2 Chronicles 9

1 And the queen of Sheba heard of the name of Solomon, and she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with riddles, with a very heavy force, and camels carrying spices in abundance, and gold, and precious stones. And she came to Solomon and told him all that was in her soul. [a] † 2 And Solomon answered her in all her words; not one word passed Solomon by that he did not tell her. [b]

3 And the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, 4 and the food of his tables, and the seating of his servants, and the standing of those who served him, and their clothing, and his cupbearers and their robes, and the whole burnt offerings that he brought up in the house of the Lord — and she was beside herself. [c]

5 And she said to the king, “The report I heard in my own land about your words and about your wisdom was true, 6 and I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes saw. And look — not half of the greatness of your wisdom was told me. You go beyond the report I heard. 7 Blessed are the men, blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom. [d] 8 May the Lord your God be blessed, who took delight in you, to set you on his throne as king for the Lord your God. Because the Lord your God loved Israel, to establish him forever, he has given you over them as king, to do judgment and righteousness.” [e]

9 And she gave the king about four and a half tons of gold, and spices in very great abundance, and precious stones. There was nothing like those spices that the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon. [f] 10 And the servants of Solomon and the servants of Hiram brought gold to Solomon from Ophir, and pine timber, and precious stones. 11 And the king made the pine timber into stairways for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, and into lyres and harps for the singers; and nothing like them had been seen before in the land of Judah. [g] 12 And King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she wanted and asked for, besides all that she had brought to King Solomon. And she turned back to her own land.

13 And the weight of the gold that was brought to Solomon in one year was about twenty-five tons of gold, [h] 14 besides what the men under him and the traders brought in; and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land brought gold and silver to King Solomon.

15 And King Solomon made two hundred tall shields of beaten gold: fifteen pounds of pure gold to the one shield, fifteen pounds of gold went on the one shield; [i] 16 and three hundred small shields of beaten gold: seven and a half pounds of gold went up on each shield. And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. [j]

17 And the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with tested gold. 18 And the throne had six steps, fastened with gold, and armrests on this side and on that at the seat of the throne, and two lions standing beside the armrests, 19 and twelve lions standing there on the six steps, on this side and on that. Nothing like it was ever made in any 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 reckoned as anything in the days of Solomon, 21 for the king had a ship that went to Tarshish with the servants of Hiram; once every three years ships came from Tarshish to the king, loaded with gold and silver and elephants’ tusks and apes. [k]

22 And Solomon was magnified above all the kings, in wealth and in wisdom. 23 And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 24 And each of them brought his gift — vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and clothing, oil of myrrh and spices, horses and mules — year by 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. [l] 26 And he was leader over all the kings from the River as far as the land of the Philistines, and as far as the border of Egypt. 27 And the king made the gold and the silver in Jerusalem like stones, and the cedars like the sycamores in the lowland, for their great number. 28 And Solomon’s horses came out of Egypt, and out of every land.

29 And the rest of the acts of Solomon, the first and the last — look, they are written in the words of Nathan the prophet, and in the words of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Joel the seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat. [m] 30 And Solomon the king reigned over all Israel forty years. 31 And Solomon slept, and they buried him in the city of David his father, and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place. [n]