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

1And the queen of Sheba heard the report of Solomon concerning the name of YHWH, and she came to test him with difficult questions. 2And she came to Jerusalem with a very great company, with camels that bore spices, and very much gold, and precious stones.

And she came to Solomon, and she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. 3And Solomon answered to her all her matters; there was not a thing so difficult for the king, that he could not explain it to her.

4And the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, 5and the food on his table, and the seating of his servants, and the service of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he offered up to the house of YHWH. And there was no breath in her anymore.

6And she said to the king, “True was the word that I heard in my land about your words and your wisdom. 7I did not believe the words until that I came and my eyes saw, and indeed it was not told to me the half; you have added wisdom and prosperity to the report that I heard. 8Blessed are your men!† Blessed are your servants, these who stand before you continually hearing your wisdom! 9YHWH your God be blessed, who delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel, because YHWH has loved Israel forever, and He has appointed you king to do justice and righteousness.”

10And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold,† and spices very many, and precious stones. There never came spice like that again in such abundance that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

11(And the ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir very much almug† wood, and precious stones. 12And the king made the steps of almug wood for the house of YHWH, and for the house of the king, and harps and stringed instruments for the singers. There never came again such almug wood, nor has been seen to this day.)

13And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides what had been given to her according to the hand of king Solomon. And she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

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

14And the weight of the gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents of gold,† 15besides that from the men—tourists—and from the merchandise of the traders, and from all the kings of Arabia, and from the governors of the country.

16And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of gold† went into one shield. 17And he made three hundred shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold† went into one shield. And the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.

18And the king made a great throne of ivory, and he overlaid it with pure gold. 19Six steps were to the throne, and the round top of the throne was at the back, and were armrests on this side and on this side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests. 20And twelve lions stood there on the six steps, on this side and on this side. Nothing had been made like this for any kingdoms.

21And all the drinking vessels of King Solomon were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver—it was not accounted in the days of Solomon as anything. 22For ships of Tarshish† were unto the king at sea with the ships of Hiram. Once in three years came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.†

23And King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. 24And all the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom that God had put in his heart. 25And they brought, each man, his present, articles of silver and gold, and garments, and armor, and spices, horses and mules, the matter of year after year.

26And Solomon gathered chariots and horses,† and were unto him a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horses, and he placed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 27And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees he made as abundant as the sycamores that are in the Shephelah.†

28And were imported the horses that were to Solomon from Egypt and Kue;† merchants of the king bought them from Kue at a price. 29And a chariot came up and came out from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver,† and a horse for a hundred and fifty.† And thus to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram, by their hand they brought them out.

Footnotes:

8 LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate your wives
10 120 talents is approximately 4.52 tons or 4.1 metric tons of gold.
11 Almug is probably a variant of algum; also in verse 12; see 2 Chronicles 2:8.
14 666 talents is approximately 25.1 tons or 22.8 metric tons of gold.
16 600 shekels is approximately 15.1 pounds or 6.8 kilograms of gold.
17 3 minas is approximately 3.77 pounds or 1.71 kilograms of gold; possibly a reference to double minas, that is, approximately 7.54 pounds or 3.42 kilograms.
22 Or a fleet of trading ships; twice in this verse
22 Or baboons
26 Or horsemen or charioteers; twice in this verse
27 Or foothills or lowlands; that is, the western foothills of Judea
28 Probably an area in Cilicia, a province in the southeast of Asia Minor
29 600 shekels is approximately 15.1 pounds or 6.8 kilograms of silver.
29 150 shekels is approximately 3.8 pounds or 1.7 kilograms of silver.