1 Kings 9–10

¹And it cometh to pass, at Solomon’s finishing to build the house of Jehovah, and the house of the king, and all the desire of Solomon that he delighted to do, ²that Jehovah appeareth unto Solomon a second time, as He appeared unto him in Gibeon, ³and Jehovah saith unto him, ‘I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication with which thou hast made supplication before Me; I have hallowed this house that thou hast built to put My name there—unto the age, and Mine eyes and My heart have been there all the days.

⁴‘And thou—if thou dost walk before Me as David thy father walked, in simplicity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee—My statutes and My judgments thou dost keep— ⁵then I have established the throne of thy kingdom over Israel—to the age, as I spake unto David thy father, saying, There is not cut off to thee a man from being on the throne of Israel.

⁶‘If ye at all turn back—you and your sons—from after Me, and keep not My commands—My statutes, that I have set before you, and ye have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them, ⁷then I have cut off Israel from the face of the ground that I have given to them, and the house that I have hallowed for My name I send away from My presence, and Israel hath been for a simile and for a byword among all the peoples; ⁸as to this house, that is high, every one passing by it is astonished, and hath hissed, and they have said, Wherefore hath Jehovah done thus to this land and to this house? ⁹and they have said, Because that they have forsaken Jehovah their God, who brought out their fathers from the land of Egypt, and they lay hold on other gods, and bow themselves to them, and serve them; therefore hath Jehovah brought in upon them all this evil.’

¹⁰And it cometh to pass, at the end of twenty years, that Solomon hath built the two houses, the house of Jehovah, and the house of the king. ¹¹Hiram king of Tyre hath assisted Solomon with cedar-trees, and with fir-trees, and with gold, according to all his desire; then doth king Solomon give to Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. ¹²And Hiram cometh out from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon hath given to him, and they have not been right in his eyes, ¹³and he saith, ‘What are these cities that thou hast given to me, my brother?’ and one calleth them the land of Cabul unto this day. ¹⁴And Hiram sendeth to the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold.

¹⁵And this is the matter of the tribute that king Solomon hath lifted up, 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 hath gone up and doth capture Gezer, and doth burn it with fire, and the Canaanite who is dwelling in the city he hath slain, and giveth it with presents to his daughter, wife of Solomon.) ¹⁷And Solomon buildeth Gezer, and Beth-Horon the lower, ¹⁸and Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land; ¹⁹and all the cities of stores that king Solomon hath, and the cities of the chariots, and the cities of the horsemen, and the desire of Solomon that he desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. ²⁰The whole of the people that is left of the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, who are not of the sons of Israel— ²¹their sons who are left behind them in the land, whom the sons of Israel have not been able to devote—he hath even lifted up on them a tribute of service unto this day. ²²And out of the sons of Israel Solomon hath not appointed a servant, for they are the men of war, and his servants, and his heads, and his captains, and the heads of his chariots, and his horsemen. ²³These are the heads of the officers who are over the work of Solomon, fifty and five hundred, those ruling among the people who are labouring in the work. ²⁴Only, the daughter of Pharaoh went up out of the city of David unto her house that Solomon built for her; then he built Millo. ²⁵And Solomon caused to ascend, three times in a year, burnt-offerings and peace-offerings on the altar that he built to Jehovah, and he perfumed it with that which is before Jehovah, and finished the house. ²⁶And a navy hath king Solomon made in Ezion-Geber, that is beside Eloth, on the edge of the Sea of Suph, in the land of Edom. ²⁷And Hiram sendeth in the navy his servants, shipmen knowing the sea, with servants of Solomon, ²⁸and they come in to Ophir and take thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and bring it in unto king Solomon.

Chapter 10

¹And the queen of Sheba is hearing of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of Jehovah, and cometh to try him with enigmas, ²and she cometh to Jerusalem, with a very great company, camels bearing spices, and very much gold, and precious stone, and she cometh unto Solomon, and speaketh unto him all that hath been with her heart. ³And Solomon declareth to her all her matters—there hath not been a thing hid from the king that he hath not declared to her. ⁴And the queen of Sheba seeth all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he built, ⁵and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the standing of his ministers, and their clothing, and his butlers, and his burnt-offering that he causeth to ascend in the house of Jehovah, and there hath not been in her any more spirit. ⁶And she saith unto the king, ‘True hath been the word that I heard in my land, concerning thy matters and thy wisdom; ⁷and I gave no credence to the words till that I have come, and my eyes see, and lo, it was not declared to me—the half; thou hast added wisdom and goodness unto the report that I heard. ⁸O the happiness of thy men, O the happiness of thy servants—these—who are standing before thee continually, who are hearing thy wisdom! ⁹Jehovah thy God is blessed who delighted in thee, to put thee on the throne of Israel; in Jehovah’s loving Israel to the age He doth set thee for king, to do judgment and righteousness. ¹⁰And she giveth to the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices very many, and precious stone; there came not like that spice any more for abundance that the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon. ¹¹And also, the navy of Hiram that bore gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir almug-trees very many, and precious stone; ¹²and the king maketh the almug-trees a support for the house of Jehovah, and for the house of the king, and harps and psalteries for singers; there have not come such almug-trees, nor have there been seen such unto this day. ¹³And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire that she asked, apart from that which he gave to her as a memorial of king Solomon, and she turneth and goeth to her land, she and her servants.

¹⁴And the weight of the gold that hath come to Solomon in one year is six hundred sixty and six talents of gold, ¹⁵apart from that of the tourists, and of the traffic of the merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the land. ¹⁶And king Solomon maketh two hundred targets of alloyed gold—six hundred of gold go up on the one target; ¹⁷and three hundred shields of alloyed gold—three pounds of gold go up on the one shield; and the king putteth them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. ¹⁸And the king maketh a great throne of ivory, and overlayeth it with refined gold; ¹⁹six steps hath the throne, and a round top is to the throne behind it, and hands are on this side and on that, unto the place of the sitting, and two lions are standing near the hands, ²⁰and twelve lions are standing there on the six steps, on this side and on that; it hath not been made so for any kingdom. ²¹And all the drinking vessels of king Solomon are of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon are of refined gold—there are none of silver; it was not reckoned in the days of Solomon for anything, ²²for a navy of Tarshish hath the king at sea with a navy of Hiram; once in three years cometh the navy of Tarshish, bearing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. ²³And king Solomon is greater than any of the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom, ²⁴and all the earth is seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom that God hath put into his heart, ²⁵and they are bringing each his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and mules, the matter of a year in a year. ²⁶And Solomon gathereth chariots, and horsemen, and he hath a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, and he placeth them in the cities of the chariot, and with the king in Jerusalem. ²⁷And the king maketh the silver in Jerusalem as stones, and the cedars he hath made as the sycamores that are in the low country, for abundance. ²⁸And the outgoing of the horses that king Solomon hath is from Egypt, and from Keveh; merchants of the king take from Keveh at a price; ²⁹and a chariot cometh up and cometh out of Egypt for six hundred silverlings, and a horse for fifty and a hundred, and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Aram; by their hand they bring out.

Chapter 11