God's New Bible

The Second Book of the Chronicles

Literal Standard Version :: World English Bible Catholic

- Chapter 9 -

(1 Kings 10:1–13)
1
And the queen of Sheba has heard of the fame of Solomon, and comes to Jerusalem to try Solomon with acute sayings, with a very great company, and camels carrying spices and gold in abundance, and precious stone; and she comes to Solomon, and speaks with him all that has been with her heart,
2
and Solomon declares all her matters to her, and there has not been hid a thing from Solomon that he has not declared to her.
3
And the queen of Sheba sees the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he has built,
4
and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the standing of his ministers, and their clothing, and his stewards, and their clothing, and his burnt-offering that he offered up in the house of YHWH, and there has not been anymore spirit in her.
5
And she says to the king, “The word [is] true that I heard in my land concerning your matters and concerning your wisdom,
6
and I have given no credence to their words until I have come and my eyes see, and behold, there has not been declared to me the half of the abundance of your wisdomyou have added to the report that I heard.
7
O the blessedness of your men, and the blessedness of your servantsthesewho are standing before you continually, and hearing your wisdom.
8
Let your God YHWH be blessed who has delighted in you to put you on His throne for king for your God YHWH; in the love of your God to Israel, to establish it for all time, He has put you over them for king, to do judgment and righteousness.”
9
And she gives to the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stone; and there has not been any such spice as the queen of Sheba has given to King Solomon.
10
And also, servants of Huram, and servants of Solomon, who brought in gold from Ophir, have brought in algum-trees and precious stone.
11
And the king makes the algum-trees [into] staircases for the house of YHWH, and for the house of the king, and harps and psalteries for singers; and there have been none seen like these before in the land of Judah.
12
And King Solomon has given to the queen of Sheba all her desire that she asked, apart from that which she had brought to the king, and she turns and goes to her land, she and her servants.

Solomon’s Wealth and Splendor

(1 Kings 10:14–29)
13
And the weight of the gold that is coming to Solomon in one year is six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold,
14
apart from [what] the tourists and the merchants are bringing in; and all the kings of Arabia, and the governors of the land, are bringing in gold and silver to Solomon.
15
And King Solomon makes two hundred bucklers of alloyed goldhe causes six hundred [shekels] of alloyed gold to go up on the one buckler;
16
and three hundred shields of alloyed goldhe causes three hundred [shekels] of gold to go up on the one shield, and the king puts them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
17
And the king makes a great throne of ivory, and overlays it with pure gold;
18
and six steps [are] to the throne, and a footstool of gold, [and] they are fastened to the throne; and [places for] hands [are] on this [side] and on that [side] on the place of the sitting, and two lions are standing near the hands,
19
and twelve lions are standing there on the six steps on this [side] and on that [side]: it has not been made so for any kingdom.
20
And all the drinking vessels of King Solomon [are] of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon [are] of refined goldsilver is not reckoned in the days of Solomon for anything;
21
for ships of the king are going to Tarshish with servants of Huram: once in three years the ships of Tarshish come carrying gold, and silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks [[ or monkeys]].
22
And King Solomon becomes greater than any of the kings of the earth for riches and wisdom;
23
and all the kings of the earth are seeking the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom that God has put in his heart,
24
and they are each bringing in his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, harness, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.
25
And there are four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen for Solomon, and he placed them in cities of the chariot, and with the king in Jerusalem.
26
And he is ruling over all the kings from the River even to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt.
27
And the king makes the silver in Jerusalem as stones, and he has made the cedars as sycamores that [are] in the low country, for abundance,
28
and they are bringing out horses from Egypt to Solomon, and from all the lands.

The Death of Solomon

(1 Kings 11:41–43)
29
And the rest of the matters of Solomon, the first and the last, are they not written beside the matters of Nathan the prophet, and beside the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and with the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat?
30
And Solomon reigns in Jerusalem over all Israel [for] forty years,
31
and Solomon lies with his fathers, and they bury him in the city of his father David, and his son Rehoboam reigns in his stead.
(1 Kings 10:1–13)
1
When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to test Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great caravan, including camels that bore spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones. When she had come to Solomon, she talked with him about all that was in her heart.
2
Solomon answered all her questions. There wasn’t anything hidden from Solomon which he didn’t tell her.
3
When the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built,
4
the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his ministers, their clothing, his cup bearers and their clothing, and his ascent by which he went up to the LORD’s house, there was no more spirit in her.(a)
5
She said to the king, “It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts and of your wisdom.
6
However I didn’t believe their words until I came, and my eyes had seen it; and behold half of the greatness of your wisdom wasn’t told me. You exceed the fame that I heard!
7
Happy are your men, and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom.
8
Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you and set you on his throne to be king for the LORD your God, because your God loved Israel, to establish them forever. Therefore he made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.”
9
She gave the king one hundred and twenty talents (b) of gold, spices in great abundance, and precious stones. There was never before such spice as 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 (c) and precious stones.
11
The king used algum tree wood to make terraces for the LORD’s house and for the king’s house, and harps and stringed instruments for the singers. There were none like these seen before in the land of Judah.
12
King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, more than that which she had brought to the king. So she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants.

Solomon’s Wealth and Splendor

(1 Kings 10:14–29)
13
Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents (d) of gold,
14
in addition to that which the traders and merchants brought. All the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.
15
King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold. Six hundred shekels(e) of beaten gold went to one large shield.
16
He made three hundred shields of beaten gold. Three hundred shekels(f) of gold went to one shield. 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, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and armrests on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests.
19
Twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other on the six steps. There was nothing like it made in 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 valuable in the days of Solomon.
21
For the king had ships that went to Tarshish with Huram’s servants. Once every three years, the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
22
So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.
23
All the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.
24
They each brought tribute: vessels of silver, vessels of gold, clothing, armor, spices, horses, and mules every year.
25
Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen that he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem.
26
He ruled over all the kings from the River even to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt.
27
The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars to be as abundant as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland.
28
They brought horses for Solomon out of Egypt and out of all lands.

The Death of Solomon

(1 Kings 11:41–43)
29
Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, aren’t they written in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat?
30
Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.
31
Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in his father David’s city; and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

Footnotes

(a)9:4 or, she was breathless.
(b)9:9 A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds or 965 Troy ounces, so 120 talents is about 3.6 metric tons
(c)9:10 possibly Indian sandalwood, which has nice grain and a pleasant scent and is good for woodworking
(d)9:13 A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds or 965 Troy ounces, so 666 talents is about 20 metric tons
(e)9:15 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.32 Troy ounces, so 600 shekels was about 6 kilograms or about 192 Troy ounces.
(f)9:16 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.32 Troy ounces, so 300 shekels was about 3 kilograms or about 96 Troy ounces.