2 Chronicles 8–9

¹And it cometh to pass, at the end of twenty years, that Solomon hath built the house of Jehovah, and his own house. ²As to the cities that Huram hath given to Solomon, Solomon hath built them, and there he causeth the sons of Israel to dwell. ³And Solomon goeth to Hamath-Zobah, and layeth hold upon it; ⁴and he buildeth Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the cities of store that he hath built in Hamath. ⁵And he buildeth Beth-Horon the upper, and Beth-Horon the lower—cities of defence, with walls, two-leaved doors, and bar— ⁶and Baalath, and all the cities of store that Solomon had, and all the cities of the chariot, and the cities of the horsemen, and all the desire of Solomon that he desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. ⁷All the people who are left of the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, who are not of Israel— ⁸of their sons who have been left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel consumed not—doth Solomon lift up a tribute unto this day. ⁹And none of the sons of Israel hath Solomon made servants for his work, but they are men of war, and heads of his captains, and heads of his charioteers, and of his horsemen; ¹⁰and these are heads of the officers whom king Solomon hath, two hundred and fifty who are rulers among the people. ¹¹And the daughter of Pharaoh hath Solomon brought up from the city of David to the house that he built for her, for he said, ‘My wife doth not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, for they are holy unto whom hath come the ark of Jehovah.’

¹²Then hath Solomon caused to ascend burnt-offerings to Jehovah on the altar of Jehovah that he built before the porch, ¹³even by the matter of a day in its day, to cause to ascend according to the command of Moses, on sabbaths, and on new moons, and on appointed seasons, three times in a year—in the feast of unleavened things, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of booths. ¹⁴And he establisheth, according to the ordinance of David his father, the courses of the priests over their service, and of the Levites over their charges, to praise and to minister over-against the priests, according to the matter of a day in its day, and the gatekeepers in their courses at gate and gate, for so is the command of David the man of God. ¹⁵And they have not turned aside from the command of the king concerning the priests and the Levites, in reference to any matter, and to the treasures. ¹⁶And all the work of Solomon is prepared till the day of the foundation of the house of Jehovah, and till its completion; perfect is the house of Jehovah. ¹⁷Then hath Solomon gone to Ezion-Geber, and unto Elath, on the border of the sea, in the land of Edom; ¹⁸and Huram sendeth to him, by the hand of his servants, ships and servants knowing the sea, and they go with servants of Solomon to Ophir, and take thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and bring in unto king Solomon.

Chapter 9

¹And the queen of Sheba hath heard of the fame of Solomon, and cometh in to try Solomon with acute sayings, to Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels bearing spices and gold in abundance, and precious stone; and she cometh in unto Solomon, and speaketh with him all that hath been with her heart, ²and Solomon declareth to her all her matters, and there hath not been hid a thing from Solomon that he hath not declared to her. ³And the queen of Sheba seeth the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he hath built, ⁴and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the standing of his ministers, and their clothing, and his stewards, and their clothing, an his burnt-offering that he offered up in the house of Jehovah, and there hath not been any more spirit in her. ⁵And she saith unto the king, ‘True is the word that I heard in my land concerning thy matters and concerning thy wisdom, ⁶and I have given no credence to their words, till that I have come, and mine eyes see, and lo, there hath not been declared to me the half of the abundance of thy wisdom—thou hast added unto the report that I heard.

⁷‘O the happiness of thy men, and the happiness of thy servants—these—who are standing before thee continually, and hearing thy wisdom. ⁸Let Jehovah thy God be blessed who hath delighted in thee, to put thee on His throne for king for Jehovah thy God; in the love of thy God to Israel, to establish it to the age, He hath put thee over them for king, to do judgment and righteousness.’ ⁹And she giveth to the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stone; and there hath not been any such spice as the queen of Sheba hath given to king Solomon. ¹⁰And also, servants of Huram, and servants of Solomon, who brought in gold from Ophir, have brought in algum-trees and precious stone. ¹¹And the king maketh the algum-trees staircases for the house of Jehovah, and for the house of the king, and harps and psalteries for singers; and there have been none seen like these before in the land of Judah. ¹²And king Solomon hath given to the queen of Sheba all her desire that she asked, apart from that which she had brought unto the king, and she turneth and goeth to her land, she and her servants.

¹³And the weight of the gold that is coming to Solomon in one year is six hundred and sixty and six talents of gold, ¹⁴apart from what the tourists, and the merchants, are bringing in; and all the kings of Arabia, and the governors of the land, are bringing in gold and silver to Solomon. ¹⁵And king Solomon maketh two hundred targets of alloyed gold, six hundred shekels of alloyed gold he causeth to go up on the one target; ¹⁶and three hundred shields of alloyed gold, three hundred shekels of gold he causeth to go up on the one shield, and the king putteth them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. ¹⁷And the king maketh a great throne of ivory, and overlayeth it with pure gold; ¹⁸and six steps are to the throne, and a footstool of gold, to the throne they are fastened, and hands are on this side and on that on the place of the sitting, and two lions are standing near the hands, ¹⁹and twelve lions are standing there on the six steps on this side, and on that: it hath not been made so for any kingdom. ²⁰And 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—silver is not reckoned in the days of Solomon for anything; ²¹for ships of the king are going to Tarshish, with servants of Huram: once in three years come do the ships of Tarshish bearing gold, and silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. ²²And king Solomon becometh greater than any of the kings of the earth for riches and wisdom; ²³and all the kings of the earth are seeking the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom that God hath put in his heart, ²⁴and they are bringing in each his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, harness, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year. ²⁵And there are to Solomon four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, and he placed them in cities of the chariot, and with the king in Jerusalem. ²⁶And he is ruling over all the kings from the River even unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt. ²⁷And the king maketh the silver in Jerusalem as stones, and the cedars he hath made as sycamores, that are in the low country, for abundance, ²⁸and they are bringing out horses from Egypt to Solomon, and from all the lands. ²⁹And the rest of the matters of Solomon, the first and the last, are they not written beside the matters of Nathan the prophet, and beside the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and with the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat? ³⁰And Solomon reigneth in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years, ³¹and Solomon lieth with his fathers, and they bury him in the city of David his father, and reign doth Rehoboam his son in his stead.

Chapter 10