The First Book of the Kings

⭑ Geneva Bible :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Kapitel 10 -

(2 Chronicles 9:1–12)

And the Queene of Sheba hearing ye fame of Salomon (concerning the Name of the Lord) came to proue him with hard questions.

And she came to Ierusalem with a verie great traine, and camels that bare sweete odours, and golde exceeding much, and precious stones: and shee came to Salomon, and communed with him of all that was in her heart.

And Salomon declared vnto her all her questions: nothing was hid from the King, which he expounded not vnto her.

Then the Queene of Sheba sawe all Salomons wisedome, and the house that he had built,

And the meate of his table, and the sitting of his seruants, and the order of his ministers, and their apparel, and his drinking vessels, and his burnt offrings, that he offered in the house of the Lord, and she was greatly astonied.

And shee sayde vnto the King, It was a true worde that I heard in mine owne lande of thy sayings, and of thy wisedome.

Howebeit I beleeued not this report till I came, and had seene it with mine eyes: but lo, ye one halfe was not tolde mee: for thou hast more wisedome and prosperitie, then I haue heard by report.

Happy are the men, happie are these thy seruants, which stande euer before thee, and heare thy wisedome.

Blessed be the Lord thy God, which loued thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel, because the Lord loued Israel for euer and made thee King to doe equitie and righteousnesse.

And she gaue the King sixe score talents of golde, and of sweete odours exceeding much, and precious stones. There came no more such aboundance of sweete odours, as the Queene of Sheba gaue to King Salomon.

The nauie also of Hiram (that caried gold from Ophir) brought likewise great plentie of Almuggim trees from Ophir and precious stones.

And the King made of ye Almuggim trees pillars for the house of the Lord, and for ye Kings palace, and made harpes and psalteries for singers. There came no more such Almuggim trees, nor were any more seene vnto this day.

And King Salomon gaue vnto the Queene of Sheba, whatsoeuer she would aske, besides that, which Salomon gaue her of his kingly liberalitie: so she returned and went to her owne countrey, both shee, and her seruantes.

Solomon’s Wealth and Splendor

(2 Chronicles 1:14–17; 2 Chronicles 9:13–28)

Also the weight of golde, that came to Salomon in one yeere, was sixe hundreth three score and six talents of gold,

Besides that he had of marchant men and of the marchandises of them that solde spices, and of all the Kinges of Arabia, and of the princes of the countrey.

And King Salomon made two hundreth targets of beaten golde, sixe hundreth shekels of gold went to a target:

And three hundreth shieldes of beaten golde, three pound of gold went to one shielde: and the King put them in the house of the wood of Lebanon.

Then the King made a great throne of yuorie, and couered it with the best golde.

And the throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round behind, and there were stayes on either side on the place of the throne, and two lions standing by the stayes.

And there stoode twelue lions on the sixe steps on either side: there was not the like made in any kingdome.

And all King Salomons drinking vessels were of golde, and all the vessels of the house of the woode of Lebanon were of pure golde, none were of siluer: for it was nothing esteemed in the dayes of Salomon.

For the King had on the sea the nauie of Tharshish with the nauie of Hiram: once in three yere came the nauie of Tharshish, and brought golde and siluer, yuorie, and apes and peacockes.

So King Salomon exceeded all the kings of the earth both in riches and in wisedome.

And al the world sought to see Salomon, to heare his wisedome, which God had put in his heart,

And they brought euery man his present, vessels of siluer, and vessels of golde, and raiment, and armour, and sweete odours, horses and mules, from yeere to yeere.

Then Salomon gathered together charrets and horsemen: and he had a thousand and foure hundreth charets, and twelue thousande horsemen, whome hee placed in the charet cities, and with the King at Ierusalem.

And the King gaue siluer in Ierusalem as stones, and gaue cedars as the wilde figtrees that growe abundantly in the plaine.

Also Salomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and fine linen: the Kings marchants receiued the linen for a price.

There came vp and went out of Egypt some charet, worth sixe hundreth shekels of siluer: that is, one horse, an hundreth and fiftie and thus they brought horses to all the Kings of the Hittites and to the Kings of Aram by their meanes.

(2 Chronicles 9:1–12)

When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the LORD’s name, she came to test him with hard questions.

She came to Jerusalem with a very great caravan, with camels that bore spices, very much gold, and precious stones; and when she had come to Solomon, she talked with him about all that was in her heart.

Solomon answered all her questions. There wasn’t anything hidden from the king which he didn’t tell her.

When the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built,

the food of his table, the sitting of his servants, the attendance of his officials, their clothing, his cup bearers, and his ascent by which he went up to the LORD’s house, there was no more spirit in her.

She said to the king, “It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts and of your wisdom.

However, I didn’t believe the words until I came and my eyes had seen it. Behold, not even half was told me! Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame which I heard.

Happy are your men, happy are these your servants who stand continually before you, who hear your wisdom.

Blessed is the LORD your God, who delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel. Because the LORD loved Israel forever, therefore he made you king, to do justice and righteousness.”

She gave the king one hundred twenty talents of gold, and a very great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again was there such an abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

The fleet of Hiram that brought gold from Ophir also brought in from Ophir great quantities of almug trees

(a)

and precious stones.

The king made of the almug trees pillars for the LORD’s house and for the king’s house, harps also and stringed instruments for the singers; no such almug trees came or were seen to this day.

King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, in addition to that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants.

Solomon’s Wealth and Splendor

(2 Chronicles 1:14–17; 2 Chronicles 9:13–28)

Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents

(b)

of gold,

in addition to that which the traders brought, and the traffic of the merchants, and of all the kings of the mixed people, and of the governors of the country.

King Solomon made two hundred bucklers of beaten gold; six hundred shekels(c) of gold went to one buckler.

He made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three minas

(d)

of gold went to one shield; and the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.

Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the finest gold.

There were six steps to the throne, and the top of the throne was round behind; and there were armrests on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests.

Twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other on the six steps. Nothing like it was made in any kingdom.

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. None were of silver, because it was considered of little value in the days of Solomon.

For the king had a fleet of ships of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s fleet. Once every three years the fleet of Tarshish came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.

All the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart.

Year after year, every man brought his tribute, vessels of silver, vessels of gold, clothing, armor, spices, horses, and mules.

Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen. He kept them in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem.

The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and cedars as common as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland.

The horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt. The king’s merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price.

A chariot was imported from Egypt for six hundred shekels

(e)

of silver, and a horse for one hundred fifty shekels; and so they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Syria.

Fußnoten

(a)10:11 possibly an Indian sandalwood, with nice grain and a pleasant scent, and good for woodworking

(b)10:14 A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds or 965 Troy ounces, so 666 talents is about 20 metric tons

(c)10:16 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.32 Troy ounces, so 600 shekels is about 6 kilograms or 13.2 pounds or 192 Troy ounces.

(d)10:17 A mina is about 600 grams or 1.3 U. S. pounds.

(e)10:29 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces.