2 *Chronicles 9

₁The queen of the land of Sheba heard people talking about Solomon and she came to him to ask if he really had so much wisdom. A lot of people came with her to Jerusalem, as well as camels which carried spices, gold and very expensive gemstones. She came to Solomon and she asked him everything that she wanted to ask. ₂King Solomon knew how to answer everything that she asked. There was not one question that was too difficult for him. _3-4When the Queen of Sheba had heard everything that Solomon said and had seen everything that he did, she was amazed by his wisdom. She saw the temple that he had built, the food on his table, his officials at his table, his servants who served him and the clothes that they wore and the beautiful clothes that the stewards who served his wine wore. She also saw the burnt-offerings that he sacrificed in the Lord's temple. She was so amazed when she saw all these things that she felt small. ₅She said to the king: ‘They told me in my land about everything that you do and I heard about your wisdom. I see it is all true. ₆At first I did not believe it, but now I have come and I have seen it, and really, I had not heard it all. They had not even told me half of it. You are a wise man and you are very rich. People told me that you are rich, but you are much richer than I thought. ₇The people who work for you and who are always with you are very happy people because they can listen to the wise things that you say. ₈I praise the Lord your God who loved you so much that He made you the king who sits on his throne. Your God made you king because He loves Israel. He made you king over them, so that you can be honest and do what is right.’

₉The Queen of Sheba gave King Solomon 120 talents of gold, lots of spices and precious gemstones and beautiful stones. The land_of_Israel had never had as many spices before as what the Queen of Sheba had given King Solomon.

₁₀The servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, also brought algum wood and precious gemstones and other stones with them. ₁₁The king used the algum wood to make steps for the temple and the palace and for the harps and lyres for the people who had to sing. No one in the land_of_Judah had ever seen wood that was so beautiful. ₁₂King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba everything she wanted, everything that she asked for. It was more than the things that she had brought to the king. Then she and her officials went back to their land.

₁₃Every year the people gave Solomon 666 talents of gold. ₁₄The people who passed through his land and the merchants also gave him gold and silver, and so did all the kings of Arabia and governors in the land_of_Israel. ₁₅King Solomon made 200 big shields of gold plates. They used 600 shekels of gold for each shield. ₁₆He also made 300 small shields of gold plates. They used 300 shekels of gold for each shield. The king put the shields in the Palace_of_the_Forest_of_Lebanon. ₁₇He also made a big throne of ivory and he covered it with pure gold. ₁₈His throne had 6 steps with a footstool of gold. On his throne there were places where he could rest his arms and there was an image of a lion on each side of the throne. ₁₉On both sides next to the 6 steps were lions. There were 12 images of lions. There was no throne in any other land that was so beautiful. ₂₀All of King Solomon's cups were made of gold and in the Palace_of_the_Forest_of_Lebanon all the cups were also made of pure gold. In the time when Solomon lived, silver was not very special or important. ₂₁King Solomon's boats went with Hiram's men to the land of Tarshish. They came back every 3 years with gold and silver, ivory, apes and monkeys. ₂₂King Solomon became richer than all the kings on earth and he had more wisdom than all of them. ₂₃All the kings of the world came to see Solomon to listen to his wisdom, the wisdom that God had given him. ₂₄All the people who came brought gifts for Solomon. They brought things made of silver and gold, clothes, weapons, spices, horses or mules. This happened every year. ₂₅Solomon had 4 000 stables for his horses that pulled his war-chariots and 12 000 other horses. There were towns where he kept some of the horses and war-chariots and he kept some horses with him in Jerusalem. ₂₆King Solomon ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. ₂₇Solomon had a lot of silver, as much as the stones in Jerusalem, and as much cedar wood as the sycamore trees in the lowlands. ₂₈Solomon's horses came from Egypt and from all the other lands.

₂₉The other things that Solomon did while he was king are written in the books of history of the prophet Nathan, the messages of Ahijah of Shiloh and the visions of the prophet Iddo about Jeroboam, son of Nebat. ₃₀Solomon was king in Jerusalem over all the people of Israel for 40 years. ₃₁Solomon died and they buried him in the City of David, his father. Solomon's son, Rehoboam, became king after him.