I Kings 10

¹But also the queen of Saba, whanne the fame of Salomon was herd, cam in the name of the Lord to tempte hym in derk and douti questiouns.

²And sche entride with myche felouschipe and richessis in to Jerusalem, and with camels berynge swete smellynge thingis, and gold greetli with out noumbre, and preciouse stoonys; and sche cam to king Salomon, and spak to hym alle thingis whiche sche hadde in hir herte.

³And Salomon tauyte hir alle wordis whiche sche hadde put forth; no word was, that myyte be hid fro the kyng, and which he answeryde not to hir.

⁴Forsothe the queen of Saba siy al the wisdom of Salomon, and the hows which he hadde bildid,

⁵and the metis of his table, and the dwellyng places of hise seruauntis, and the ordris of mynystris, and the clothis of hem, and the boteleris, and the brent sacrifices whiche he offride in the hows of the Lord; and sche hadde no more spirite.

⁶And sche seide to the kyng, The word is trewe, which Y herde in my lond, of thi wordis, and of thi wisdom;

⁷and Y bileuyde not to men tellynge to me, til Y my silf cam, and siy with myn iyen, and preuede that the half part was not teld to me; thi wisdom is more and thi werkis, than the tale which Y herde.

⁸Thi men ben blessid, and thi seruauntis ben blessid, these that stonden bifor thee euere, and heren thi wisdom.

⁹Blessid be thi Lord God, whom thou plesedist, and hath set thee on the trone of Israel; for the Lord louyde Israel with outen ende, and hath ordeynyd thee kyng, that thou schuldist do doom and riytfulnesse.

¹⁰Therfor sche yaf to the kyng sixe score talentis of gold, and ful many swete smellynge thingis, and precious stoonus; so many swete smellynge thingis weren no more brouyt, as tho which the queen of Saba yaf to kyng Salomon.

¹¹But also the schip of Hiram, that brouyte gold fro Ophir, brouyte fro Ophir ful many trees of tyme, and preciouse stoonys.

¹²And kyng Salomon made of the trees of tyme vndir settyngis of the hows of the Lord, and of the kyngis hows, and harpis, and sitols to syngeris; siche trees of tyme weren not brouyt nether seyn, til in to present dai.

¹³Sotheli kyng Salomon yaf to the queen of Saba alle thingis whiche sche wolde, and axide of hym, outakun these thingis whiche he hadde youe to hir bi the kyngis yifte wilfuli; and sche turnede ayen, and yede in to hir lond with hir seruauntis.

¹⁴Forsothe the weyte of gold, that was offrid to Salomon bi ech yeer, was of sixe hundrid and sixe and sixti talentis of gold,

¹⁵outakun that which men that weren on the talagis, `that is, rentis for thingis borun aboute in the lond, and marchauntis, and alle men sillynge scheeldys, and alle the kyngis of Arabie, and dukis of erthe yauen.

¹⁶And kyng Salomon made two hundrid scheeldis of pureste gold; he yaf sixe hundrid siclis of gold in to the platis of oo scheeld;

¹⁷and he made thre hundrid of bokeleris of preued gold; thre hundrid talentis of gold clothiden o bokeler. And the kyng puttide tho in the hows of the forest of Lyban.

¹⁸Also kyng Salomon made a greet trone of yuer, and clothide it with ful fyn gold;

¹⁹which trone hadde sixe grees; and the hiynesse of the trone was round in the hynderere part; and tweine hondis on this side and on that side, holdynge the seete, and twei lyouns stoden bisidis ech hond;

²⁰and twelue litil liouns stondynge on sixe grees on this side and on that side; siche a werk was not maad in alle rewmes.

²¹But also alle the vessels, of which kyng Salomon drank, weren of gold, and alle the purtenaunce of the hows of the forest of Liban was of pureste gold; siluer was not, nether it was arettid of ony prijs in the daies of Salomon.

²²For the schip of `the kyng wente onys bi thre yeer with the schip of Hiram in to Tharsis, and brouyte fro thennus gold, and siluer, and teeth of olifauntis, and apis, and pokokis.

²³Therfor kyng Salomon was magnified aboue alle kyngis of erthe in richessis and wisdom.

²⁴And al erthe desiride to se the cheer of Salomon, to here the wisdom of him, which wisdom God hadde youe in his herte.

²⁵And alle men brouyten yiftis to hym, vessels of gold, and of siluer, clothis, and armeris of batel, and swete smellynge thingis, and horsis, and mulis, bi ech yeer.

²⁶And Salomon gaderide togidere charis, and knyytis; and a thousinde and foure hundrid charis weren maad to hym, and twelue thousynde `of knyytis; and he disposide hem bi strengthid citees, and with the kyng in Jerusalem.

²⁷And he made, that so greet aboundaunce of siluer was in Jerusalem, how greet was also of stoonys; and he yaf the multitude of cedris as sicomoris, that growen in feeldy places.

²⁸And the horsis of Salomon weren led out of Egipt, and of Coa; for the marchauntis of the kyng bouyten of Coa, and brouyten for prijs ordeyned.

²⁹Forsothe a chare yede out of Egipt for sixe hundrid siclis of siluer, and an hors for an hundrid and fifti siclis; and bi this maner alle the kyngis of Etheis and of Sirye seelden horsis.

I Kings 10

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

²And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

³And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not.

⁴And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon’s wisdom, and the house that he had built,

⁵And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord; there was no more spirit in her.

⁶And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.

⁷Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.

⁸Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.

⁹Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the Lord loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice.

¹⁰And she gave the king an hundred and 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.

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

¹²And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the Lord, and for the king’s house, harps also and psalteries for singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day.

¹³And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

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

¹⁵Beside that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffick of the spice merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the country.

¹⁶And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of gold went to one target.

¹⁷And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pound 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 best gold.

¹⁹The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round behind: and there were stays on either side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the stays.

²⁰And 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.

²¹And 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: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.

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

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

²⁴And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.

²⁵And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.

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

²⁷And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycomore trees that are in the vale, for abundance.

²⁸And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king’s merchants received the linen yarn at a price.

²⁹And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.