1 Kings 10

1 Now the queen of Sheba, hearing great things of Solomon, came to put his wisdom to the test with hard questions.

When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the LORD’s name, she came to test him with hard questions.

2 And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels weighted down with spices, and stores of gold and jewels: and when she came to Solomon she had talk with him of everything in her mind.

She came to Jerusalem with a very great caravan, with camels that bore spices, very much gold, and precious stones; and when she had come to Solomon, she talked with him about all that was in her heart.

3 And Solomon gave her answers to all her questions; there was no secret which the king did not make clear to her.

Solomon answered all her questions. There wasn’t anything hidden from the king which he didn’t tell her.

4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he had made,

When the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built,

5 And the food at his table, and all his servants seated there, and those who were waiting on him in their places, and their robes, and his wine-servants, and the burned offerings which he made in the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her.

the food of his table, the sitting of his servants, the attendance of his officials, their clothing, his cup bearers, and his ascent by which he went up to the LORD’s house, there was no more spirit in her.

6 And she said to the king, The account which was given to me in my country of your acts and your wisdom was true.

She said to the king, “It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts and of your wisdom.

7 But I had no faith in what was said about you, till I came and saw for myself; and now I see that it was not half the story; your wisdom and your wealth are much greater than they said.

However, I didn’t believe the words until I came and my eyes had seen it. Behold, not even half was told me! Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame which I heard.

8 Happy are your wives, happy are these your servants whose place is ever before you, hearing your words of wisdom.

Happy are your men, happy are these your servants who stand continually before you, who hear your wisdom.

9 May the Lord your God be praised, whose pleasure it was to put you on the seat of the kingdom of Israel; because the Lord's love for Israel is eternal, he has made you king, to be their judge in righteousness.

Blessed is the LORD your God, who delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel. Because the LORD loved Israel forever, therefore he made you king, to do justice and righteousness.”

10 And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a great store of spices and jewels: never again was such a wealth of spices seen as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.

She gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a very great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again was there such an abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

11 And the sea-force of Hiram, in addition to gold from Ophir, came back with much sandal-wood and jewels.

The fleet of Hiram that brought gold from Ophir also brought in from Ophir great quantities of almug trees and precious stones.

12 And from the sandal-wood the king made pillars for the house of the Lord, and for the king's house, and instruments of music for the makers of melody: never has such sandal-wood been seen to this day.

The king made of the almug trees pillars for the LORD’s house and for the king’s house, harps also and stringed instruments for the singers; no such almug trees came or were seen to this day.

13 And King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she made request for, in addition to what he gave her freely from the impulse of his heart. So she went back to her country, she and her servants.

King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, in addition to that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants.

14 Now the weight of gold which came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents;

Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold,

15 In addition to what came to him from the business of the traders, and from all the kings of the Arabians, and from the rulers of the country.

in addition to that which the traders brought, and the traffic of the merchants, and of all the kings of the mixed people, and of the governors of the country.

16 And Solomon made two hundred body-covers of hammered gold, every one having six hundred shekels of gold in it.

King Solomon made two hundred bucklers of beaten gold; six hundred shekels of gold went to one buckler.

17 And he made three hundred smaller body-covers of hammered gold, with three pounds of gold in every cover: and the king put them in the house of the Woods of Lebanon.

He made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three minas of gold went to one shield; and the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.

18 Then the king made a great ivory seat, plated with the best gold.

Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the finest gold.

19 There were six steps going up to it, and the top of it was round at the back, there were arms on the two sides of the seat, and two lions by the side of the arms;

There were six steps to the throne, and the top of the throne was round behind; and there were armrests on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests.

20 And twelve lions were placed on the one side and on the other side on the six steps: there was nothing like it in any kingdom.

Twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other on the six steps. Nothing like it was made in any kingdom.

21 And all King Solomon's drinking-vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the Woods of Lebanon were of the best gold; not one was of silver, for no one gave a thought to silver in the days of King Solomon.

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. None were of silver, because it was considered of little value in the days of Solomon.

22 For the king had Tarshish-ships at sea with the ships of Hiram; once every three years the Tarshish-ships came with gold and silver and ivory and monkeys and peacocks.

For the king had a fleet of ships of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s fleet. Once every three years the fleet of Tarshish came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

23 And King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and in wisdom.

So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.

24 And from all over the earth they came to see Solomon and to give ear to his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.

All the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart.

25 And everyone took with him an offering, vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and robes, and coats of metal, and spices, and horses, and beasts of transport, regularly year by year.

Year after year, every man brought his tribute, vessels of silver, vessels of gold, clothing, armour, spices, horses, and mules.

26 And Solomon got together war-carriages and horsemen; he had one thousand, four hundred carriages and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he kept, some in the carriage-towns and some with the king at Jerusalem.

Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had one thousand and four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen. He kept them in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem.

27 And the king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem and cedars like the sycamore-trees of the lowlands in number.

The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and cedars as common as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland.

28 And Solomon's horses came from Egypt and from Kue; the king's traders got them at a price from Kue.

The horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt. The king’s merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price.

29 A war-carriage might be got from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty; they got them at the same rate for all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.

A chariot was imported from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for one hundred and fifty shekels; and so they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Syria.