Darby Bible Translation

New Living Translation

The Queen of Sheba

And the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, and came to Jerusalem to prove Solomon with enigmas; with a very great train, and camels that bore spices and gold in great abundance, and precious stones; and she came to Solomon, and spoke with him of all that was in her heart.

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Visit of the Queen of Sheba

When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. She arrived with a large group of attendants and a great caravan of camels loaded with spices, large quantities of gold, and precious jewels. When she met with Solomon, she talked with him about everything she had on her mind.

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And Solomon explained to her all she spoke of, and there was not a thing hidden from Solomon that he did not explain to her.

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Solomon had answers for all her questions; nothing was too hard for him to explain to her.

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And when the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,

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When the queen of Sheba realized how wise Solomon was, and when she saw the palace he had built,

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and the food of his table, and the deportment of his servants, and the order of service of his attendants and their apparel, and his cupbearers and their apparel, and his ascent by which he went up to the house of Jehovah, there was no more spirit in her.

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she was overwhelmed. She was also amazed at the food on his tables, the organization of his officials and their splendid clothing, the cup-bearers and their robes, and the burnt offeringsa Solomon made at the Temple of the LORD.

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And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thine affairs and of thy wisdom;

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She exclaimed to the king, “Everything I heard in my country about your achievementsb and wisdom is true!

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but I gave no credit to their words, until I came and mine eyes had seen; and behold, the half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: thou exceedest the report that I heard.

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I didn’t believe what was said until I arrived here and saw it with my own eyes. In fact, I had not heard the half of your great wisdom! It is far beyond what I was told.

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Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, who stand continually before thee and hear thy wisdom!

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How happy your people must be! What a privilege for your officials to stand here day after day, listening to your wisdom!

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Blessed be Jehovah thy God, who delighted in thee, to set thee on his throne, to be king to Jehovah thy God! Because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore did he make thee king over them, to do judgment and justice.

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Praise the LORD your God, who delights in you and has placed you on the throne as king to rule for him. Because God loves Israel and desires this kingdom to last forever, he has made you king over them so you can rule with justice and righteousness.”

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And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in very great abundance, and precious stones; neither was there any such spice as that which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.

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Then she gave the king a gift of 9,000 poundsc of gold, great quantities of spices, and precious jewels. Never before had there been spices as fine as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

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(And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, brought sandal-wood and precious stones.

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(In addition, the crews of Hiram and Solomon brought gold from Ophir, and they also brought red sandalwoodd and precious jewels.

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And the king made of the sandal-wood stairs for the house of Jehovah, and for the king's house, and harps and lutes for the singers. And there were none such seen before in the land of Judah.)

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The king used the sandalwood to make stepse for the Temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and to construct lyres and harps for the musicians. Never before had such beautiful things been seen in Judah.)

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And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides what she had brought to the king. And she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants.

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King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba whatever she asked for — gifts of greater value than the gifts she had given him. Then she and all her attendants returned to their own land.

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Solomon's Wealth and Splendor

And the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold,

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Solomon’s Wealth and Splendor

Each year Solomon received about 25 tonsf of gold.

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besides [what] dealers and merchants brought, and [what] all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought of gold and silver to Solomon.

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This did not include the additional revenue he received from merchants and traders. All the kings of Arabia and the governors of the provinces also brought gold and silver to Solomon.

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And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold, -- he applied six hundred [shekels] of beaten gold to one target;

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King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold, each weighing more than 15 pounds.g

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and three hundred shields of beaten gold, -- he applied three hundred [shekels] of gold to one shield; and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

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He also made 300 smaller shields of hammered gold, each weighing more than 7 1/2 pounds.h The king placed these shields in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.

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And the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold;

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Then the king made a huge throne, decorated with ivory and overlaid with pure gold.

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and the throne had six steps, with a footstool of gold fastened to the throne; and there were arms on each side at the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the arms;

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The throne had six steps, with a footstool of gold. There were armrests on both sides of the seat, and the figure of a lion stood on each side of the throne.

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and twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps: there was not the like made in any kingdom.

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There were also twelve other lions, one standing on each end of the six steps. No other throne in all the world could be compared with it!

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And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of precious gold: silver was not of the least account in the days of Solomon.

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All of King Solomon’s drinking cups were solid gold, as were all the utensils in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. They were not made of silver, for silver was considered worthless in Solomon’s day!

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For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: once in three years came the ships of Tarshish, bringing gold and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

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The king had a fleet of trading ships of Tarshish manned by the sailors sent by Hiram.i Once every three years the ships returned, loaded with gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.j

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And king Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.

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So King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king on earth.

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And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.

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Kings from every nation came to consult him and to hear the wisdom God had given him.

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And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and clothing, armour, and spices, horses and mules, a rate year by year.

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Year after year everyone who visited brought him gifts of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.

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And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; and he placed them in the chariot-cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.

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Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his horses and chariots, and he had 12,000 horses.k He stationed some of them in the chariot cities, and some near him in Jerusalem.

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And he ruled over all the kings from the river as far as the land of the Philistines, and up to the border of Egypt.

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He ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates Riverl in the north to the land of the Philistines and the border of Egypt in the south.

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And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he as the sycamores that are in the lowland for abundance.

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The king made silver as plentiful in Jerusalem as stone. And valuable cedar timber was as common as the sycamore-fig trees that grow in the foothills of Judah.m

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And they brought to Solomon horses out of Egypt, and out of all lands.

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Solomon’s horses were imported from Egyptn and many other countries.

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The Death of Solomon

And the rest of the acts of Solomon first and last, are they not written in the words of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat?

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Summary of Solomon’s Reign

The rest of the events of Solomon’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded in The Record of Nathan the Prophet, and The Prophecy of Ahijah from Shiloh, and also in The Visions of Iddo the Seer, concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat.

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And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.

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Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years.

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And Solomon slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David his father; and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

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When he died, he was buried in the City of David, named for his father. Then his son Rehoboam became the next king.

Parallel

Darby Bible Translation

New Living Translation

2 Chronicles 9

2 Chronicles 9