1 *Kings 10

₁Some people told the queen from the land of Sheba what the people said about Solomon and that he knew the Lord. She came to find out if Solomon really had so much wisdom. ₂She came to Jerusalem and there were many people with her, and also camels carrying spices and gold and very expensive gemstones. She came to Solomon and she asked him all the questions that she could think of. ₃King Solomon knew the answers to everything she asked. There was not one question that was too difficult for him to answer. ₄When the Queen of Sheba heard everything he said and she saw the temple and everything that he had built, she was amazed at Solomon's wisdom. ₅She was also amazed when she saw the food on his table and his officials who sat at his table, his servants who stood there waiting and the clothes they wore, the steward who poured wine into the cups and the burnt-offerings that Solomon sacrificed at the temple. ₆She told the king: ‘They told me in my land about the things you do and I heard about your wisdom, and I see it is all true. ₇I did not believe what they said, but now I have come and I have seen it with my own eyes. And really, it is more and greater than what they told me. They did not even tell half of it. You are a wise man. They told me that you are rich, but I see now that you are very rich. ₈The people who work for you and stay with you every day are happy people because they can listen to the wise things you say. ₉I praise the Lord your God who loves you so much that He made you king_of_Israel. He will always love the people of Israel. That is why He gave them a king to rule in the right way and to be righteous.’

₁₀The Queen of Sheba gave King Solomon 120 talents of gold and lots of spices and expensive gemstones. She gave him more spices than anyone had ever brought into Israel.

₁₁The boats of King Hiram that brought gold from Ophir also brought a lot of almug wood and gemstones with them. ₁₂King Solomon used the almug wood in the temple and in his palace and to make lyres and harps for the people to play music. King Hiram gave him more almug wood. It was more beautiful than any wood that anyone had ever brought into Israel. No one has ever again seen so much wood. ₁₃King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba everything she wanted. He gave her everything she asked. He also gave her other gifts and things that he wanted to give her. Then she and her officials went back to her land.

₁₄The people gave Solomon 666 talents of gold every year. ₁₅The people who went through his land also had to give him gold, and so did the merchants and all the kings of Arabia and the governors in the land_of_Israel. ₁₆Solomon made 200 big shields. They used 600 shekels of gold to make each shield. ₁₇He also made 300 small shields. Each one was made of 3 minas of gold. The king put the shields in the Palace_of_the_Forest_of_Lebanon.

₁₈He also made a big throne of ivory and he covered it with pure gold. ₁₉The throne had 6 steps and the top of the back was round. On both sides of the throne were armrests where the king's arms could rest, and there were 2 lion statues next to the armrests. ₂₀On both sides of the 6 steps were lions. There were 12 lions. There was no throne in any land as beautiful as this throne.

₂₁All the cups that King Solomon used to drink from were made of gold and all his cups and plates in the Palace_of_the_Forest_of_Lebanon were made of pure gold. In the time when Solomon lived, silver was not worth a lot.

₂₂King Solomon had a lot of boats with merchants on them and they were at sea with the boats of King Hiram. The boats came back every 3 years. The boats were full of gold, silver, ivory, apes and baboons.

₂₃King Solomon became richer than all the kings on earth and he had more wisdom than all of them. ₂₄People came from everywhere to see Solomon and to listen to his wisdom, the wisdom that God gave him. ₂₅All the people who came brought golden or silver gifts or clothes or weapons or spices or horses or mules. This happened every year.

₂₆Solomon got more and more war-chariots and horses. He had 1 400 war-chariots and 12 000 horses. Some horses stayed in the towns and cities to pull the war-chariots and some horses stayed with him in Jerusalem. ₂₇The king had as much silver as the stones in Jerusalem and as much cedar wood as the sycamore trees in the lowlands of Judah. ₂₈Solomon bought horses from Egypt and Kue. His merchants went to Kue to buy them. ₂₉The price of a war-chariot from Egypt was 600 shekels of silver and the price of a horse was 150 shekels. Solomon also sold horses and war-chariots to the kings of the Hittites and the Arameans.