The Queen of Sheba
1Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon in relation to the name of the LORD, she came to test him with riddles.
2So she came to Jerusalem with a very large entourage, with camels carrying balsam oil and a very large quantity of gold and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke to him about everything that was in her heart.
3And Solomon
4When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,
5and the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their attire, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings which he offered at the house of the LORD,
6Then she said to the king, “It was a true
7But I did not believe the
8Blessed are your men, and blessed are these servants of yours who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom!
9Blessed be the LORD your God who delighted in you to put you on the throne of Israel; because the LORD loves Israel forever, He made you king, to do justice and righteousness.”
10Then she gave the king
11And the ships of Hiram as well, which brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir a very great number of almug trees and precious stones.
12The king made from the almug trees supports for the house of the LORD and for the king’s house, and lyres and harps for the singers; such almug trees have not come in again, nor have they been seen to this day.
13And King Solomon granted the queen of Sheba everything she desired, whatever she requested, besides what he gave her in proportion to
Wealth, Splendor, and Wisdom
14Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was
15besides that from the traders, and the
16King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold,
17And he made three hundred small shields of beaten gold,
18Moreover, the king made a large throne of ivory and overlaid it with fine gold.
19There were six steps to the throne and a round top to the throne at its back, and
20Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps on the one side and on the other; nothing like it was made for
21Now all King Solomon’s drinking utensils were of gold, and all the utensils of the house of the timber of Lebanon were of pure gold. None was of silver; it was not considered as amounting to anything in the days of Solomon.
22For the king had the ships of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s ships; once every three years the ships of Tarshish would come carrying gold and silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks.
23So King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom.
24And all the earth was seeking the
25And they were bringing, everyone,
26Now Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; and he had 1,400 chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, and he
27And the king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the
28Also Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king’s merchants acquired them from Kue for a price.
29A chariot