Kings III 10

1 And the queen of Saba heard of the name of Solomon, and the name of the Lord, and she came to try him with riddles.

The queen [who ruled the] Sheba [area] heard that Yahweh had caused Solomon to become famous, so she traveled to Jerusalem to ask him questions that were difficult [to answer].

2 And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train; and [there came] camels bearing spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and she came in to Solomon, and told him all that was in her heart.

She came with a large group of wealthy/influential people, and she brought camels that were loaded with spices, and valuable gems, and a lot of gold. When she met Solomon, she asked him questions about all the topics/things in which she was interested.

3 And Solomon answered all her questions: and there was not a question overlooked by the king which he did not answer her.

Solomon answered all her questions. He explained everything that she asked about, even things that were very difficult.

4 And the queen of Saba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he built,

The queen realized that Solomon was very wise. She saw his palace;

5 and the provision of Solomon and the sitting of his attendants, and the standing of his servants, and his raiment, and his cup-bearers, and his whole-burnt-offering which he offered in the house of the Lord, and she was utterly amazed.

she saw the food that was served on his table [every day]; she saw where his officials lived (OR, how his officials were seated at the table), their uniforms, the servants who served the food and wine, and the sacrifices that he took to the temple to be offered. She was extremely amazed.

6 And she said to king Solomon, [It was] a true report which I heard in my land of thy words and thy wisdom.

She said to King Solomon, “Everything that I heard in my own country about you and about how wise you are is true!

7 But I believed not them that told me, until I came and my eyes saw: and, behold, the words as they reported to me are not the half: thou hast exceeded in goodness all the report which I heard in my land.

But I did not believe it was true until I came here and saw it myself. But really, what they told me is only half [of what they could have told me about you]. You are extremely wise and rich, more than what people told me.

8 Blessed [are] thy wives, blessed [are] these thy servants who stand before thee continually, who hear all thy wisdom.

Your wives are very fortunate! Your officials who are constantly standing in front of you and listening to the wise things that you say are also fortunate!

9 Blessed be the Lord thy God, who has taken pleasure in thee, to set thee upon the throne of Israel, because the Lord loved Israel to establish [him] for ever; and he has made thee king over them, to execute judgment with justice, and in their causes.

Praise Yahweh, your God, who has shown that he is pleased with you by causing you to become the king of Israel! God has always loved the Israeli people, and therefore he has appointed you to be their king, in order that you will rule them fairly and righteously.”

10 And she gave to Solomon a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and very many spices, and precious stones: there had not come any other spices so abundant as those which the queen of Saba gave to king Solomon.

Then the queen gave to the king [the things that she had brought. She gave him] almost five tons of gold and a large amount of spices and valuable gems. Never again did King Solomon receive more spices than the queen gave him at that time.

11 And the ship of Chiram which brought the gold from Suphir, brought very much hewn timber and precious stones.

In the ships that belonged to King Hiram, in which they had previously brought gold from Ophir, they also brought a large amount of juniper wood and gems/valuable stones.

12 And the king made the hewn timber [into] buttresses of the house of the Lord and the king's house, and lyres and harps for singers: such hewn timber had not come upon the earth, nor have been seen anywhere until this day.

King Solomon told his workers to use that wood to make railings/supports in the temple of Yahweh and in the king’s palace and also to make harps and lyres for the (musicians/men who played musical instruments). That wood was the largest amount of (OR, the finest) wood that had ever been seen [in Israel]. And no one since then has ever seen so much wood of that kind.

13 And king Solomon gave to the queen of Saba all that she desired, whatsoever she asked, besides all that he had given her by the hand of king Solomon: and she returned, and came into her own land, she and her servants.

King Solomon gave to the queen from Sheba everything that she wanted. He gave her those gifts in addition to the gifts that he always gave [to other rulers who visited him]. Then she and the people who came with her returned to her own land.

14 And the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold.

Each year there was brought to Solomon a total of 25 tons of gold.

15 Besides the tributes of them that were subjects, both merchants and all the kings of the [country] beyond [the river], and of the princess of the land.

That was in addition to [the taxes] paid to him by the merchants and traders, and the annual taxes paid by the kings of Arabia and by the governors of [the regions in] Israel.

16 And Solomon made three hundred spears of beaten gold: three hundred shekels of gold were upon one spear.

King Solomon’s workers [took this] gold and hammered it into thin sheets and covered 200 large shields with those thin sheets of gold; they put (almost 15 pounds/more than 6 kg.) of gold on each shield.

17 And three hundred shields of beaten gold: and three pounds of gold were in one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

His workers made 300 smaller shields. They covered each of them with (almost 4 pounds/1.5 kg.) of gold. Then the king put those shields in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon.

18 And the king made a great ivory throne, and gilded it with pure gold.

His workers also made for him a large throne. [Part of it was] covered with (ivory [decorations made from)] tusks of elephants and [part of it was covered] with very fine gold.

19 The throne [had] six steps, and calves in bold relief to the throne behind it, and side-pieces on either hand of the place of the seat, and two lions standing by the side-pieces,

There were six steps in front of the throne. There was a statue of a lion on both sides of each step. So altogether there were twelve statues of lions. The back of the throne was rounded at the top. At each side of the throne there was an armrest, and alongside each armrest there was a small statue of a lion. No throne like that had ever existed in any other kingdom.

20 and twelve lions standing there on the six steps on either side: it was not so done in any [other] kingdom.

21 And all the vessels made by Solomon [were] of gold, and the lavers [were] golden, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; there was no silver, for it was not accounted of in the days of Solomon.

All of Solomon’s cups were made of gold, and all the various dishes in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon were made of gold. They did not make things from silver, because during the years that Solomon [ruled], silver was not considered to be valuable.

22 For Solomon had a ship of Tharsis in the sea with the ships of Chiram: one ship came to the king every three years out of Tharsis, [laden with] gold and silver, and wrought stones, and hewn stones.

The king had a (fleet/large number) of ships that sailed with the ships that King Hiram owned. Every three years the ships returned [from the places to which they had sailed], bringing gold, silver, ivory, monkeys, and baboons (OR, peacocks).

23 And Solomon increased beyond all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom.

King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king.

24 And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which the Lord [had] put into his heart.

People from all over the world wanted to come and listen to the wise things that Solomon said, things that God had put into his mind.

25 And they brought every one their gifts, vessels of gold, and raiment, and stacte, and spices, and horses, and mules, a rate year by year.

All the people who came to him brought presents: They brought things made from silver or gold, or robes, or weapons (OR, myrrh), or spices, or horses, or mules. The people continued to do this every year.

26 And Solomon had four thousand mares for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen: and he put them in the cities of his chariots, and with the king in Jerusalem: and he ruled over all the kings from the river to the land of the Philistines, and to the borders of Egypt.

Solomon acquired 1,400 chariots and 12,000 men who rode [on the horses] (OR, [in the chariots]). Solomon put some of them in Jerusalem and some of them in other cities where he kept his chariots.

27 And the king made gold and silver in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as the sycamores in the plain for multitude.

During the years that Solomon was king, silver became as common in Jerusalem as stones; and [lumber from] cedar trees in the foothills of Judah was as plentiful as [lumber from] fig trees.

28 And the goings forth of Solomon's horsemen [was] also out of Egypt, and the king's merchants [were] of Thecue; and they received them out of Thecue at a price.

Solomon’s agents bought horses and supervised the men who brought them into Israel from the areas of Musri and Cilicia [that were famous for breeding horses].

29 And that which proceeded out of Egypt went up [thus, even] a chariot for a hundred [shekels] of silver, and a horse for fifty [shekels] of silver: and thus for all the kings of the Chettians, and the kings of Syria, they came out by sea.

In Musri they bought chariots and horses; they paid 600 pieces of silver for each chariot and 150 pieces of silver for each horse. They brought them to Israel. Then they sold many of them to the kings of the Heth people-group and the kings of Syria.