The Queen of Sheba Pays a Visit
2 Chronicles 9, verse 1. Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions. She brought a very great retinue, camels that bore spices, an abundance of gold, and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about everything in her heart. 2 Chronicles 9, verse 2. Solomon answered all her questions. There was nothing too difficult for Solomon to explain to her. 2 Chronicles 9, verse 3. And when the queen of Sheba had seen Solomon's wisdom, the house that he had built, 2 Chronicles 9, verse 4. the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers and their apparel, and the burnt offerings he made in the house of the Lord, she was beside herself. 2 Chronicles 9, verse 5. She said to the king, “What I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom was true. 2 Chronicles 9, verse 6. However, I did not believe their words until I came and saw with my own eyes. And indeed what they told me was not the half of the greatness of your wisdom. You exceed the fame I heard. 2 Chronicles 9, verse 7. Happy are your men, and happy are these servants of yours who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! 2 Chronicles 9, verse 8. Blessed be the Lord your God, who was pleased to set you on His throne to be king for the Lord your God! Because your God loved Israel and established them forever, He made you king over them to do justice and righteousness.” 2 Chronicles 9, verse 9. And she gave the king one hundred twenty talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. There were never such spices as those the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon. 2 Chronicles 9, verse 10. The servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon also brought gold from Ophir and pine wood and precious stones. 2 Chronicles 9, verse 11. The king made walkways of pine wood for the house of the Lord and for the king's house, and harps and stringed instruments for the singers, and there were none such as these seen before in the land of Judah. 2 Chronicles 9, verse 12. Now King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she desired, whatever she asked, much more than she had brought King Solomon. So she returned to her own land.
Solomon's Material Wealth
2 Chronicles 9, verse 13. The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred sixty-six talents of gold, 2 Chronicles 9, verse 14. not including what the traveling merchants and traders brought. And all the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to King Solomon. 2 Chronicles 9, verse 15. And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold. Six hundred shekels of hammered gold went into each shield, and each shield weighed six hundred shekels of gold. 2 Chronicles 9, verse 16. He also made three hundred shields of hammered gold. Three hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. 2 Chronicles 9, verse 17. And the king made a great throne of ivory from elephant tusks and overlaid it with pure gold. 2 Chronicles 9, verse 18. There were six steps fastened to the golden throne, and there were armrests on either side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests. 2 Chronicles 9, verse 19. Twelve lions stood beside the six steps. Nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom. 2 Chronicles 9, verse 20. All King Solomon's drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon. 2 Chronicles 9, verse 21. The king's ships went to Tarshish with Hiram's servants. Once every three years the merchant ships returned, loaded with gold and silver and elephant tusks and monkeys. 2 Chronicles 9, verse 22. So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom. 2 Chronicles 9, verse 23. And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear the wisdom God put in his heart. 2 Chronicles 9, verse 24. Each man brought his present, articles of silver and gold, garments, oil of myrrh, spices, horses, and mules, at a set rate every year. 2 Chronicles 9, verse 25. Solomon had four thousand female horses for chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 9, verse 26. So he reigned over all the kings from the river to the land of the foreigners, as far as the border of Egypt. 2 Chronicles 9, verse 27. The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees as abundant as the sycamores of the lowland. 2 Chronicles 9, verse 28. And they brought Solomon horses from Egypt and from all lands.
The Death of Solomon
2 Chronicles 9, verse 29. Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the words of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Joel the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? 2 Chronicles 9, verse 30. Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 2 Chronicles 9, verse 31. Then Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David his father. Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.