instruments of music for the makers of melody: never has such sandal-wood been seen to this day.

¹³And King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she made request for, in addition to what he gave her freely from the impulse of his heart. So she went back to her country, she and her servants.

¹⁴Now the weight of gold which came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents;

¹⁵In addition to what came to him from the business of the traders, and from all the kings of the Arabians, and from the rulers of the country.

¹⁶And Solomon made two hundred body-covers of hammered gold, every one having six hundred shekels of gold in it.

¹⁷And he made three hundred smaller body-covers of hammered gold, with three pounds of gold in every cover: and the king put them in the house of the Woods of Lebanon.

¹⁸Then the king made a great ivory seat, plated with the best gold.

¹⁹There were six steps going up to it, and the top of it was round at the back, there were arms on the two sides of the seat, and two lions by the side of the arms;

²⁰And twelve lions were placed on the one side and on the other side on the six steps: there was nothing like it in any kingdom.

²¹And all King Solomon's drinking-vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the Woods of Lebanon were of the best gold; not one was of silver, for no one gave a thought to silver in the days of King Solomon.

²²For the king had Tarshish-ships at sea with the ships of Hiram; once every three years the Tarshish-ships came with gold and silver and ivory and monkeys and peacocks.

²³And King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and in wisdom.

²⁴And from all over the earth they came to see Solomon and to give ear to his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.

²⁵And everyone took with him an offering, vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and robes, and coats of metal, and spices, and horses, and beasts of transport, regularly year by year.

²⁶And Solomon got together war-carriages and horsemen; he had one thousand, four hundred carriages and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he kept, some in the carriage-towns and some with the king at Jerusalem.

²⁷And the king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem and cedars like the sycamore-trees of the lowlands in number.

²⁸And Solomon's horses came from Egypt and from Kue; the king's traders got them at a price from Kue.

²⁹A war-carriage might be got from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty; they got them at the same rate for all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.

I Kings 10

¹When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions.

²She came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bore spices, and very much gold, and precious stones; and when she had come to Solomon, she talked with him of all that was in her heart.

³Solomon told her all her questions: there was not anything hidden from the king which he did not tell her.

⁴When the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,

⁵and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their clothing, and his cup bearers, and his ascent by which he went up to the house of the Lord; there was no more spirit in her.

⁶She said to the king, "It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts, and of your wisdom.

⁷However I did not believe the words, until I came, and my eyes had seen it. Behold, the half was not told me! Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame which I heard.

⁸Happy are your men, happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you, who hear your wisdom.

⁹Blessed is the Lord your God, who delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel. Because the Lord loved Israel forever, therefore made he you king, to do justice and righteousness."

¹⁰She gave the king one hundred twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones. There came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.

¹¹The navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees and precious stones.

¹²The king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the Lord, and for the king's house, harps also and stringed instruments for the singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen, to this day.

¹³King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned, and went to her own land, she and her servants.

¹⁴Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents of gold,

¹⁵besides 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.

¹⁶King Solomon made two hundred bucklers of beaten gold; six hundred shekels of gold went to one buckler.

¹⁷He made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three minas of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

¹⁸Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the finest gold.

¹⁹There were six steps to the throne, and the top of the throne was round behind; and there were stays on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the stays.

²⁰Twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other on the six steps: there was nothing like it made in any kingdom.

²¹All 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 nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.

²²For the king had at sea a navy of Tarshish with the navy of Hiram: once every three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

²³So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.

²⁴All the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.

²⁵They brought every man his tribute, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and clothing, and armor, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.

²⁶Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, that he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.

²⁷The king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland, for abundance.

²⁸The horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt; and the king's merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price.

²⁹A chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for one hundred fifty; and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, they brought them out by their means.