2 Chronicles 9
1 And, the queen of Sheba, heard the report of Solomon, so she came to prove Solomon with abstruse questions, in Jerusalem, with a very great train, and camels bearing spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones, —and, when she was come to Solomon, she spake with him, as to all that was near her heart.
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 answered her all her questions, —and there was nothing hidden 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, when the queen of Sheba had seen 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 food of his table, and the seats of his servants, and the standing of his attendants, with their apparel, and his cupbearers, and their apparel, and his ascent whereby he used to ascend the house of Yahweh, then was there in her no more spirit.
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 unto the king, True was the word, which I heard in my own land, —concerning thine affairs, and concerning thy 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 Howbeit I believed not their words, until I had come and mine own eyes had seen, when lo! there had not been told me, the half of the fulness of thy wisdom, —thou dost exceed 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 How happy! are thy men, and how happy! are these thy servants, —who are standing before thee continually, and hearing thy 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 Yahweh thy God be blessed, who hath delighted in thee, to set thee upon his throne as king unto Yahweh thy God. Because of the love of thy God unto Israel, to establish them unto times age-abiding, therefore hath he set thee over them, as king, to execute justice and righteousness.
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 unto the king, a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance and precious stones, —and there was none like that spice, which the queen of Sheba gave unto 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 Moreover also, the servants of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, brought sandal-wood 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 sandal-wood, stairs unto the house of Yahweh, and unto the house of the king, also lyres and harps, for the singers, —and there were none seen like them before, in the land of Judah.
12 And, King Solomon, gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, besides [a return for] that which she had brought unto the king, —so she turned, and went away to her own land, she, and her servants.
13 Now, the weight of gold that came 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 came in from the subjugated, and what the travelling merchants were bringing in, —and, all the kings of Arabia and the pashas of the land, were bringing gold and silver, unto 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, —six hundred [shekels] of beaten gold, overlay 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 also three hundred bucklers of beaten gold, three hundred [shekels] of gold, overlay 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 overlaid 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, and a footstool in gold, unto the throne, made fast, and supports, on this side and on that, unto the seat, —and, two lions, standing by the supports;
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 upon the six steps, on this side and on that, —there was never made the like, for any 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 the drinking vessels of King Solomon, were of gold, and, all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon, were of purified gold, —there was no silver, it was esteemed, in the days of Solomon, as nothing.
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, the ships of the king, used to go to Tarshish, with the servants of Huram, —once in three years, came in the ships of Tarshish, bearing gold and silver, ivory and apes, and peacocks.
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 so King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth, —as to riches, and wisdom.
King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king on the earth.
23 And, all the kings of the earth, were seeking the face 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, were bringing in every man his present—utensils of silver, and utensils of gold, and mantles, armour, and spices, horses and mules, —the need of a year in a 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 stalls of horses, and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, —and he settled 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 ruled over all the kings, —from the river [Euphrates], even up to the land of the Philistines, yea up to the bounds 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 the silver in Jerusalem like the stones, —and, the cedar trees, made he like the sycomores which are in the lowland, 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 they used to bring horses out of Egypt unto Solomon, and out of all lands.
Solomon’s agents brought horses from [the] Musri [area] and other places.
29 Now, the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the records of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer, concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat?
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 in Jerusalem over all Israel, forty years.
Solomon ruled from Jerusalem all of Israel for 40 years.
31 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David his father, —and Rehoboam 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.
