2 Chronicles 9
1 Also the queen of Saba, whanne sche hadde herd the fame of Salomon, cam to tempte hym in derk figuris `in to Jerusalem, with grete ritchessis, and camels, that baren swete smellynge spices, and ful myche of gold, and preciouse iemmes, `ether peerlis. And whanne sche was comun to Salomon, sche spak to hym what euer thingis weren in hir herte.
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 Salomon expownede to hir alle thingis whiche sche hadde put forth, and no thing was, which he made not opyn to hir.
Solomon answered all her questions. He explained everything that she asked about, even things that were very difficult.
3 And aftir that sche siy these thingis, that is, the wisdom of Salomon, and the hows which he hadde bildid,
The queen realized that Solomon was very wise. She saw his palace,
4 also and the metis of his boord, and the dwellyng places of seruauntis, and the offices of hise mynystris, and the clothis of hem, and the boteleris, and her clothis, and the sacrifices whiche he offride in the hows of the Lord, spirit was no more in hir for wondryng.
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 sche seide to the kyng, The word `is trewe, which Y herde in my lond, of thi vertues and 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 Y bileuyde not to telleris, til Y my silf hadde come, and myn yyen hadden seyn, and Y hadde preued that vnnethis the half of thi wisdom was teld to me; thou hast ouercome the fame bi thi vertues.
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 Blessid ben thi men, and blessid ben thi seruauntis, these that stonden bifor thee in al tyme, and heren thi 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 Blessid be `thi Lord God, that wolde ordeyne thee on his trone kyng of the puple of `thi Lord God; treuli for God loueth Israel, and wole saue hym with outen ende, therfor he hath set thee kyng on hym, that thou do domes and riytfulnesse.
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 Forsothe sche yaf to the kyng sixe scoore talentis of gold, and ful many swete smellynge spices, and moost preciouse iemmes; ther weren not siche swete smellynge spices, as these whiche the queen of Saba yaf `to kyng Salomon.
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 But also the seruauntis of Iram with the seruauntis of Salomon brouyten gold fro Ophir, and trees of thyne, and most preciouse iemmes; of whiche,
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 that is, of the trees of thyne, the kyng made grees in the hows of the Lord, and in the hows of the kyng, `harpis also, and sautrees to syngeris; siche trees weren neuere seyn in the lond of Juda.
12 Forsothe Salomon yaf to the queen of Saba alle thingis whiche sche wolde, and whiche sche axide, many moo than sche hadde brouyt to hym. And sche turnede ayen, and yede in to hir lond with hir seruauntis.
13 Forsothe the weiyt of gold, that was brouyt to Salomon bi ech yeer, was sixe hundrid and sixe and sixti talentis of gold,
Each year there was brought to Solomon a total of 25 tons of gold.
14 outakun that summe whiche the legatis of dyuerse folkis, and marchauntis weren wont to brynge, and alle the kyngis of Arabie, and the princes of londis, that brouyten togidere gold and siluer to Salomon.
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 Therfor kyng Salomon made two hundrid goldun speris of the summe of sixe hundrid `floreyns, ether peesis of gold, that weren spendid in ech spere;
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 he made thre hundrid goldun scheeldis of thre hundrid floreyns, with whiche ech scheeld was hilid; and the kyng puttide tho in the armure place, that was set in the wode.
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 Also the kyng made a greet seete of yuer, and clothide it with clennest 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 he made sixe grees, bi whiche me stiede to the seete, and a goldun stool, and tweyne armes, oon ayens `the tother, and twei liouns stondynge bisidis the armes;
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 but also he made twelue othere litle liouns stondynge on sixe grees on euer either side. Siche a seete was not in alle rewmes.
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 alle the vessels of the feeste of the kyng weren of gold, and the vessels of the hows of the forest of the Liban weren of pureste gold; for siluer in tho daies was arettid for nouyt.
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 also the schippis of the kyng yeden in to Tharsis with the seruauntis of Iram onys in thre yeer, and brouyten fro thennus gold, and siluer, and yuer, and apis, and pokokis.
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 Therfor kyng Salomon was magnyfied ouer alle kyngis of erthe for richessis and glorie.
King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king on the earth.
23 And alle the kyngis of londis desireden to se the face of Salomon, for to here the wisdom which God hadde youe in his herte; and thei brouyten to hym yiftis,
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 vessels of siluer and of gold, clothis and armuris, and swete smellynge spices, horsis and mulis, bi ech yeer.
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 Also Salomon hadde fourti thousynde of horsis in stablis, and twelue thousynde of charis and of knyytis; and `he ordeynede hem in the citees of charis, and where the kyng was 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 Forsothe he vside power on alle the kyngis, fro the flood Eufrates `til to the lond of Filisteis, and `til to the termes of Egipt.
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 he yaf so greet plente of siluer in Jerusalem, as of stoonys, and so greet multitude of cedris, as of sycomoris that growen in feeldi places.
[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 Forsothe horsis weren brouyt fro Egipt, and fro alle cuntreis.
Solomon’s agents brought horses from [the] Musri [area] and other places.
29 Sotheli the residue of the formere werkis and the laste of Salomon ben writun in the wordis of Nathan, the prophete, and in the wordis of Achie of Silo, and in the visioun, `ether prophesie, of Addo, the prophete, ayens Jeroboam, sone of Nabath.
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 Sotheli Salomon regnede in Jerusalem on al Israel fourti yeer,
Solomon ruled from Jerusalem all of Israel for 40 years.
31 and he slepte with his fadris; and thei birieden hym in the citee of Dauid, and Roboam, his sone, regnyde for hym.
Then Solomon died and was buried in [the part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’. And his son Rehoboam became the king.
