2 Chronicles 9
1 The queen who ruled [the] Sheba [area in Arabia] heard that Solomon had become famous, so she traveled to Jerusalem to ask him questions that were difficult [to answer]. She came with a large group of servants, 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 things/topics in which she was interested.
When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon's fame, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. She came with a very long caravan, with camels loaded with spices, much gold, and many precious gemstones. When she had come to Solomon, she told him all that was in her heart.
2 Solomon answered all her questions. He explained everything that she asked about, even things that were very difficult.
Solomon answered her all her questions; nothing was too difficult for Solomon; there was no question that he did not answer.
3 The queen realized that Solomon was very wise. She saw his palace,
When the queen of Sheba saw Solomon's wisdom and the palace that he had built,
4 she saw the food that was served on his table [every day]; she saw 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 completely burned on the altar. She was extremely amazed.
the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the work of his servants and their clothing, also his cupbearers and their clothing, and the burnt offerings he made at the house of Yahweh, and there was no more breath in her.
5 She said to the king, “Everything that I heard in my own country about you and about how wise you are is true!
She said to the king, “It is true, the report that I heard in my own land of your words and your wisdom.
6 But I did not believe it was true until I came here and saw it myself. You are [extremely wise and rich, ] more than what people told me.
I did not believe what I heard until I came here, and now my eyes have seen it. Not half was told me about your wisdom and wealth! You have exceeded the fame that I heard about.
7 The men who work for you 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!
How blessed are your people, and how blessed are your servants who constantly stand before you, because they hear your wisdom.
8 Praise Yahweh your God, who has shown that he is pleased with you by appointing you to be the king of Israel for him. God has always loved the Israeli people, and desires to assist them forever, and therefore he has appointed you to be their king, in order that you will rule them fairly and righteously.”
Blessed be Yahweh your God, who has taken pleasure in you, who placed you on his throne, to be king for Yahweh your God. Because your God loved Israel, in order to establish them forever, he had made you king over them, for you to do justice and righteousness!”
9 Then the queen gave to Solomon about 4-1/2 tons of gold and a large amount of spices and gems. Never had King Solomon received more spices than the queen gave him at that time.
She gave the king 120 talents of gold and a large amount of spices and precious stones. No greater amount of spices as these that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon was ever given to him again.
10 King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba everything that she wanted. He gave her more than she had given to him. Then she and those who came with her returned to her own land. [In the ships that belonged to King Hiram, ] Hiram’s workers and Solomon’s workers brought gold from Ophir. They also brought a large amount of juniper wood and gems. King Solomon [told his workers] to use that wood to make railings in the temple and in his palace and also to make harps and lyres for the musicians. That wood was the the finest wood that had ever been seen in Israel.
The servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, also brought algum wood and precious stones.
With the algum wood, the king made steps for the house of Yahweh and for his house, as well as harps and lyres for the musicians. No wood like this had been seen before in the land of Judah.
King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba everything she desired and whatever she asked for; he gave her more than what she had brought to the king. So she left and went back to her own land, she and her servants.
13 Each year there was brought to Solomon a total of 25 tons of gold.
Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold,
14 That was in addition to the [taxes] paid to him by the merchants and traders. Also, the kings of Arabia and the governors of [the districts in] Israel brought gold and silver to Solomon.
besides the gold that the traders and merchants brought. All the kings of Arabia and the governors in the country also brought gold and silver to Solomon.
15 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 7-1/2 pounds of gold on each shield.
King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold. Six hundred shekels of gold went into each one.
16 His [workers] made 300 [smaller] shields. They covered each of them with almost 4 pounds of gold. Then the king put those shields in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon.
He also made three hundred shields of beaten gold. Three minas of gold went into each shield; the king put them into the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
17 His [workers] also made for him a large throne. [Part of] it was covered with [decorations made from] ivory and [part of it was covered] with very fine gold.
Then the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with the finest gold.
18 There were six steps in front of the throne. There was a gold footstool that was attached to the throne. At each side of the throne there was an armrest, and alongside each armrest there was a [small statue of a] lion.
There were six steps to the throne, and a footstool was attached to the throne. On each side of the throne there were armrests with two lions standing beside each of them.
19 On the six steps there were twelve statues of lions, one on each side. No throne like that had ever existed in any other kingdom.
Twelve lions stood on the steps, one on each side of each of the six steps. There was no throne like it in any other kingdom.
20 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.
All King Solomon's drinking cups were gold, and all the drinking cups in the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were silver because silver was not considered valuable in Solomon's days.
21 The king had a fleet 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).
The king had at sea a fleet of oceangoing ships, along with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the fleet brought gold, silver, and ivory, as well as apes and baboons.
22 King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king on the earth.
So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the world in riches and in wisdom.
23 Kings from all over the world wanted to come and listen to the wise things that Solomon said, things that God had enabled him to know.
All the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon in order to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.
24 All the people who came to him brought presents: They brought things made from silver or gold, or robes, or weapons, or spices, or horses, or mules. The people continued to do this every year.
Those who visited brought tribute, vessels of silver and of gold, clothes, armor, and spices, as well as horses and mules, year after year.
25 Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his horses and chariots, and 12,000 horses. Solomon put some of them in Jerusalem and some of them in other cities where he kept his chariots.
Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with himself in Jerusalem.
26 Solomon ruled over all the kings in the area from the [Euphrates] River [in the northeast] to the Philistia area [in the west] to the border of Egypt [in the south].
He ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt.
27 [During the years that Solomon was] king, [he] caused silver to become as common in Jerusalem as stones; and he caused cedar trees in the foothills of Judah to become as plentiful as fig trees.
The king had silver in Jerusalem, as much as the stones on the ground. He made cedar wood to be as abundant as the sycamore fig trees that are in the lowlands.
28 Solomon’s agents brought horses from [the] Musri [area] and other places.
They brought horses for Solomon from Egypt and from all the lands.
29 Lists of all the other things that Solomon did are recorded in the scrolls written by the prophet Nathan and by the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh [city], and in [the scroll in which were written] the visions that the prophet Iddo saw concerning [King] Jeroboam.
As for the other matters concerning Solomon, first and last, are they not written in The History of Nathan the Prophet, in The Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in The Visions of Iddo the Seer (which also had information about Jeroboam son of Nebat)?
30 Solomon ruled from Jerusalem all of Israel for 40 years.
Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years.
31 Then Solomon died and was buried in [the part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’. And his son Rehoboam became the king.
He slept with his ancestors and the people buried him in the city of David his father. Rehoboam, his son, became king in his place.
