1 Kings 10

Chapter 10

The Queen of Sheba

^1aNow when the queen of ^bSheba heard about the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came ^cto test him with difficult questions.

²So she came to Jerusalem with a very large retinue, with camels ^acarrying spices and very much gold and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart.

³Solomon ¹answered all her questions; nothing was hidden from the king which he did not ²explain to her.

⁴When the queen of Sheba perceived all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built,

⁵the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his waiters and their attire, his cupbearers, and ¹his stairway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her.

⁶Then she said to the king, “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom.

⁷“Nevertheless I did not believe the ¹reports, until I came and my eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. You exceed in wisdom and prosperity the report which I heard.

⁸“How ^ablessed are your men, how blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom.

⁹“^aBlessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel; ^bbecause the Lord loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, ^cto do justice and righteousness.”

^10aShe gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a very great amount of spices and precious stones. Never again did such abundance of spices come in as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.

^11aAlso the ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir a very great number of almug trees and precious stones.

^12aThe king made of the almug trees supports for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, also lyres and harps for the singers; such almug trees have not come in again nor have they been seen to this day.

¹³King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire which she requested, besides what he gave her according to ¹his royal bounty. Then she turned and went to her own land ²together with her servants.

Wealth, Splendor and Wisdom

^14aNow the weight of gold which came in to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold,

¹⁵besides that from the traders and the ¹wares of the merchants and all the kings of the ^aArabs and the governors of the country.

^16aKing Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold, ¹using 600 shekels of gold on each large shield.

¹⁷He made ^a300 shields of beaten gold, ¹using three minas of gold on each shield, and ^bthe king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

¹⁸Moreover, the king made a great throne of ^aivory and overlaid it with refined gold.

¹⁹There were six steps to the throne and a round top to the throne at its rear, and ¹arms ²on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the arms.

²⁰Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps on the one side and on the other; nothing like it was made for any other kingdom.

²¹All 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 was of silver; it was not considered ¹valuable in the days of Solomon.

²²For ^athe king had at sea the ships of Tarshish with the ships of Hiram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks.

^23aSo King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.

²⁴All the earth was seeking the presence of Solomon, ^ato hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart.

^25aThey brought every man his gift, articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year.

^26aNow Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; and he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, and he ¹stationed them in the ^bchariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

^27aThe king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the ¹lowland.

^28aAlso Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king’s merchants procured them from Kue for a price.

²⁹A chariot ¹was imported from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver, and a horse for 150; and ²by the same means they exported them ^ato all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of the Arameans.