1 Kings 10

The Queen of Sheba’s Praise of Solomon

10Now 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. ²She 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. ³So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing ²so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to her. ⁴And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, ⁵the 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. ⁶Then she said to the king: “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. ⁷However 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. ^8dHappy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! ^9eBlessed 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.”

¹⁰Then 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. ¹¹ⁱAlso, the ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought great quantities of ³almug wood and precious stones from Ophir. ^12jAnd 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.

¹³Now 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

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

¹⁶And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. ¹⁷He 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.

^18pMoreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. ¹⁹The 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. ²⁰Twelve lions stood there, one on each side of the six steps; nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom.

^21qAll 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. ²²For 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. ²³So ^tKing Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.

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

^26uAnd 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. ^27wThe king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland.

^28xAlso Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and Keveh; the king’s merchants bought them in Keveh at the current price. ²⁹Now 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.