2 Chronicles 9
1 And the queen of Saba heard
of the name of Solomon, and she came to Jerusalem
with a very large force, to prove Solomon with hard questions, and
she had camels bearing spices in abundance, and gold,
and precious stones: and she came to Solomon, and told him all that was in her
mind. 2 And Solomon told her all her
words; and there passed not a word from Solomon which he told her not.
3 And the queen of Saba saw the wisdom
of Solomon, and the house which he had built,
4 and the meat of the tables, and the
sitting of his servants, and the standing of his ministers, and their raiment;
and his cupbearers, and their apparel; and the whole-burnt-offerings which he
offered up in the house of the Lord; then she was in ecstasy.
5 And she said to the king,
It was a true report which I heard in my land
concerning thy words, and concerning thy wisdom.
6 Yet I believed not the reports until
I came, and my eyes saw: and, behold, the half of the abundance of thy wisdom
was not told me: thou hast exceeded the report which I heard.
7 Blessed
are thy men, blessed
are these thy servants, who stand before thee
continually, and hear thy wisdom.
8 Blessed be the Lord thy God, who
took pleasure in thee, to set thee upon his throne for a king, to the Lord thy
God: forasmuch as the Lord thy God loved Israel to establish them for ever,
therefore he has set thee over them for a king to execute judgment and
justice. 9 And she gave the king a
hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in very great abundance, and
precious stones: and there were not
any where else such spices as those which the queen
of Saba gave king Solomon.
10 And the servants of Solomon and
the servants of Chiram brought gold to Solomon out of Suphir, and pine timber,
and precious stones. 11 And the king
made of the pine timber steps to the house of the Lord, and to the king's
house, and harps and lutes for the singers: and such were not seen before in
the land of Juda. 12 And king Solomon
gave to the queen of Saba all that she requested, besides all that she brought
to king Solomon: and she returned to her own land.
13 And the weight of the gold that
was brought to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of
gold, 14 besides what the men who
were regularly appointed and the merchants brought, and all the kings of
Arabia and princes of the land: all brought gold and silver to king Solomon.
15 And king Solomon made two hundred
shields of beaten gold: there were six hundred
shekels of pure gold to one shield.
16 And three hundred bucklers of
beaten gold: the weight of three hundred gold shekels
went to one buckler: and the king placed them in the house of the forest of
Lebanon.
17 And the king made a great throne
of ivory, and he gilded it with pure gold.
18 And
there were six steps to the throne, riveted with
gold, and elbows on either side of the seat of the throne, and two lions
standing by the elbows: 19 and twelve
lions standing there on the six steps on each side. There was not the like in
any other 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 thought anything of in the days of Solomon.
21 For a ship went for the king to
Tharsis with the servants of Chiram: once every three years came vessels from
Tharsis to the king, laden with gold, and silver, and ivory, and apes.
22 And Solomon exceeded all
other kings both in riches and 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 they brought every one
his gifts, silver vessels and golden vessels, and raiment, myrrh and spices,
horses and mules, a rate every 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.
26 And he ruled over all the kings
from the river even to the land of the Philistines, and to the borders of
Egypt. 27 And the king made gold and
silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars as the sycamore trees in the plain
for abundance. 28 And Solomon
imported horses from Egypt, and from every
other country.
29 And the rest of the acts of
Solomon, the first and the last, behold, these are written in the words of
Nathan the prophet, and in the words of Achia the Selonite, and in the visions
of Joel the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nabat.
30 And Solomon reigned over all
Israel forty years. 31 And Solomon
fell asleep, and they buried him in the city of David his father: and Roboam
his son reigned in his stead.