2 Chronicles 9 The QUEEN OF SHEBA heard about Solomon's reputation. So she came to Jerusalem to test him with difficult questions. She arrived with a large group of servants. They had camels carrying spices, a large quantity of gold, and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she talked with him about everything she had on her mind.

VIN⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ The QUEEN OF SHEBA heard about Solomon's reputation. So she came to Jerusalem to test him with difficult questions. She arrived with a large group of servants. They had camels carrying spices, a large quantity of gold, and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she talked with him about everything she had on her mind. ² Solomon answered all her questions. No question was too difficult for Solomon to answer. ³ When the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon and the house he had built, ⁴ and the food of his table, and the position of his officers, the duty of his servants and their clothing, his cupbearers and their clothing, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the LORD, there was no longer any breath in her. ⁵ She told the king: "What I heard in my country about your words and your wisdom is true! ⁶ but I did not believe their words until I came and saw with my own eyes. And behold, half the greatness of your wisdom was not reported to me; you surpass the rumors that I had heard. ⁷ Happy are your men, and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you, and hear your wisdom. ⁸ Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you, to set you on his throne, to be king for the LORD your God: because your God loved Israel, to establish them forever, therefore he made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness." ⁹ Then she gave the king 9,000 pounds of gold, a vast quantity of spices, and precious stones. There were no spices comparable to those that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. ¹⁰ The servants of Huram and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, also brought algum trees and precious stones. ¹¹ The king used the algum wood to have steps made for the LORD's temple and for the royal palace, as well as lyres and harps for the choir, and nothing like that wood had been seen before in the territory of Judah. ¹² King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba anything she wanted. Whatever she asked for, more than what she had brought him. Then she and her servants went back to her country. ¹³ Now the weight of gold which came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents; ¹⁴ not including revenue from traders and merchants. In addition, all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the nation brought gold and silver to Solomon. ¹⁵ And king Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold: six hundred shekels of hammered gold went to each large shield. ¹⁶ He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, using seven and one half pounds of gold on each shield. The king put them in the hall named the Forest of Lebanon. ¹⁷ And the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold; ¹⁸ And the throne had six steps, and a footstool of gold was attached to the throne. And there were armrests on each side. And by the seat were two lions standing beside the armrests. ¹⁹ Twelve lions stood on six steps, one on each side. Nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom. ²⁰ All King Solomon's cups were gold. All the utensils for the hall named the Forest of Lebanon were fine gold. Silver was not considered valuable in Solomon's time. ²¹ The king had ships going to Tarshish with Huram's sailors. Once every three years the Tarshish ships would bring gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys. ²² King Solomon was greater in wealth and wisdom than all the other kings of the world. ²³ All the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. ²⁴ And every year they brought him presents, vessels of silver and of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, and horses, and mules. ²⁵ And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, which he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem ²⁶ He ruled over all the kings from the River even to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt. ²⁷ The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones. He made cedars as plentiful as fig trees in the foothills. ²⁸ Horses were imported for Solomon from Egypt and from all other countries. ²⁹ Now, the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the records of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer, concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat? ³⁰ Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. ³¹ he laid him to rest with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father, and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.