2 Chronicles
9
- When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon's
fame, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. Arriving with
a very great caravan -- with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold,
and precious stones -- she came to Solomon and talked with him about all she
had on her mind.
- Solomon answered all her questions; nothing
was too hard for him to explain to her.
- When the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of
Solomon, as well as the palace he had built,
- the food on his table, the seating of his
officials, the attending servants in their robes, the cupbearers in their
robes and the burnt offerings he made at the temple of the LORD, she was overwhelmed.
- She said to the king, "The report I
heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true.
- But I did not believe what they said until
I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half the greatness of your
wisdom was told me; you have far exceeded the report I heard.
- How happy your men must be! How happy your
officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom !
- Praise be to the LORD your God, who has
delighted in you and placed you on his throne as king to rule for the LORD
your God. Because of the love of your God for Israel and his desire to uphold
them forever, he has made you king over them, to maintain justice and righteousness."
- Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold,
large quantities of spices, and precious stones. There had never been such
spices as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
- (The men of Hiram and the men of Solomon
brought gold from Ophir; they also brought algumwood and precious stones.
- The king used the algumwood to make steps
for the temple of the LORD and for the royal palace, and to make harps and
lyres for the musicians. Nothing like them had ever been seen in Judah.)
- King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all
she desired and asked for; he gave her more than she had brought to him. Then
she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.
- The weight of the gold that Solomon received
yearly was 666 talents,
- not including the revenues brought in by
merchants and traders. Also all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the
land brought gold and silver to Solomon.
- King Solomon made two hundred large shields
of hammered gold; six hundred bekas of hammered gold went into each shield.
- He also made three hundred small shields
of hammered gold, with three hundred bekas of gold in each shield. The king
put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
- Then the king made a great throne inlaid
with ivory and overlaid with pure gold.
- The throne had six steps, and a footstool
of gold was attached to it. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with
a lion standing beside each of them.
- Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one
at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other
kingdom.
- All King Solomon's goblets were gold, and
all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure
gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little
value in Solomon's day.
- The king had a fleet of trading ships manned
by Hiram's men. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver
and ivory, and apes and baboons.
- King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom
than all the other kings of the earth.
- All the kings of the earth sought audience
with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.
- Year after year, everyone who came brought
a gift -- articles of silver and gold, and robes, weapons and spices, and
horses and mules.
- Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses
and chariots, and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities
and also with him in Jerusalem.
- He ruled over all the kings from the River
to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.
- The king made silver as common in Jerusalem
as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills.
- Solomon's horses were imported from Egypt
and from all other countries.
- As for the other events of Solomon's reign,
from beginning to end, are they not written in the records of Nathan the prophet,
in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite and in the visions of Iddo the seer
concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat ?
- Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel
forty years.
- Then he rested with his fathers and was
buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him
as king.
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