1 Kings 10-11New King James Version (NKJV)
The Queen of Sheba’s Praise of Solomon
10 Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame
of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard
questions. 2 She came to Jerusalem with a very
great retinue, with camels that bore spices, very much gold, and precious
stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in
her heart. 3 So Solomon answered all her questions;
there was nothing so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to
her. 4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the
wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 5 the
food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and
their apparel, his cupbearers, and his entryway by which he went up to the
house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. 6 Then
she said to the king: “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about
your words and your wisdom. 7 However I did not
believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half
was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I
heard. 8 Happy are your men and
happy are these your servants, who stand continually before
you and hear your wisdom! 9 Blessed
be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on the throne
of Israel! Because the Lord has loved Israel forever, therefore He
made you king, to do justice and righteousness.”
10 Then she gave the king one hundred
and twenty talents of gold, spices in great quantity, and precious stones.
There never again came such abundance of spices as the queen of Sheba gave to
King Solomon. 11 Also, the ships of Hiram, which
brought gold from Ophir, brought great quantities of almug[a] wood and precious
stones from Ophir. 12 And the king made steps of
the almug wood for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house,
also harps and stringed instruments for singers. There never again came such
almug wood, nor has the like been seen to this day.
13 Now King Solomon gave the queen of
Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked, besides what Solomon had given her
according to the royal generosity. So she turned and went to her own country,
she and her servants.
Solomon’s Great Wealth
14 The weight of gold that came to
Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, 15 besides that from
the traveling merchants, from the income of traders, from all the kings of
Arabia, and from the governors of the country.
16 And King Solomon made two hundred
large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of
gold went into each shield. 17 He also made three
hundred shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went
into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
18 Moreover the king made a great
throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. 19 The
throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round at
the back; there were armrests on either side of the place of
the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests. 20 Twelve
lions stood there, one on each side of the six steps; nothing like this had
been made for any other kingdom.
21 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. 22 For
the king had merchant ships[b] at sea with the fleet
of Hiram. Once every three years the merchant ships came bringing gold, silver,
ivory, apes, and monkeys.[c] 23 So
King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.
24 Now all the earth sought the
presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 25 Each
man brought his present: articles of silver and gold, garments, armor, spices,
horses, and mules, at a set rate year by year.
26 And Solomon gathered chariots and
horsemen; he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand
horsemen, whom he stationed[d] in the chariot cities
and with the king at Jerusalem. 27 The king made
silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar
trees as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland.
28 Also Solomon had horses imported
from Egypt and Keveh; the king’s merchants bought them in Keveh at the current price. 29 Now
a chariot that was imported from Egypt cost six hundred shekels of
silver, and a horse one hundred and fifty; and thus, through their agents,[e] they exported them to
all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.
Solomon’s Heart Turns from the Lord
11 But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as
well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites,
Sidonians, and Hittites— 2 from
the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, “You
shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away
your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 And
he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his
wives turned away his heart. 4 For it was so, when
Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his
heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the
heart of his father David. 5 For Solomon went after
Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the
Ammonites. 6 Solomon did evil in the sight of
the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his
father David. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for
Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of
Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. 8 And
he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to
their gods.
9 So the Lord became angry
with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of
Israel, who had appeared to him twice, 10 and had
commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods;
but he did not keep what the Lord had commanded. 11 Therefore
the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and have not
kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely
tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. 12 Nevertheless
I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear
it out of the hand of your son. 13 However I will
not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake
of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”
Adversaries of Solomon
14 Now the Lord raised up
an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was a
descendant of the king in Edom. 15 For it happened,
when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury
the slain, after he had killed every male in Edom 16 (because
for six months Joab remained there with all Israel, until he had cut down every
male in Edom), 17 that Hadad fled to go to Egypt,
he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him. Hadad was still
a little child. 18 Then they arose from Midian and
came to Paran; and they took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to
Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house, apportioned food for him, and gave
him land. 19 And Hadad found great favor in the
sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him as wife the sister of his own wife, that
is, the sister of Queen Tahpenes. 20 Then the
sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s
house. And Genubath was in Pharaoh’s household among the sons of Pharaoh.
21 So when Hadad heard in Egypt that
David rested with his fathers, and that Joab the commander of the army was
dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.”
22 Then Pharaoh said to him, “But
what have you lacked with me, that suddenly you seek to go to your own
country?”
So he answered, “Nothing, but do let me go anyway.”
23 And God raised up another adversary
against him, Rezon the son of Eliadah, who had fled from his lord, Hadadezer
king of Zobah. 24 So he gathered men to him and
became captain over a band of raiders, when David killed
those of Zobah. And they went to Damascus and dwelt there, and
reigned in Damascus. 25 He was an adversary of
Israel all the days of Solomon (besides the trouble that Hadad caused);
and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria.
Jeroboam’s Rebellion
26 Then Solomon’s servant, Jeroboam
the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite from Zereda, whose mother’s name was Zeruah,
a widow, also rebelled against the king.
27 And this is what
caused him to rebel against the king: Solomon had built the Millo and repaired
the damages to the City of David his father. 28 The
man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor; and Solomon, seeing
that the young man was industrious, made him the officer over all the labor
force of the house of Joseph.
29 Now it happened at that time, when
Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him
on the way; and he had clothed himself with a new garment, and the two were alone
in the field. 30 Then Ahijah took hold of the new
garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve
pieces. 31 And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself
ten pieces, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will
tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to
you 32 (but he shall have one tribe for the sake of
My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen
out of all the tribes of Israel), 33 because they
have[f] forsaken Me, and
worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the
Moabites, and Milcom the god of the people of Ammon, and have not walked in My
ways to do what is right in My eyes and keep My
statutes and My judgments, as did his father David. 34 However
I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, because I have made him
ruler all the days of his life for the sake of My servant David, whom I chose
because he kept My commandments and My statutes. 35 But
I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and give it to you—ten
tribes. 36 And to his son I will give one tribe,
that My servant David may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city
which I have chosen for Myself, to put My name there. 37 So
I will take you, and you shall reign over all your heart desires, and you shall
be king over Israel. 38 Then it shall be, if you
heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right
in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did,
then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house, as I built for
David, and will give Israel to you. 39 And I will
afflict the descendants of David because of this, but not forever.’”
40 Solomon therefore sought to kill
Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and
was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
Death of Solomon
41 Now the rest of the acts of
Solomon, all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written
in the book of the acts of Solomon? 42 And the
period that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty
years. 43 Then Solomon rested with his fathers, and
was buried in the City of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his
place.
2 Chronicles 9New King James Version (NKJV)
The Queen of Sheba’s Praise of Solomon
9 Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame
of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions, having a
very great retinue, camels that bore spices, gold in abundance, and precious
stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in
her heart. 2 So Solomon answered all her questions;
there was nothing so difficult for Solomon that he could not explain it to
her. 3 And when the queen of Sheba had seen the
wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 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 his entryway by which he
went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her.
5 Then she said to the king: “It was a
true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your
wisdom. 6 However I did not believe their words
until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half of the greatness of
your wisdom was not told me. You exceed the fame of which I heard. 7 Happy are your
men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually
before you and hear your wisdom! 8 Blessed be
the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on His
throne to be king for the Lord your God! Because
your God has loved Israel, to establish them forever, therefore He made you
king over them, to do justice and righteousness.”
9 And she gave the king one hundred
and twenty talents of gold, spices in great abundance, and precious stones;
there never were any spices such as those the queen of Sheba gave to King
Solomon.
10 Also, the servants of Hiram and
the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, brought algum[a] wood and precious
stones. 11 And the king made walkways of the
algum[b] wood for the house of
the Lord and for the king’s house, also harps and stringed
instruments for singers; and there were none such as these seen
before in the land of Judah.
12 Now King Solomon gave to the queen
of Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked, much more than
she had brought to the king. So she turned and went to her own country, she and
her servants.
Solomon’s Great Wealth
13 The weight of gold that came to
Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, 14 besides what the
traveling merchants and traders brought. And all the kings of Arabia and
governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. 15 And
King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of
hammered gold went into each shield. 16 He also made three
hundred shields of hammered gold; three hundred shekels[c] of gold went into each
shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
17 Moreover the king made a great
throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. 18 The
throne had six steps, with a footstool of gold, which
were fastened to the throne; there were armrests on either side of the
place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests. 19 Twelve
lions stood there, one on each side of the six steps; nothing like this had
been made for any other kingdom.
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. 21 For
the king’s ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Hiram.[d] Once every three years
the merchant ships[e] came, bringing gold,
silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys.[f]
22 So King Solomon surpassed all the
kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. 23 And all
the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which
God had put in his heart. 24 Each man brought his
present: articles of silver and gold, garments, armor, spices, horses, and
mules, at a set rate year by year.
25 Solomon had four thousand stalls
for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen whom he stationed in the
chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem.
26 So he reigned over all the kings
from the River[g] to the land of the
Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. 27 The
king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made
cedar trees as abundant as the sycamores which are in the
lowland. 28 And they brought horses to Solomon from
Egypt and from all lands.
Death of Solomon
29 Now the rest of the acts of
Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of
Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions
of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? 30 Solomon
reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 31 Then
Solomon rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David his
father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.
No comments:
Post a Comment