Visit of the Queen of Sheba

¹Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with difficult questions. She had a very large retinue, with camels carrying spices and a large amount of gold and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was on her heart. ² Solomon ^[a]answered all her questions; nothing was hidden from Solomon which he did not ^[b]explain to her. ³ When the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house which he had built, ⁴ the food at his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his ministers and their attire, his cupbearers and their attire, and ^[c]his stairway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, she was breathless. ⁵ Then she said to the king, “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. ⁶ Nevertheless I did not believe their reports until I came and my eyes had seen it. And behold, the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me. You surpass the report that I heard. ⁷ How ^[d]blessed are your men, how ^[e]blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom. ⁸ Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you, setting you on His throne as king for the Lord your God; because your God loved Israel establishing them forever, therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.” ⁹ Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold and a very great amount of spices and precious stones; there had never been spice like that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹⁰ The servants of Huram and the servants of Solomon who brought gold from Ophir, also brought algum trees and precious stones. ¹¹ From the algum trees the king made steps for the house of the Lord and for the king’s palace, and lyres and harps for the singers; and none like that was seen before in the land of Judah.

¹² King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire which she requested besides a return for what she had brought to the king. Then she turned and went to her own land with her servants.

Solomon’s Wealth and Power

¹³ Now the weight of gold which came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, ¹⁴ besides that which the traders and merchants brought; and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. ¹⁵ King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold, ^[f]using 600 shekels of beaten gold on each large shield. ¹⁶ He made 300 shields of beaten gold, ^[g]using three hundred shekels of gold on each shield, and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

¹⁷ Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold. ¹⁸ There were six steps to the throne and a footstool in gold attached to the throne, and ^[h]arms ^[i]on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the ^[j]arms. ¹⁹ Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps on the one side and on the other; nothing like it was made for any other kingdom. ²⁰ All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; silver was not considered ^[k]valuable in the days of Solomon. ²¹ For the king had ships which went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks.

²² So King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. ²³ And all the kings of the earth were seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. ²⁴ They brought every man his gift, articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses and mules, so much year by year.

²⁵ Now Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots and 12,000 horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ²⁶ He was the ruler over all the kings from the Euphrates River even to the land of the Philistines, and as far as the border of Egypt. ²⁷ The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the ^[l]lowland. ²⁸ And they were bringing horses for Solomon from Egypt and from all countries.

²⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from first to last, are they not written in the ^[m]records of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of ^[n]Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? ³⁰ Solomon reigned forty years in Jerusalem over all Israel.

Death of Solomon

³¹ And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David; and his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.