The Shared Word Translation · Study & Discuss
1 Kings 10
When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame in connection with the name of the LORD, she came to test him with riddles. She came to Jerusalem with a very great caravan, with camels carrying spices, an abundance of gold, and precious stones. She came to Solomon and spoke with him about everything that was in her heart. Solomon explained all her matters to her; nothing was hidden from the king that he did not explain to her.
When the queen of Sheba saw all Solomon’s wisdom, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his ministers and their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offering that he offered at the house of the LORD, there was no breath left in her.
She said to the king, “The report that I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom was true. But I did not believe the reports until I came and saw with my own eyes. And look—not even half had been told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard. Happy are your people! Happy are these servants of yours, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel. Because the LORD loves Israel forever, he made you king to do justice and righteousness.”
Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, a very great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again did such an abundance of spices come as that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
Hiram’s fleet, which carried gold from Ophir, also brought from Ophir a very great quantity of almug wood and precious stones. The king made the almug wood into supports for the house of the LORD and for the king’s house, and into lyres and harps for the singers. Such almug wood had never come or been seen to this day.
King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all that she desired, whatever she asked, besides what he gave her from the generosity of King Solomon. Then she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants.
The weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, apart from that from the traveling merchants and from the trade of the traders, and from all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land.
King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. He made three hundred smaller shields of beaten gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
The king also made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with refined gold. Six steps led up to the throne, and the throne had a rounded top at its back. There were armrests on either side of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests. Twelve lions stood there on the six steps, one on either side. Nothing like it had been made for any kingdom.
All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. Silver was not considered anything in Solomon’s days. For the king had a Tarshish fleet at sea with Hiram’s fleet. Once every three years the Tarshish fleet came, carrying gold and silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks.
So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom. All the earth sought an audience with Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. Each brought his tribute: vessels of silver, vessels of gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses, and mules—year after year.
Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen. He had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees in the lowland.
Solomon’s horses came from Egypt and from Kue; the king’s traders acquired them from Kue at a price. A chariot was imported from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for one hundred and fifty. In the same way, they exported them by their hand to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.