The Queen of Sheba visits Solomon
1
And 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.
2
And 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.
The queen of Sheba heard about how great Solomon was, so she decided to come see for herself.
3
And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from
the king, which he told her not.
4
And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house
that he had built,
5
And 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.
Solomon answered all of her questions, and she was impressed with his wisdom, nice house, food, clothes, and servants.
6
And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own
land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.
7
Howbeit 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.
She said to Solomon,
You are as wise, rich, and famous as I'd heard.
8
Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually
before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.
Your servants are lucky to serve you.
9
Blessed 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.
God must love you a lot to give you so much stuff.
10
And 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.
The queen of Sheba was so impressed with Solomon that she gave him 120 talents of gold [
1] and more spices and
precious stones than anyone had ever seen before or has seen since.
11
And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from
Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones.
12
And 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.
(Hiram also gave Solomon more gold and plenty of almug trees and precious stones.
Solomon used the almug trees as pillars in God's house and to make harps for the singers.
No one has ever seen such almug trees before or since.)
13
And 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.
Solomon gave the queen of Sheba whatever she wanted from his royal bounty.
Then she went home.
14
Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred
threescore and six talents of gold,
15
Beside 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.
Every year, Solomon received 666 talents of gold. [2]
16
And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred
shekels of gold went to one target.
From all the gold and whatnot, Solomon made:
200 gold targets, each weighing 600 shekels. [3]
17
And 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.
300 gold shields, each weighing three pounds. [4]
18
Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the
best gold.
19
The 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.
20
And 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.
An ivory throne, overlaid with gold, with 14 (?) lions standing nearby.
There wasn't another throne like it in any kingdom.
21
And 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.
And gold drinking cups, none were made of silver.
22
For 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.
Solomon had a navy that brought him lots of gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
23
So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for
wisdom.
He was wiser and had more stuff than all the kings of the earth.
24
And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put
in his heart.
Everyone on earth came to Solomon, to hear the wisdom that God put in his heart.
25
And 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.
Every year, everyone brought him presents of silver, gold, clothing, armor, spices, horses, and mules.
26
And 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.
He had 1400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen.
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.
When Solomon was king, silver was as common as stones in Jerusalem, and cedars as common as sycamore trees.
28
And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king's
merchants received the linen yarn at a price.
He had Egyptian horses and linen yarn.
29
And 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.
And he bought an Egyptian chariot for 600 shekels of silver and a horse for 150.