1 Kings 9:10–11:25

10  And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of Jehovah and the king’s house, 11  Hiram the king of Tyre having furnished Solomon with cedar-trees and cypress-trees, and with gold, according to all his desire, —that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. 12  And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him; and they did not please him. 13  And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul to this day. 14  And Hiram had sent to the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold.

15  And this is the account of the levy which king Solomon raised, to build the house of Jehovah, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer. 16  —Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer, and burned it with fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. 17  —And Solomon built Gezer, and lower Beth-horon, 18  and Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land, 19  and all the store-cities that Solomon had, and cities for chariots, and cities for the horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and on Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. 20  All the people that were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel, 21  their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel were not able utterly to destroy, upon them did Solomon impose a tribute of bondservice until this day. 22  But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen; but they were men of war, and his servants, and his chiefs, and his captains, and captains of his chariots, and his horsemen. 23  These were the chief superintendents that were over Solomon’s work, five hundred and fifty, that ruled over the people that wrought in the work. 24  But Pharaoh’s daughter came up out of the city of David to her house which he had built for her: then he built Millo. 25  And three times in the year did Solomon offer up burnt-offerings and peace-offerings upon the altar that he had built to Jehovah, and he burned incense upon that which was before Jehovah. So he finished the house. 26  And king Solomon made a fleet of ships in Ezion-Geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. 27  And Hiram sent in the fleet his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon; 28  and they went to Ophir, and fetched thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.

Chapter 10

1  And the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon in connection with the name of Jehovah, and came to prove him with enigmas. 2  And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bore spices and gold in very great abundance, and precious stones; and she came to Solomon, and spoke to him of all that was in her heart. 3  And Solomon explained to her all she spoke of: there was not a thing hidden from the king that he did not explain to her. 4  And when the queen of Sheba saw all Solomon’s wisdom, and the house that he had built, 5  and the food of his table, and the deportment of his servants, and the order of service of his attendants, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up to the house of Jehovah, there was no more spirit in her. 6  And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thine affairs, and of thy wisdom; 7  but I gave no credit to the words, until I came and mine eyes had seen; and behold, the half was not told me: in wisdom and prosperity thou exceedest the report that I heard. 8  Happy are thy men! happy are these thy servants, who stand continually before thee, who hear thy wisdom! 9  Blessed be Jehovah thy God, who delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel! Because Jehovah loves Israel for ever, therefore did he make thee king, to do judgment and justice. 10  And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in very great abundance, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as those which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon. 11  (And the fleet also of Hiram, which carried gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir sandal-wood in very great abundance, and precious stones. 12  And the king made of the sandal-wood a balustrade for the house of Jehovah, and for the king’s house, and harps and lutes for the singers. There came no such sandal-wood, nor was there seen to this day.) 13  And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides what he gave her of the bounty of king Solomon. And she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants.

14  And the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, 15  besides what came by the dealers, and by the traffic of the merchants, and by all the kings of Arabia, and by the governors of the country. 16  And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold, —he applied six hundred shekels of gold to one target; 17  and three hundred shields of beaten gold, —he applied three minas of gold to one shield; and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. 18  And the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with refined gold: 19  the throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was rounded behind; and there were arms on each side at the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the arms; 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. 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 precious gold: none were of silver, which was not of the least account in the days of Solomon. 22  For the king had on the sea a Tarshish-fleet, with the fleet of Hiram: once in three years came the Tarshish-fleet, bringing gold and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. 23  And king Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. 24  And all the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 25  And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and clothing, and armour, and spices, horses and mules, a rate year by year. 26  And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; and he had a thousand four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; and he placed them in the chariot-cities, and with the king at Jerusalem. 27  And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he as the sycamores that are in the lowland for abundance. 28  And the exportation of horses that Solomon had was from Egypt: a caravan of the king’s merchants fetched a drove of horses, at a price. 29  And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty; and so they brought them by their means, for all the kings of the Hittites and for the kings of Syria.

Chapter 11

1  But king Solomon loved many foreign women, besides the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, Hittites; 2  of the nations of which Jehovah had said to the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in to you; they would certainly turn away your heart after their gods: to these Solomon was attached in love. 3  And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. 4  And it came to pass when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with Jehovah his God, as the heart of David his father. 5  And Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6  And Solomon did evil in the sight of Jehovah, and followed not fully Jehovah, as David his father. 7  Then did Solomon build a high place for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, on the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon. 8  And so he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

9  And Jehovah was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from Jehovah the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, 10  and had commanded him concerning this thing, not to go after other gods; but he kept not what Jehovah had commanded. 11  And Jehovah said to Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done by thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes which I commanded thee, I will certainly rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant: 12  notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it, for David thy father’s sake; I will rend it out of the hand of thy son; 13  only, I will not rend away all the kingdom: I will give one tribe to thy son, for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen.

14  And Jehovah stirred up an adversary to Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the king’s seed in Edom. 15  Now it came to pass when David was in Edom, when Joab the captain of the host had gone up to bury the slain, after he had smitten every male in Edom 16  (for Joab abode there six months with all Israel, until he had cut off every male in Edom), 17  that Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him, to go into Egypt, Hadad being yet a little child. 18  And they arose out of Midian, and came to Paran, and took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt; who gave him a house, and appointed him victuals, and gave him land. 19  And Hadad found great favour in the sight of Pharaoh, and he gave him as wife the sister of his own wife, the …