1 Kings 10

¹ When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon's fame in connection with the name of the LORD, she came to test him with hard questions.

² She came to Jerusalem with a very large retinue, with camels carrying spices, a great deal of gold, and precious stones. She came to Solomon and spoke with him about everything that was on her mind.

³ Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hidden for the king to explain to her.

⁴ When the queen of Sheba saw all of Solomon's wisdom, the palace he had built,

⁵ the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending of his servants and their attire, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at the house of the LORD, it took her breath away.

⁶ She said to the king, "The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom was true.

⁷ But I did not believe the reports until I came and saw with my own eyes. And indeed, not even half was told to me; your wisdom and prosperity far exceed the report I had heard.

⁸ Blessed are your people! Blessed are these servants of yours who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom!

⁹ Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel. Because the LORD loved Israel forever, he has made you king to administer justice and righteousness."

¹⁰ And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again did so much spice come in as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹¹ Hiram's fleet, too, which brought gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir a great quantity of almug wood and precious stones.

¹² The king made the almug wood into supports for the house of the LORD and for the royal palace, and into lyres and harps for the singers. No such almug wood has ever come in or been seen since, to this day.

¹³ King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she desired and asked for, besides what he gave her out of his royal bounty. Then she returned to her own country, she and her servants.

¹⁴ The weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents,

¹⁵ not counting what came from the merchants and the trade of the traders, and from all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land.

¹⁶ King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold, with six hundred shekels of gold going into each shield,

¹⁷ and three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three minas of gold going into each shield; and the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.

¹⁸ The king also made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with refined gold.

¹⁹ The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was rounded at the back. On either side of the seat were armrests, with two lions standing beside the armrests.

²⁰ Twelve lions stood there, one on each end of the six steps. Nothing like it had ever been made for any kingdom.

²¹ All King Solomon's drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. None were silver, because silver was reckoned as worthless in the days of Solomon.

²² For the king had a fleet of Tarshish ships at sea along with Hiram's fleet. Once every three years the Tarshish fleet would come in, carrying gold, silver, ivory, apes, and baboons.

²³ So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.

²⁴ The whole world sought an audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.

²⁵ Year after year, each one brought his gift: articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.

²⁶ Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

²⁷ The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as the sycamore-figs in the foothills.

²⁸ Solomon's horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue; the royal merchants would buy them from Kue at the going price.

²⁹ A chariot was imported from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty; and so, through Solomon's merchants, they were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.