2 Chronicles 9

Modern

Literal

The Queen of Sheba

¹Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon, she came to test him with difficult questions. She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large caravan—with camels bearing spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones.

And she came to Solomon and spoke with him about all that was on her mind.

¹And the queen of Sheba heard about the report of Solomon, and she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with difficult questions, with a very great company, and camels bearing spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones. And she came to Solomon, and she spoke with him about all that was in her heart.

²And Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too difficult for him to explain.

²And Solomon declared to her all her questions, and not a thing was concealed from Solomon that he could not explain to her.

³When the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, the palace he had built,

³And the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,

⁴the food at his table, the seating of his servants, the service and attire of his attendants, the attire of his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he presented^a at the house of the LORD, it took her breath away.

⁴and the food of his table, and the seating of his servants, and the service of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and their apparel, and the burnt offerings that he presented at the house of YHWH; and there was no breath in her anymore.

⁵She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your words^a and wisdom is true.

⁵And she said to the king, “True is the word that I heard in my land about your words and your wisdom.

⁶But I did not believe the reports until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not half of the greatness of your wisdom was told to me. You have far exceeded the report I heard.

⁶I did not believe their words until that I came and saw with my own eyes. And behold, it was not told to me the half of the greatness of your wisdom! You have added to the report that I heard.

⁷How blessed are your men! How blessed are these servants of yours who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom!

⁷How blessed are your men! And How blessed are your servants, these who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom!

⁸Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you to set you on His throne to be king for the LORD your God. Because your God loved Israel enough to establish them forever, He has made you king over them to carry out justice and righteousness.”

⁸YHWH your God be blessed, who delighted in you to set you on His throne as king for YHWH your God. Because your God has loved Israel to establish them forever, therefore He made you king over them to do justice and righteousness.”

⁹Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold,^a a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. There had never been such spices as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

⁹And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stones. And there were no spices such as that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹⁰(The servants of Hiram and of Solomon who brought gold from Ophir also brought algum^a wood and precious stones.

¹⁰(And the servants of Huram and the servants of Solomon who brought gold from Ophir brought algum wood and precious stones.

¹¹The king made the algum wood into steps^a for the house of the LORD and for the king’s palace, and into lyres and harps for the singers. Never before had anything like them been seen in the land of Judah.)

¹¹And the king made the algum wood steps for the house of YHWH, and for the house of the king, and lyres and harps for the singers; and nothing like these had been seen before in the land of Judah.)

¹²King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired—whatever she asked—far more than she had brought the king. Then she left and returned to her own country, along with her servants.

¹²And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, apart from that which she had brought to the king. And she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

Solomon’s Wealth and Splendor

¹³The weight of gold that came to Solomon each year was 666 talents,^a

¹³And the weight of the gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold,

¹⁴not including the revenue from the merchants and traders. And all the Arabian kings and governors of the land also brought gold and silver to Solomon.

¹⁴apart from what the men, the travelers, and the merchants brought. And all the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.

¹⁵King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of hammered gold^a went into each shield.

¹⁵And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold (six hundred hammered shekels of gold went into one shield),

¹⁶He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold; three hundred shekels of gold^a went into each shield. And the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.

¹⁶and three hundred shields of hammered gold (three hundred shekels of gold went into one shield). And the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.

¹⁷Additionally, the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold.

¹⁷And the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold.

¹⁸The throne had six steps, and a footstool of gold was attached to it. There were armrests on both sides of the seat, with a lion standing beside each armrest.

¹⁸And six steps were to the throne, and a footstool of gold, fastened to the throne, and hands on this side and on this on the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests.

¹⁹Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like this had ever been made for any kingdom.

¹⁹And twelve lions stood there on the six steps on this side and on this. Nothing thus had been made for any kingdom.

²⁰All King Solomon’s drinking cups were gold, and all the utensils of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver, because it was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.

²⁰And all the drinking vessels of King Solomon were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon pure gold. Silver was not accounted for anything in the days of Solomon.

²¹For the king had the ships of Tarshish^a that went with Hiram’s^b servants, and once every three years the ships of Tarshish would arrive bearing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.^c

²¹For ships of the king went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once in three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

²²So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.

²²And King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.

²³All the kings of the earth sought an audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom that God had put in his heart.

²³And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom that God had put in his heart.

²⁴Year after year, each visitor would bring his tribute: articles of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.

²⁴And they brought, each man, his present, articles of silver, and articles gold, and garments, armor and spices, horses and mules, a matter of year by year.

²⁵Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 horses,^a which he stationed in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem.

²⁵And there were unto Solomon four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horses; and he stationed them in cities of the chariot and with the king at Jerusalem.

²⁶He reigned over all the kings from the Euphrates^a to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.

²⁶And he reigned over all the kings from the River even to the land of the Philistines, and as far as the border of Egypt.

²⁷The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as abundant as sycamore in the foothills.^a

²⁷And the king made the silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees he made as abundant as the sycamores that are in the Shephelah.

²⁸Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from all the lands.

²⁸And they brought to Solomon horses from Egypt, and from all the lands.

The Death of Solomon

²⁹As for the rest of the acts of Solomon, from beginning to end, are they not written in the Records of Nathan the Prophet, in the Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the Visions of Iddo the Seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat?

²⁹And the rest of the acts of Solomon, the first and the last, are they not written in the Words 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?

³⁰Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.

³⁰And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.

³¹And Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David. And his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.

³¹And Solomon rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.