< 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.
2 And Solomon answered her all her questions, —and there was nothing hidden from Solomon, which he told her not.
3 And, when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he had built;
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.
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.
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.
7 How happy! are thy men, and how happy! are these thy servants, —who are standing before thee continually, and hearing thy wisdom.
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.
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.
10 Moreover also, the servants of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, brought sandal-wood and precious stones.
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;
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.
15 And King Solomon made two hundred shields of beaten gold, —six hundred [shekels] of beaten gold, overlay one 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.
17 And the king made a great throne of ivory, —and overlaid it with pure 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;
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.
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.
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.
22 And so King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth, —as to riches, and wisdom.
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;
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.
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.
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.
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.
28 And they used to bring horses out of Egypt unto Solomon, and out of all lands.
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?
30 And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel, forty 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.