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 the report of Solomon, as pertaining to the Name of Yahweh, she came to prove him, with abstruse questions.
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.
Yea she came to Jerusalem with a very heavily-laden train, of camels bearing spices, and gold in great abundance, and precious stones, —and, when she was come to Solomon, she spake unto him all that was near her heart;
3 Solomon answered all her questions. He explained everything that she asked about, even things that were very difficult.
and Solomon answered her all her questions, —there was nothing hidden from the king, which he told her not.
4 The queen realized that Solomon was very wise. She saw his palace;
And, when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, —and the house which 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 seated assembly of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers with their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he ascended unto the house of Yahweh, there was in her no more spirit.
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 unto the king, True, was the word which I heard in mine own land, —concerning thine affairs, and concerning 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.
Howbeit I believed not the words, until that I had come and mine own eyes had seen, and lo! there had not been told me, the half, —thou dost exceed, in wisdom and prosperity, even the report which I 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!
How happy, are thy wives, how happy, are these thy servants, —who do 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.”
Yahweh thy God be blessed, who delighted in thee, to set thee upon the throne of Israel, —because Yahweh loveth Israel unto times age-abiding, therefore hath he appointed thee to be king, to execute 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 unto the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stones, —there came in no more, such spice for abundance, as that which the queen of Sheba gave unto 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.
Moreover also, the fleet of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought in, from Ophir sandal-wood in great abundance, 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.
So the king made of the sandal-wood a footpath to the house of Yahweh, and to the house of the king, lyres also and harps, for the singers, —there hath neither come in such sandal-wood, nor been seen, unto 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, when, King Solomon, had given unto the queen of Sheba, all her desire, which she asked, besides that which he gave her as the bounty of King Solomon, she turned, and went to her own land, she and her servants.
14 Each year there was brought to Solomon a total of 25 tons of gold.
And it came to pass that, the weight of the gold which came in unto Solomon in one year, was six hundred and sixty-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.
besides the tribute of the subjugated, and of the travelling merchants, —and of all the kings of Arabia, and the pashas of the land.
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 shields, of beaten gold, six hundred [shekels] of gold, laid he upon one shield;
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 three hundred bucklers, of beaten gold, one hundred and fifty shekels of gold, laid he upon one buckler, —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.
And the king made a great throne of ivory, —and overlaid it with gold from Uphaz.
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.
There were, six steps, to the throne, and there was, a circular top, to the throne, behind it, and there were supports on this side and on that, unto the place of the seat, —with two lions standing beside the supports;
and, twelve lions, were standing there, upon the six steps, on this side and on that, —there had never been made the like, for any of the kingdoms.
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 the drinking vessels of King Solomon, were of gold, and, all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon, were of pure gold, —none was of silver, it was accounted in the days of Solomon, as nothing.
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, a fleet of Tarshish, had the king, at sea, with the fleet of Hiram, —once in three years, came in the fleet of Tarshish, bringing gold and silver, ivory and apes, and peacocks.
23 King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king.
So King Solomon became greater than any of 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, all the earth, did seek the face 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, did bring every man his present—vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses and mules, —a rate of a year in a 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 so it was that he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, —for whom he found place in the chariot cities, and near the king, in 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 caused silver in Jerusalem to be as stones, —cedars also, caused he to be as the sycamores 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 the horses that Solomon had were, an export, out of Egypt, —and, a company of the merchants of the king, used to fetch, a drove, 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 came up and forth 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, by their means, came they forth.
