The Queen of Sheba
(2 Chronicles 9:1–12)

1And the queene of Saba hearing the fame of Solomon (concerning the name of the Lord) came to proue him with harde questions. 2And she came to Hierusalem with a verie great trayne, with camels that bare sweete odours, and gold exceeding much, & precious stones: And she came to Solomon, and communed with him of al that was in her heart. 3And Solomon declared vnto her all her questions, so that there was not one thing hyd from the king whiche he expounded not vnto her. 4And the queene of Saba considered al Solomons wysdome, & the house that he had buylded, 5And the meate of his table, and the sitting of his seruauntes, the order of his ministers & their apparell, & his drinke, and his burnt sacrifices that he offred in the house of the Lorde: and she was astonied. 6And she sayde vnto the king: It was a true word that I hearde in myne owne land of thy sayinges, & of thy wisdome. 7Howbeit I beleued it not, till I came & sawe it with myne eyes: And beholde, the one halfe was not tolde me: for thy wysdome and prosperitie exceedeth the fame which I hearde of thee. 8Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy seruauntes whiche stand euer before thee, and heare thy wysdome. 9Blessed be the Lorde thy God, whiche loued thee, to set thee on the seate of Israel, because the Lorde loued Israel for euer, & made thee king to do equite and righteousnes. 10And she gaue the king sixe score talentes of golde, and of sweete odours exceeding much, and precious stones: There came no more suche aboundaunce of sweete odours, as the queene of Saba gaue to king Solomon.

11The nauie also of the shippes of Hiram (that caried golde from Ophir) brought lykewyse great plentie of Almuge trees, and precious stones from Ophir. 12And the king made of the Almuge trees pillers for the house of the Lorde and for the kinges palace, and made harpes and psalteries for singers: Ther came no more suche Almuge trees, nor were any more seene vnto this day.

13And king Solomon gaue vnto the queene of Saba according to all her desire whatsoeuer she asked, besides that he gaue her of a free wil with his owne hande: And so she returned vnto her owne countrey, both she and her seruauntes.

Solomon’s Wealth and Splendor
(2 Chronicles 1:14–17; 2 Chronicles 9:13–28)

14The waight of golde that came to Solomon in one yere, was sixe hundred theescore and sixe talentes of golde, 15Besydes that he had of marchauntes, and of the marchaundises of the spices, and of all the kinges of Arabia, & of the lordes of the countrey. 16And king Solomon made two hundred targettes of beaten golde: sixe hundred sicles of golde went to a target. 17And he made three hundred shieldes of beaten golde: three pounde of gold went to one shielde, and the king put them in the house of the wood of Libanon. 18And the king made a great seate of iuorie, and couered it with the best golde. 19And the seate had sixe steppes, and the toppe of the seate was rounde behinde, & there were pommelles on either syde on the place of the seate, and two lions stoode besyde the pommelles. 20And there stoode twelue lions on the steppes, sixe on a syde: There was none lyke worke seene in any kingdome. 21And al king Solomons drinking vessels were of golde, and lykewyse all the vessels of the house of the wood of Libanon were of pure golde: And as for siluer, it was nothing worth in the dayes of Solomon: 22For the kinges nauie of shippes went on the sea vnto Tharsis with the nauie of Hirams shippes: euen once in three yeres went the nauie to Tharsis, and brought golde and siluer, Elephantes teeth, apes, and pecockes.

23And so king Solomon exceeded al the kinges of the earth both in ryches and wysdome. 24And all the worlde resorted to Solomon, to heare his wysdome which God had put in his heart: 25And brought him euery man his present, vessels of siluer, & vessels of golde, rayment, harnesse, and sweete odours, and horses, and mules, yere by yere.

26And Solomon gathered together charettes and horsemen: and he had a thousande and foure hundred charettes, and twelue thousande horsemen, whom he bestowed in the charet cities, and with the king at Hierusalem. 27And the king made siluer in Hierusalem as plenteous as stones, and Cedar as plenteous as the wilde fegge trees that growe aboundauntly in the fieldes. 28Also Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and fine linnen: the kinges marchauntes receaued the linnen for a price. 29A charet came vp out of Egypt for sixe hundred sicles of siluer, that is, one horse for an hundred and fiftie: And euen so for al the kinges of the Hethites, and for the kinges of Siria, did they bring them out through their handes.