The Queen of Sheba’s Praise of Solomon

10 Now when the aqueen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came bto test him with hard questions. 2 She came to Jerusalem with a very great 1retinue, with camels that bore spices, very much gold, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. 3 So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing 2so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to her. 4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 5 the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers, cand his entryway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. 6 Then she said to the king: “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. 7 However I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard. 8 dHappy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! 9 eBlessed be the Lord your God, who fdelighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, gto do justice and righteousness.”

10 Then she hgave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great quantity, and precious stones. There never again came such abundance of spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. 11 iAlso, the ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought great quantities of 3almug wood and precious stones from Ophir. 12 jAnd the king made 4steps of the almug wood for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, also harps and stringed instruments for singers. There never again came such kalmug wood, nor has the like been seen to this day.

13 Now King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked, besides what Solomon had given her according to the royal generosity. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

Solomon’s Great Wealth

14 The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, 15 besides that from the ltraveling merchants, from the income of traders, mfrom all the kings of Arabia, and from the governors of the country.

16 And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. 17 He also made nthree hundred shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the oHouse of the Forest of Lebanon.

18 pMoreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. 19 The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round at the back; there were armrests on either side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests. 20 Twelve lions stood there, one on each side of the six steps; nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom.

21 qAll King Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon. 22 For the king had rmerchant 5ships at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the merchant sships came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and 6monkeys. 23 So tKing Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.

24 Now all the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 25 Each man brought his present: articles of silver and gold, garments, armor, spices, horses, and mules, at a set rate year by year.

26 uAnd Solomon vgathered chariots and horsemen; he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he 7stationed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem. 27 wThe king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland.

28 xAlso Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and Keveh; the king’s merchants bought them in Keveh at the current price. 29 Now a chariot that was imported from Egypt cost six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse one hundred and fifty; yand 8thus, through their agents, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.

Solomon’s Heart Turns from the Lord

11 But aKing Solomon loved bmany foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites—2 from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, c“You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. 4 For it was so, when Solomon was old, dthat his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his eheart was not 1loyal to the Lord his God, fas was the heart of his father David. 5 For Solomon went after gAshtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after hMilcom 2the abomination of the iAmmonites. 6 Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David. 7 jThen Solomon built a 3high place for kChemosh the abomination of Moab, on lthe hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. 8 And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

9 So the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, mwho had appeared to him twice, 10 and nhad commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what the Lord had commanded. 11 Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, oI will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your pservant. 12 Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 qHowever I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give rone tribe to your son sfor the sake of my servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem twhich I have chosen.”

Adversaries of Solomon

14 Now the Lord uraised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was a descendant of the king in Edom. 15 vFor it happened, when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury the slain, wafter he had killed every male in Edom 16 (because for six months Joab remained there with all Israel, until he had cut down every male in Edom), 17 that Hadad fled to go to Egypt, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him. Hadad was still a little child. 18 Then they arose from Midian and came to Paran; and they took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house, apportioned food for him, and gave him land. 19 And Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him as wife the sister of his own wife, that is, the sister of Queen Tahpenes. 20 Then the sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house. And Genubath was in Pharaoh’s household among the sons of Pharaoh.

21 xSo when Hadad heard in Egypt that David 4rested with his fathers, and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, 5“Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.”

22 Then Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me, that suddenly you seek to go to your own country?”

So he answered, “Nothing, but do let me go anyway.”

23 And God raised up another adversary against him, Rezon the son of Eliadah, who had fled from his lord, yHadadezer king of Zobah. 24 So he gathered men to him and became captain over a band of raiders, zwhen David killed those of Zobah. And they went to Damascus and dwelt there, and reigned in Damascus. 25 He was an adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon (besides the trouble that Hadad caused); and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria.

Jeroboam’s Rebellion

26 Then Solomon’s servant, aJeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite from Zereda, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, balso crebelled against the king.

27 And this is what caused him to rebel against the king: dSolomon had built the Millo and 6repaired the damages to the City of David his father. 28 The man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor; and Solomon, seeing that the young man was eindustrious, made him the officer over all the labor force of the house of Joseph.

29 Now it happened at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet fAhijah the Shilonite met him on the way; and he had clothed himself with a new garment, and the two were alone in the field. 30 Then Ahijah took hold of the new garment that was on him, and gtore it into twelve pieces. 31 And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for hthus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you 32 (but he shall have one tribe for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), 33 ibecause 7they have forsaken Me, and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the people of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways to do what is right in My eyes and keep My statutes and My judgments, as did his father David. 34 However I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, because I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of My servant David, whom I chose because he kept My commandments and My statutes. 35 But jI will take the kingdom out