1 Kings 10
1 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].
And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon in connection with the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with riddles.
2 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.
And she came to Jerusalem with an exceedingly great train, with camels bearing spices, and gold in great abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she spoke with him of all that was on her heart.
3 Solomon answered all her questions. He explained everything that she asked about, even things that were very difficult.
And Solomon solved [for] her all her questions: nothing remained hidden from the king, which he did not tell her.
4 The queen realized that Solomon was very wise. She saw his palace;
And when the queen of Sheba saw all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built,
5 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.
And the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cup-bearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord: there was no more spirit in her.
6 She said to King Solomon, “Everything that I heard in my own country about you and about how wise you are is true!
And she said to the king, The truth only was the word that I heard in my own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.
7 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.
And I believed not in the words, until I came, and my eyes saw [all]: and, behold, the half hath not been told me; thou excellest in wisdom and prosperity the report which I have heard.
8 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!
Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, who stand before thee continually, who hear thy wisdom.
9 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.”
Blessed be the Lord thy God, who hath had delight in thee, to place thee on the throne of Israel; because the Lord loveth Israel for ever, therefore hath he made thee king, to do justice and righteousness.
10 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.
And she gave to the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices a very great store, and precious stones: there came no more spices in such abundance as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.
11 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.
And also the ship of Hiram, that fetched gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir in great abundance sandal-wood and precious stones.
12 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.
And the king made of the sandal-wood a railing for the house of the Lord, and for the king's house, and harps and psalteries for the singers: there came no such sandal-wood, nor was it seen [again] until this day.
13 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.
And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her pleasure, whatsoever she asked, beside what Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned about and went to her own country, she and her servants.
14 Each year there was brought to Solomon a total of 25 tons of gold.
Now the weight of the gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty and six talents of gold,
15 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.
Beside [what he had] of the traveling tradesmen, and of the traffic of the merchants, and of the kings of confederate nations, and of the governors of the country.
16 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.
And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of gold he used for each one target.
17 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.
And [he made] three hundred shields of beaten gold; three manehs of gold he used for each one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.
18 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.
The king also made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold.
19 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.
The throne had six steps, and there was a round top on the throne behind; and there were arms on either side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the arms.
And twelve lions stood there upon the six steps on both sides: there was not the like made in any other kingdom.
21 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.
And 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; it was not valued in the days of Solomon at the least.
22 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).
For the king had a Tharshish-ship at sea with the ship of Hiram: once in three years the Tharshish-ship used to come home, laden with gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.
23 King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king.
And king Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.
24 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.
And [men of] all the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.
25 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.
And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armor, and spices, horses, and mules: and so year by year.
26 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.
And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he quartered in the cities for chariots, and near the king at Jerusalem.
27 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.
And the king rendered the silver in Jerusalem like stones, and the cedars he rendered like the sycamore-trees that are in the lowlands, for abundance.
28 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].
And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt; and a company of the king's merchants bought a quantity at a price.
29 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.
And a chariot-team came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.
