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The queen of Sheba visited Solomon
1 The queen who ruled the Sheba area heard that Yahweh had caused Solomon to become famous, so she traveled to Jerusalem to ask him questions that were difficult to answer.
2 She came with a large group of wealthy/influential people, and she brought camels that were loaded with spices, and valuable gems, and a lot of gold. When she met Solomon, she asked him questions about all the topics/things in which she was interested.
3 Solomon answered all her questions. He explained everything that she asked about, even things that were very difficult.
4 The queen realized that Solomon was very wise. She saw his palace;
5 she saw the food that was served on his table every day; she saw where his officials lived (OR, how his officials were seated at the table), their uniforms, the servants who served the food and wine, and the sacrifices that he took to the temple to be offered. She was extremely amazed.
6 She said to King Solomon, “Everything that I heard in my own country about you and about how wise you are is true!
7 But I did not believe it was true until I came here and saw it myself. But really, what they told me is only half of what they could have told me about you. You are extremely wise and rich, more than what people told me.
8 Your wives are very fortunate! Your officials who are constantly standing in front of you and listening to the wise things that you say are also fortunate!
9 Praise Yahweh, your God, who has shown that he is pleased with you by causing you to become the king of Israel! God has always loved the Israeli people, and therefore he has appointed you to be their king, in order that you will rule them fairly and righteously.”
10 Then the queen gave to the king the things that she had brought. She gave him almost five tons of gold and a large amount of spices and valuable gems. Never again did King Solomon receive more spices than the queen gave him at that time.
11 In the ships that belonged to King Hiram, in which they had previously brought gold from Ophir, they also brought a large amount of juniper wood and gems/valuable stones.
12 King Solomon told his workers to use that wood to make railings/supports in the temple of Yahweh and in the king’s palace and also to make harps and lyres for the ◄musicians/men who played musical instruments►. That wood was the largest amount of (OR, the finest) wood that had ever been seen in Israel. And no one since then has ever seen so much wood of that kind.
13 King Solomon gave to the queen from Sheba everything that she wanted. He gave her those gifts in addition to the gifts that he always gave to other rulers who visited him. Then she and the people who came with her returned to her own land.
Solomon’s wealth
14 Each year there was brought to Solomon a total of 25 tons of gold.
15 That was in addition to the taxes paid to him by the merchants and traders, and the annual taxes paid by the kings of Arabia and by the governors of the regions in Israel.
16 King Solomon’s workers took this gold and hammered it into thin sheets and covered 200 large shields with those thin sheets of gold; they put ◄almost 15 pounds/more than 6 kg.► of gold on each shield.
17 His workers made 300 smaller shields. They covered each of them with ◄almost 4 pounds/1.5 kg.► of gold. Then the king put those shields in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon.
18 His workers also made for him a large throne. Part of it was covered with ◄ivory decorations made from► tusks of elephants and part of it was covered with very fine gold.
19-20 There were six steps in front of the throne. There was a statue of a lion on both sides of each step. So altogether there were twelve statues of lions. The back of the throne was rounded at the top. At each side of the throne there was an armrest, and alongside each armrest there was a small statue of a lion. No throne like that had ever existed in any other kingdom.
21 All of Solomon’s cups were made of gold, and all the various dishes in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon were made of gold. They did not make things from silver, because during the years that Solomon ruled, silver was not considered to be valuable.
22 The king had a ◄fleet/large number► of ships that sailed with the ships that King Hiram owned. Every three years the ships returned from the places to which they had sailed, bringing gold, silver, ivory, monkeys, and baboons (OR, peacocks).
23 King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king.
24 People from all over the world wanted to come and listen to the wise things that Solomon said, things that God had put into his mind.
25 All the people who came to him brought presents: They brought things made from silver or gold, or robes, or weapons (OR, myrrh), or spices, or horses, or mules. The people continued to do this every year.
26 Solomon acquired 1,400 chariots and 12,000 men who rode on the horses (OR, in the chariots). Solomon put some of them in Jerusalem and some of them in other cities where he kept his chariots.
27 During the years that Solomon was king, silver became as common in Jerusalem as stones; and lumber from cedar trees in the foothills of Judah was as plentiful as lumber from fig trees.
28 Solomon’s agents bought horses and supervised the men who brought them into Israel from the areas of Musri and Cilicia that were famous for breeding horses.
29 In Musri they bought chariots and horses; they paid 600 pieces of silver for each chariot and 150 pieces of silver for each horse. They brought them to Israel. Then they sold many of them to the kings of the Heth people-group and the kings of Syria.