Chapter 9

The Queen of Sheba. ¹ When the Queen of Sheba was informed about Solomon’s reputation, she came to Jerusalem to test him with difficult questions. Arriving with a very large retinue, and with camels bearing spices, an immense quantity of gold, and precious stones, she came to Solomon and discussed everything she had on her mind. ² Solomon answered all of her questions. There was nothing she asked that he was unable to explain to her.

³ When the Queen of Sheba witnessed the wisdom of Solomon, the palace he had built, ⁴ the food served at his table, the seating of his ministers, the attendants and the elegance of their clothing, the cupbearers in their robes, and the burnt offerings that he presented in the house of the Lord, it literally took her breath away.

⁵ Then she said to the king: “The reports I heard in my own country about your accomplishments and your wisdom proved to be true. ⁶ However, I did not believe those reports to be accurate until I came and saw all this with my own eyes. Moreover, I have come to realize that I was not told even half of the greatness of your wisdom. You far surpass everything I had heard about you.

⁷ “How fortunate your people are! Happy are these servants of yours who are continually attending you and listening to your wisdom! ⁸ Blessed is the Lord, your God, who has taken such great delight in you and placed you on his throne as king for the Lord, your God. Because of the love of your God for Israel and his desire to have Israel endure forever, he has appointed you to be their king so that you may ensure that justice and righteousness will be maintained.”

⁹ Then she presented King Solomon with one hundred and twenty talents of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious stones. There had never been spices previously to equal those that the Queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹⁰ Besides all this, the servants of Huram and the servants of Solomon who had brought gold from Ophir also brought large amounts of algum wood and precious stones. ¹¹ From the algum wood the king made stairs for the house of the Lord and for the king’s palace, as well as lyres and harps for the singers. Nothing to match them had ever been seen before in the land of Judah.

¹² King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba everything she desired and requested, far surpassing what she had brought to the king. Then she departed with her servants and journeyed back to her own land.

¹³ The weight of the gold that Solomon received each year amounted to six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold ¹⁴ in addition to the tolls levied on merchants and what was collected from foreign trade. All the kings of Arabia and the governors of the provinces also brought gold and silver to Solomon.

¹⁵ Moreover, King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold, with six hundred shekels of beaten gold going into each shield, ¹⁶ and three hundred bucklers of beaten gold, with three hundred shekels of gold going into each buckler. The king stored all these in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.

¹⁷ King Solomon also made a large ivory throne which he overlaid with pure gold. ¹⁸ The throne had six steps, and a footstool of gold was fastened to it. There were armrests on each side of the seat, with two lions standing beside the arms, ¹⁹ while twelve lions stood on either side of the six steps. Nothing like it had ever been made in any other kingdom.

²⁰ Furthermore, all of Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were made of pure gold. Silver was not regarded as anything of value in the days of King Solomon. ²¹ The king had a fleet of ships that sailed to Tarshish with the servants of Huram. Once every three years a fleet of ships from Tarshish used to return with a cargo of gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys.

²² Thus King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom, ²³ and all the kings of the earth sought to consult Solomon in order to hear from him the wisdom that God had implanted in his heart. ²⁴ Moreover, every single one of those kings brought a gift with him: objects of silver and gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses, and mules in an annual tribute.

²⁵ Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horses, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ²⁶ He ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and the border of Egypt.

²⁷ King Solomon made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and cedars as plentiful as the sycamores of the foothills. ²⁸ Horses were imported for Solomon from Egypt and from all the other countries.

²⁹ The Death of Solomon. The rest of the acts of Solomon’s reign, from first to last, are recorded in the history of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and, in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam, the son of Nebat.^[a]

³⁰ Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years. ³¹ Then he rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of his father David. He was succeeded by his son Rehoboam.