¹⁰ And she gave the king 120 talents^[a] of gold,^(A) large quantities of spices, and precious stones. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹¹ (Hiram’s ships brought gold from Ophir;^(B) and from there they brought great cargoes of almugwood^[b] and precious stones. ¹² The king used the almugwood to make supports^[c] for the temple of the Lord and for the royal palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. So much almugwood has never been imported or seen since that day.)

¹³ King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for, besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.

Solomon’s Splendor^(C)

¹⁴ The weight of the gold^(D) that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,^{[d] 15} not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the territories.

¹⁶ King Solomon made two hundred large shields^(E) of hammered gold; six hundred shekels^[e] of gold went into each shield. ¹⁷ He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three minas^[f] of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.^(F)

¹⁸ Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. ¹⁹ The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. ²⁰ Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. ²¹ All King Solomon’s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold.^(G) Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon’s days. ²² The king had a fleet of trading ships^[g](H) at sea along with the ships^(I) of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.

²³ King Solomon was greater in riches^(J) and wisdom^(K) than all the other kings of the earth. ²⁴ The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom^(L) God had put in his heart. ²⁵ Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift^(M)—articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.

Solomon’s Wives

11 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women^(A) besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites,^(B) Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. ² They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry^(C) with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. ³ He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines,^(D) and his wives led him astray.^{(E) 4} As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods,^(F) and his heart was not fully devoted^(G) to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. ⁵ He followed Ashtoreth^(H) the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek^(I) the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁶ So Solomon did evil^(J) in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.

⁷ On a hill east^(K) of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh^(L) the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek^(M) the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁸ He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.

²⁶ Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him.^(A) He was loved by his God,^(B) and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women.^(C)