1 Kings 9:1–10:29

And it came to pass when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the Lord, and the king’s house, and all that he desired and was pleased to do,

2 That the Lord appeared to him the second time, as he had appeared to him in Gabaon.

3 And the Lord said to him: I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, which thou hast made before me: I have sanctified this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and my eyes, and my heart, shall be there always.

4 And if thou wilt walk before me, as thy father walked, in simplicity of heart, and in uprightness: and wilt do all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my ordinances, and my judgments,

5 I will establish the throne of thy kingdom over Israel for ever, as I promised David, thy father, saying: There shall not fail a man of thy race upon the throne of Israel.

6 But if you and your children, revolting, shall turn away from following me, and will not keep my commandments, and my ceremonies, which I have set before you, but will go and worship strange gods, and adore them:

7 I will take away Israel from the face of the land which I have given them; and the temple which I have sanctified to my name, I will cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb, and a byword among all people.

8 And this house shall be made an example of: every one that shall pass by it, shall be astonished, and shall hiss, and say: Why hath the Lord done thus to this land, and to this house?

9 And they shall answer: Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and followed strange gods, and adored them, and worshipped them: therefore hath the Lord brought upon them all this evil.

10 And when twenty years were ended, after Solomon had built the two houses; that is, the house of the Lord, and the house of the king,

11 (Hiram, the king of Tyre, furnishing Solomon with cedar trees, and fir trees, and gold, according to all he had need of) then Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.

12 And Hiram came out of Tyre, to see the towns which Solomon had given him, and they pleased him not;

13 And he said: Are these the cities which thou hast given me, brother? And he called them the land of Chabul, unto this day.

14 And Hiram sent to king Solomon a hundred and twenty talents of gold.

15 This is the sum of the expenses, which king Solomon offered to build the house of the Lord, and his own house, and Mello, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Heser, and Mageddo, and Gazer.

16 Pharao, the king of Egypt, came up and took Gazer, and burnt it with fire: and slew the Chanaanite that dwelt in the city, and gave it for a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.

17 So Solomon built Gazer, and Bethhoron the nether,

18 And Baalath, and Palmira, in the land of the wilderness.

19 And all the towns that belonged to himself, and were not walled, he fortified; the cities also of the chariots, and the cities of the horsemen, and whatsoever he had a mind to build in Jerusalem, and in Libanus, and in all the land of his dominion.

20 All the people that were left of the Amorrhites, and Hethites, and Pherezites, and Hevites, and Jebusites, that are not of the children of Israel:

21 Their children, that were left in the land; to wit, such as the children of Israel had not been able to destroy, Solomon made tributary unto this day.

22 But of the children of Israel, Solomon made not any to be bondmen, but they were warriors, and his servants, and his princes, and captains, and overseers of the chariots and horses.

23 And there were five hundred and fifty chief officers set over all the works of Solomon, and they had people under them, and had charge over the appointed works.

24 And the daughter of Pharao came up out of the city of David to her house, which Solomon had built for her: then did he build Mello.

25 Solomon also offered three times every year holocausts, and victims of peace offerings, upon the altar which he had built to the Lord, and he burnt incense before the Lord: and the temple was finished.

26 And king Solomon made a fleet in Asiongaber, which is by Ailath, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.

27 And Hiram sent his servants in the fleet, sailors that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.

28 And they came to Ophir; and they brought from thence to king Solomon four hundred and twenty talents of gold.

Chapter 10

And the queen of Saba having heard of the fame of Solomon in the name of the Lord, came to try him with hard questions.

2 And entering into Jerusalem with a great train, and riches, and camels that carried spices, and an immense quantity of gold, and precious stones, she came to king Solomon, and spoke to him all that she had in her heart.

3 And Solomon informed her of all the things she proposed to him: there was not any word the king was ignorant of, and which he could not answer her.

4 And when the queen of Saba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he had built,

5 And the meat of his table, and the apartments of his servants, and the order of his ministers, and their apparel, and the cupbearers, and the holocausts, which he offered in the house of the Lord, she had no longer any spirit in her;

6 And she said to the king: The report is true, which I heard in my own country,

7 Concerning thy words, and concerning thy wisdom. And I did not believe them that told me, till I came myself, and saw with my own eyes, and have found that the half hath not been told me: thy wisdom and thy works exceed the fame which I heard.

8 Blessed are thy men, and blessed are thy servants, who stand before thee always, and hear thy wisdom.

9 Blessed be the Lord thy God, whom thou hast pleased, and who hath set thee upon the throne of Israel, because the Lord hath loved Israel for ever, and hath appointed thee king, to do judgment and justice.

10 And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices a very great store, and precious stones: there was brought no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Saba gave to king Solomon.

11 (The navy also of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir great plenty of thyine trees, and precious stones.

12 And the king made of the thyine trees the rails of the house of the Lord, and of the king’s house: and citterns and harps for singers: there were no such thyine trees as these brought nor seen unto this day.)

13 And king Solomon gave the queen of Saba all that she desired, and asked of him: besides what he offered her of himself of his royal bounty. And she returned, and went to her own country, with her servants.

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

15 Besides that which the men brought him that were over the tributes, and the merchants, and they that sold by retail, and all the kings of Arabia, and the governors of the country.

16 And Solomon made two hundred shields of the purest gold: he allowed six hundred sicles of gold for the plates of one shield.

17 And three hundred targets of fine gold: three hundred pounds of gold covered one target: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Libanus.

18 King Solomon also made a great throne of ivory: and overlaid it with the finest gold.

19 It had six steps: and the top of the throne was round behind: and there were two hands on either side holding the seat: and two lions stood, one at each hand,

20 And twelve little lions stood upon the six steps, on the one side and on the other: there was no such work made in any kingdom.

21 Moreover, all the vessels out of which king Solomon drank, were of gold: and all the furniture of the house of the forest of Libanus was of most pure gold: there was no silver, nor was any account made of it in the days of Solomon:

22 For the king’s navy, once in three years, went with the navy of Hiram by sea to Tharsis, and brought from thence gold, and silver, and elephants’ teeth, and apes, and peacocks.

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

24 And all the earth desired to see Solomon’s face, to hear his wisdom, which God had given in his heart.

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

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

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

28 And horses were brought for Solomon out of Egypt, and Coa: for the king’s merchants bought them out of Coa, and brought them at a set price.

29 And a chariot of four horses came out of Egypt, for six hundred sicles of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. And after this manner did all the kings of the Hethites, and of Syria, sell horses.