1 The queen of Sheba heard the report of Solomon and came to Jerusalem to put Solomon to the test with riddles. She came with a very large company, with camels loaded with spices, much gold, and precious stones. She came to Solomon and talked with him about everything she had in mind.
2 Solomon gave her answers to all her questions; nothing was too hidden for Solomon to explain to her.
3 The queen of Sheba saw Solomon's wisdom and the house he had built,
4 the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the service of his attendants and their dress, his cupbearers and their dress, and the ascent by which he went up to the house of the LORD, and she was left breathless.
5 She told the king, "What I heard in my own country about your affairs and your wisdom was true.
6 I did not believe what they said until I came and saw it with my own eyes; and now I see that I was not told half of your great wisdom. You go beyond the report I heard.
7 How fortunate are your men, and how fortunate these servants of yours who always stand before you and listen to your wisdom!
8 Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you and set you on his throne as king for the LORD your God! Because your God loves Israel and will keep it standing forever, he has made you king over them to carry out justice and righteousness."
9 She presented the king with a hundred and twenty talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never were there such spices as the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.
10 Hiram's servants and Solomon's servants, who brought gold from Ophir, also brought algum wood and precious stones.
11 The king used the algum wood to make steps for the house of the LORD and for the palace, and lyres and harps for the singers; nothing like them had ever been seen in the land of Judah.
12 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she wanted and asked for, besides what she had brought to the king. Then she left and went back to her country with her servants.
13 The gold that came to Solomon in a single year weighed six hundred and sixty-six talents,
14 apart from what the traders and merchants brought in. All the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land also brought Solomon gold and silver.
15 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold, with six hundred shekels of hammered gold going into each shield,
16 and three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three hundred shekels of gold going into each shield; and the king placed them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
17 The king also made a great ivory throne and covered it with pure gold.
18 The throne had six steps and a gold footstool fastened to it, with arms on both sides of the seat and two lions standing next to the arms.
19 Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. No such throne was ever made in any kingdom.
20 All King Solomon's drinking cups were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold; silver was thought of no value in Solomon's days.
21 For the king had ships going to Tarshish with Hiram's servants, and once every three years the ships of Tarshish would come in carrying gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
22 King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom.
23 All the kings of the earth came seeking an audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put into his heart.
24 Year after year each one brought his gift: vessels of silver and gold, clothing, armor, spices, horses, and mules.
25 Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, and he kept them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.
26 He had dominion over all the kings from the River to the land of the Philistines and as far as Egypt's border.
27 The king made silver in Jerusalem as plentiful as stones, and cedar as plentiful as the sycamores in the Shephelah.
28 Horses were brought for Solomon from Egypt and from every land.
29 The rest of Solomon's deeds, from beginning to end, are recorded, are they not, in the words of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer about Jeroboam son of Nebat?
30 Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years.
31 Then Solomon lay down with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David, and his son Rehoboam became king after him.