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2 Chronicles 9
Lexham English Bible

Solomon and the Queen of Sheba

9 Now the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, and she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions, with much wealth and camels, bearing spices and much gold and precious stones. And she came to Solomon and told him all that was on her mind.[a] 2 And Solomon answered all her questions.[b] Not a word was hidden from Solomon that he did not answer for her. 3 When the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon and the house he had built, 4 and the food of his table, and the position of his officers, the duty of his servants and their clothing, his cupbearers and their clothing, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of Yahweh, there was no longer any breath[c] in her. 5 And she said to the king, “The word which I heard in my land concerning your words and your wisdom is true, 6 but I did not believe their words until I came and saw with my own eyes. And behold, half the greatness of your wisdom was not reported to me; you surpass the rumors that I had heard. 7 Blessed are your men, and blessed are these your servants who stand before you regularly and hear your wisdom! 8 Blessed be Yahweh your God who took delight in you, to put you on his throne as king for Yahweh your God! Because your God loved Israel, he established him forever and has put you over them as king to do justice and righteousness!” 9 And she gave to the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold and a very great amount of spices and precious stones. And there were no spices such as those that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

10 Moreover the servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon who brought gold from Ophir brought algum wood and precious stones. 11 And the king made steps for the house of Yahweh and the house of the king, and lyres and harps for the singers from the algum wood. And there was not seen anything like them before in the land of Judah. 12 Now King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba every desired thing she asked, besides what she had brought to the king. Then she turned and went to her land, she and her servants.

Solomon’s Great Wealth

13 And it happened that the weight of the gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, 14 besides the gold and silver the traders and merchants brought, and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land brought. 15 And King Solomon made two hundred shields of beaten gold; six hundred shekels of beaten gold went into each shield. 16 And he made three hundred small shields of beaten gold; three hundred shekels went into each small shield. And the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. 17 And the king made a large ivory throne and overlaid it with pure gold. 18 And the throne had six steps, and a footstool of gold was attached to the throne. And there were armrests on each side.[d] And by the seat[e] were two lions standing beside the armrests. 19 And twelve lions were standing there on each of the six steps on each end.[f] And there was nothing like it made in all the kingdom. 20 And all the drinking vessels of King Solomon were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. Silver was not valued as anything in the days of Solomon. 21 For the ships of the king went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram.[g] Once every three years[h] the ships of Tarshish came carrying gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

22 Thus King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom. 23 And all the kings of the earth sought the face of Solomon to hear his wisdom that God put in his heart. 24 And each of them brought his gifts, objects of silver, objects of gold, cloaks, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules, as an amount year by year. 25 And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. And he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 26 And he ruled over all the kings from the River[i] to the land of the Philistines, to the boundary of Egypt. 27 And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar as the sycamore trees that are in the Shephelah for abundance. 28 And the horses were imported from Egypt and from all lands for Solomon.

The Death of Solomon

29 As for the remainder of the words of Solomon from the first to the last, are they not written in the chronicles[j] 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 And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 31 And Solomon slept with his ancestors,[k] and they buried him in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 9:1 Literally “in her heart”
  2. 2 Chronicles 9:2 Literally “made known to her all her words”
  3. 2 Chronicles 9:4 Or “spirit”
  4. 2 Chronicles 9:18 Literally “from this and from that”
  5. 2 Chronicles 9:18 Literally “the place of sitting”
  6. 2 Chronicles 9:19 Literally “from this and from that”
  7. 2 Chronicles 9:21 This is the spelling in Hebrew, though many translations have “Hiram”
  8. 2 Chronicles 9:21 Literally “for three years”
  9. 2 Chronicles 9:26 That is, the Euphrates
  10. 2 Chronicles 9:29 Or “words”
  11. 2 Chronicles 9:31 Or “fathers”
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2 Chronicles 9
New International Version

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon(A)

9 When the queen of Sheba(B) heard of Solomon’s fame, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. Arriving with a very great caravan—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about all she had on her mind. 2 Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for him to explain to her. 3 When the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon,(C) as well as the palace he had built, 4 the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, the cupbearers in their robes and the burnt offerings he made at[a] the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.

5 She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. 6 But I did not believe what they said until I came(D) and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half the greatness of your wisdom was told me; you have far exceeded the report I heard. 7 How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! 8 Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on his throne(E) as king to rule for the Lord your God. Because of the love of your God for Israel and his desire to uphold them forever, he has made you king(F) over them, to maintain justice and righteousness.”

9 Then she gave the king 120 talents[b] of gold,(G) large quantities of spices, and precious stones. There had never been such spices as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

10 (The servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon brought gold from Ophir;(H) they also brought algumwood[c] and precious stones. 11 The king used the algumwood to make steps for the temple of the Lord and for the royal palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. Nothing like them had ever been seen in Judah.)

12 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for; he gave her more than she had brought to him. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.

Solomon’s Splendor(I)

13 The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,[d] 14 not including the revenues brought in by merchants and traders. Also all the kings of Arabia(J) and the governors of the territories brought gold and silver to Solomon.

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

17 Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory(M) and overlaid with pure gold. 18 The throne had six steps, and a footstool of gold was attached to it. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. 19 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. 20 All King Solomon’s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon’s day. 21 The king had a fleet of trading ships[g] manned by Hiram’s[h] servants. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.

22 King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth.(N) 23 All the kings(O) of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. 24 Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift(P)—articles of silver and gold, and robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.

25 Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots,(Q) and twelve thousand horses,[i] which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. 26 He ruled(R) over all the kings from the Euphrates River(S) to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.(T) 27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. 28 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from all other countries.

Solomon’s Death(U)

29 As for the other events of Solomon’s reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the records of Nathan(V) the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah(W) the Shilonite and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam(X) son of Nebat? 30 Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 31 Then he rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David(Y) his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 9:4 Or and the ascent by which he went up to
  2. 2 Chronicles 9:9 That is, about 4 1/2 tons or about 4 metric tons
  3. 2 Chronicles 9:10 Probably a variant of almugwood
  4. 2 Chronicles 9:13 That is, about 25 tons or about 23 metric tons
  5. 2 Chronicles 9:15 That is, about 15 pounds or about 6.9 kilograms
  6. 2 Chronicles 9:16 That is, about 7 1/2 pounds or about 3.5 kilograms
  7. 2 Chronicles 9:21 Hebrew of ships that could go to Tarshish
  8. 2 Chronicles 9:21 Hebrew Huram, a variant of Hiram
  9. 2 Chronicles 9:25 Or charioteers
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