II Chronicles 9

¹And 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.

²And Solomon explained to her all that she proposed: and there was not any thing that he did not make clear unto her.

³And when she had seen these things, to wit, the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he had built,

⁴And 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.

⁵And she said to the king: The word is true which I heard in my country of thy virtues and wisdom.

⁶I 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.

⁷Happy are thy men, and happy are thy servants, who stand always before thee, and hear thy wisdom.

⁸Blessed 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 forever: therefore hath he made thee king over them, to do judgment and justice.

⁹And 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.

¹⁰And the servants also of Hiram, with the servants of Solomon, brought gold from Ophir, and thyine trees, and most precious stones:

¹¹And 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.

¹²And 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.

¹³And the weight of the gold, that was brought to Solomon every year, was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold:

¹⁴Beside 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 brought gold and silver to Solomon.

¹⁵And king Solomon made two hundred golden spears, of the sum of six hundred pieces of gold, which went to every spear:

¹⁶And 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.

¹⁷The king also made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold.

¹⁸And 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:

¹⁹Moreover twelve other little lions standing upon the steps on both sides: there was not such a throne in any kingdom.

²⁰And 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.

²¹For 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.

²²And Solomon was magnified above all the kings of the earth for riches and glory.

²³And 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.

²⁴And every year they brought him presents, vessels of silver and of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, and horses, and mules.

²⁵And 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.

²⁶And he exercised authority over all the kings from the river Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, and to the borders of Egypt.

²⁷And he made silver as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones: and cedars as common as the sycamores, which grow in the plains.

²⁸And horses were brought to him out of Egypt, and out of all countries.

²⁹Now the rest of the acts of Solomon first and last are written in the words of Nathan the prophet, and in the books of Ahias the Silonite, and in the vision of Addo the seer, against Jeroboam the son of Nabat.

³⁰And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.

³¹And he slept with his fathers: and they buried him in the city of David: and Roboam his son reigned in his stead.

II Chronicles 9

¹And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

²And Solomon told her all her questions: and there was nothing hid from Solomon which he told her not.

³And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,

⁴And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel; his cupbearers also, and their apparel; and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the Lord; there was no more spirit in her.

⁵And she said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom:

⁶Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard.

⁷Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom.

⁸Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on his throne, to be king for the Lord thy God: because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore made he thee king over them, to do judgment and justice.

⁹And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave king Solomon.

¹⁰And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, which brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and precious stones.

¹¹And the king made of the algum trees terraces to the house of the Lord, and to the king’s palace, and harps and psalteries for singers: and there were none such seen before in the land of Judah.

¹²And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which she had brought unto the king. So she turned, and went away to her own land, she and her servants.

¹³Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold;

¹⁴Beside that which chapmen and merchants brought. And all the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.

¹⁵And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of beaten gold went to one target.

¹⁶And three hundred shields made he of beaten gold: three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield. And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

¹⁷Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold.

¹⁸And there were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and stays on each side of the sitting place, and two lions standing by the stays:

¹⁹And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps. There was not the like made in any kingdom.

²⁰And all the drinking vessels of king Solomon 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 not any thing accounted of in the days of Solomon.

²¹For the king’s ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

²²And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.

²³And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart.

²⁴And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, harness, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.

²⁵And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; whom he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.

²⁶And he reigned over all the kings from the river even unto the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt.

²⁷And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycomore trees that are in the low plains in abundance.

²⁸And they brought unto Solomon horses out of Egypt, and out of all lands.

²⁹Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam the son of Nebat?

³⁰And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.

³¹And Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.