1 And the queen of Saba heard of the name of Solomon, and the name of the Lord, and she came to try him with riddles. 2 And she came to Jerusalem with a very great * Gr. force. train; and there came camels bearing spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and she came in to Solomon, and told him all that was in her heart. 3 And Solomon † Gr. related to her all her words. answered all her questions: and there was not a question overlooked by the king which he did not answer her. 4 And the queen of Saba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he built, 5 and the provision of Solomon and the sitting of his attendants, and the standing of his servants, and his raiment, and his cup-bearers, and his whole-burnt-offering which he offered in the house of the Lord, and she was ‡ Or, in ecstasy. utterly amazed. 6 And she said to king Solomon, It was a true report which I heard in my land of thy § Gr. word. words and thy wisdom. 7 But I believed not them that told me, until I came and my eyes saw: and, behold, the words as they reported to me are not the half: thou hast ** Gr. added good things to them. exceeded in goodness all the report which I heard in my land. 8 Blessed are thy wives, blessed are these thy servants who stand before thee continually, who hear all thy wisdom. 9 Blessed be the Lord thy God, who has taken pleasure in thee, to set thee upon the throne of Israel, because the Lord loved Israel to establish him for ever; and he has made thee king over them, to execute judgment with justice, and in their causes. 10 And she gave to Solomon a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and very many spices, and †† Gr. precious stone. precious stones: there had not come any other spices so abundant as those which the queen of Saba gave to king Solomon. 11 And the ship of Chiram which brought the gold from Suphir, brought very much hewn timber and precious stones. 12 And the king made the hewn timber into buttresses of the house of the Lord and the king's house, and lyres and harps for singers: such hewn timber had not come upon the earth, nor have been seen anywhere until this day. 13 And king Solomon gave to the queen of Saba all that she desired, whatsoever she asked, besides all that he had given her ‡‡ of his royal bounty, A.V. by the hand of king Solomon: and she returned, and came into her own land, she and her servants. 14 And the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold. 15 Besides the tributes of them that were subjects, both merchants and all the kings of the country beyond the river, and of the princess of the land. 16 And Solomon made three hundred spears of beaten gold: three hundred shekels of gold were upon one spear. 17 And three hundred §§ Gr. arms. shields of beaten gold: and three pounds of gold were in one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. 18 And the king made a great ivory throne, and gilded it with pure gold. 19 The throne had six steps, and calves in bold relief to the throne behind it, and side-pieces on either hand of the place of the seat, and two lions standing by the side-pieces, 20 and twelve lions standing there on the six steps on either side: it was not so done in any other kingdom. 21 And all the vessels made by Solomon were of gold, and the lavers were golden, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of *** Lit. 'shut up with gold,' a frequent phrase in Heb. and Gr. for 'pure gold.' See chap. 6. 20. pure gold; there was no silver, for it was not accounted of in the days of Solomon. 22 For Solomon had a ship of Tharsis in the sea with the ships of Chiram: one ship came to the king every three years out of Tharsis, laden with gold and silver, and ††† Gr. turned. wrought stones, and hewn stones.

This was the arrangement of the ‡‡‡ This word more commonly means 'spoil' in the O.T. provision which king Solomon fetched to build the house of the Lord, and the house of the king, and the wall of Jerusalem, and the citadel; to fortify the city of David, and Assur, and Magdal, and Gazer, and Baethoron the upper, and Jethermath, and all the cities of the chariots, and all the cities of the horsemen, and the §§§ Gr. work. fortification of Solomon which he purposed to build in Jerusalem and in all the land, so that none of the people should rule over him that was left of the Chettite and the Amorite, and the Pherezite, and the Chananite, and the Evite, and the Jebusite, and the Gergesite, who were not of the children of Israel, their descendants who had been left with him in the land, whom the children of Israel could not utterly destroy; and Solomon * Gr. reduced them to tribute. made them tributaries until this day. But of the children of Israel Solomon made nothing; for they were the warriors, and his servants and rulers, and captains of the third order, and the captains of his chariots, and his horsemen. 23 And Solomon increased beyond all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom. 24 And all the kings of the earth sought the † Gr. face. presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which the Lord had put into his heart. 25 And they brought every one their gifts, vessels of gold, and raiment, and stacte, and spices, and horses, and mules, a rate year by year. 26 And Solomon had four thousand mares for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen: and he put them in the cities of his chariots, and with the king in Jerusalem: and he ruled over all the kings from the river to the land of the Philistines, and to the borders of Egypt. 27 And the king ‡ Gr. gave. made gold and silver in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as the sycamores in the plain for multitude. 28 And the goings forth of Solomon's horsemen was also out of Egypt, and the king's merchants were of Thecue; and they received them out of Thecue at a price. 29 And that which proceeded out of Egypt went up thus, even a chariot for a hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for fifty shekels of silver: and thus for all the kings of the Chettians, and the kings of Syria, they came out by sea.