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.
The queen of Sheba heard how famous Solomon was, so she came to Jerusalem to test him with tough questions. She brought with her a very large entourage, with camels loaded with spices, large amounts of gold, and precious gemstones. She came to Solomon and asked him about everything she had on her mind.
2 Solomon answered all her questions. He explained everything that she asked about, even things that were very difficult.
Solomon answered all her questions. There was nothing he couldn't explain to her.
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 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 the table, how his officials lived, how his servants operated and how they were dressed, the clothes of the waiters, and the burnt offerings he presented at the Lord's Temple, she was so astonished she could hardly breathe.
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 told the king, “It's true what I heard in my own country about your proverbs 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.
But I didn't believe what they told me until I came and saw with my own eyes. In fact, I wasn't told the half of it—the extent of your wisdom far exceeds what I heard!
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 happy your people must be! How happy those who work for you, who stand here every day listening to 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.”
Praise the Lord your God who is so pleased with you, who placed you on his throne as king to rule on his behalf. Because of the love of your God for Israel he has made them secure forever, and he has made you king over them to do what is fair and right.”
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 presented the king with one hundred and twenty talents of gold, huge amounts of spices and precious stones. Never before had there been spices like those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
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.
(Hiram and of Solomon's men, who brought gold from Ophir, also brought algum wood and precious stones.
The king used the algum wood to make steps for the Temple and for the royal palace, and into lyres and harps for the musicians. Nothing like them had ever been seen before in the land of Judah.)
King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all wanted, whatever she asked for. This was far more than she had brought the king. Then she and her attendants returned home to her own country.
13 Each year there was brought to Solomon a total of 25 tons of gold.
The weight of gold that Solomon received each year was 666 talents,
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.
not including that received from traders and merchants. All the kings of Arabia and governors of the land 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 shields of hammered gold. Each shield required six hundred shekels of hammered gold.
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 small shields of hammered gold. Each of these shields required three hundred gold coins. The king placed them in the Palace 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.
The king also made a great throne of ivory, and covered it with pure 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.
The throne had six steps, with a golden footstool attached. There were armrests on both sides of the seat, with lions standing beside the armrests.
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 six steps, one on opposite ends of each step. Nothing like this had ever been made for any 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 of King Solomon's drinking cups were gold, and all the utensils of the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. No silver was used, because it was not valued in the days of Solomon.
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 a fleet of ships from Tarshish crewed by Hiram's sailors. Once every three years the ships of Tarshish would arrive with a cargo of gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
22 King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king on the earth.
King Solomon was greater than any other king on earth in wealth and 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 wanted to meet Solomon to hear the wisdom that God had placed in his mind.
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.
Year after year, every visitor would bring gifts—articles of silver and gold, clothes, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.
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. He kept them in the chariot towns, and also with him 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 with 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 made silver as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar wood as plentiful as sycamore-figs in the foothills.
28 Solomon’s agents brought horses from [the] Musri [area] and other places.
Solomon's horses were imported from Egypt and from many other 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.
The rest of the acts of Solomon, from start to finish, are written in the Records of Nathan the Prophet, in the Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the Visions of Iddo the Seer about Jeroboam, son of Nebat.
30 Solomon ruled from Jerusalem all of Israel for 40 years.
Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all of 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.
Then Solomon died and was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam took over as king.
