Chronicles II 9
1 And the queen of Saba heard [of] the name of Solomon, and she came to Jerusalem with a very large force, to prove Solomon with hard questions, and [she had] camels bearing spices in abundance, and gold, and precious stones: and she came to Solomon, and told him all that was in her mind.
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.
2 And Solomon told her all her words; and there passed not a word from Solomon which he told her not.
Solomon answered all her questions. He explained everything that she asked about, even things that were very difficult.
3 And the queen of Saba saw the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he had built,
The queen realized that Solomon was very wise. She saw his palace,
4 and the meat of the tables, and the sitting of his servants, and the standing of his ministers, and their raiment; and his cupbearers, and their apparel; and the whole burnt offerings which he offered up in the house of the Lord; then she was in ecstasy.
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.
5 And she said to the king, [It was] a true report which I heard in my land concerning your words, and concerning your wisdom.
She said to the king, “Everything that I heard in my own country about you and about how wise you are is true!
6 Yet I believed not the reports until I came, and my eyes saw: and, behold, the half of the abundance of your wisdom was not told me: you have exceeded the report which I heard.
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.
7 Blessed [are] your men, blessed [are] these your servants, who stand before you continually, and hear your wisdom.
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!
8 Blessed be the Lord your God, who took pleasure in you, to set you upon his throne for a king, to the Lord your God: forasmuch as the Lord your God loved Israel to establish them for ever, therefore he has set you over them for a king to execute judgment and justice.
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.”
9 And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in very great abundance, and precious stones: and there were not [any where else] such spices as those which the queen of Saba gave king Solomon.
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.
10 And the servants of Solomon and the servants of Chiram brought gold to Solomon out of Suphir, and pine timber, and precious stones.
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.
11 And the king made of the pine timber steps to the house of the Lord, and to the king's house, and harps and lutes for the singers: and such were not seen before in the land of Juda.
12 And king Solomon gave to the queen of Saba all that she requested, besides all that she brought to king Solomon: and she returned to her [own] land.
13 And the weight of the gold that was brought 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.
14 besides what the men who were regularly appointed and the merchants brought, and all the kings of Arabia and princes of the land: all brought gold and silver to king Solomon.
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.
15 And king Solomon made two hundred shields of beaten gold: there were six hundred [shekels] of pure gold to one shield.
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.
16 And three hundred buckles of beaten gold: [the weight] of three hundred gold shekels went to one buckler: and the king placed them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.
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.
17 And the king made a great throne of ivory, and he gilded it with pure gold.
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.
18 And [there were] six steps to the throne, riveted with gold, and elbows on either side of the seat of the throne, and two lions standing by the elbows:
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.
19 and twelve lions standing there on the six steps on each side. There was not the like in any [other] kingdom.
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.
20 And all king Solomon's vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were covered with gold: silver was not thought anything 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.
21 For a ship went for the king to Tharsis with the servants of Chiram: once every three years came vessels from Tharsis to the king, laden with gold, and silver, and ivory, and apes.
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).
22 And Solomon exceeded all [other] kings both in riches and wisdom.
King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king on the earth.
23 And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.
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.
24 And they brought every one his gifts, silver vessels and golden vessels, and raiment, myrrh and spices, horses and mules, a rate every year.
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.
25 And Solomon had four thousand mares for chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; and he put them in the chariot cities, and with the king in Jerusalem.
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.
26 And he rules over all the kings from the river even to the land of the Philistines, and to the borders of Egypt.
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].
27 And the king made gold and silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars as the sycamore trees in the plain for abundance.
[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.
28 And Solomon imported horses from Egypt, and from every [other] country.
Solomon’s agents brought horses from [the] Musri [area] and other places.
29 And the rest of the acts of Solomon, the first and the last, behold, these are written in the words of Nathan the prophet, and in the words of Achia the Selonite, and in the visions of Joel the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nabat.
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.
30 And Solomon reigned over all Israel forty years.
Solomon ruled from Jerusalem all of Israel for 40 years.
31 And Solomon fell asleep, and they buried him in the city of David his father: and Roboam his son reigned in his stead.
Then Solomon died and was buried in [the part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’. And his son Rehoboam became the king.
