Read the Bible

¹ AND when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon and the name of the LORD, she came to try him out with proverbs.² And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones; and when she was come to Solomon, she tested him with all that was in her heart.³ And Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king which he did not tell her.⁴ And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomons wisdom and the house that he had built⁵ And the food of his table and the order in which his servants sat and the attendance of his ministers and their apparel, and his cupbearers and their clothing and his burnt offerings which he offered in the house of the LORD, she was greatly overcome.⁶ And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your sayings and of your wisdom.⁷ Howbeit I did not believe the words until I came, and my own eyes had seen it; and, behold, the half was not told me; your wisdom and prosperity exceed the report which I heard.⁸ Happy are your wives, happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom.⁹ Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and has set you upon the throne of Israel; because the LORD loved Israel for ever, therefore he has made you king, to do judgment and justice.¹⁰ And she gave King Solomon one hundred and twenty talents of gold and a very great amount of spices and precious stones; and there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.¹¹ And the ships also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir a great amount of sandalwood and precious stones.¹² And the king made of the sandalwood ornaments for the house of the LORD and for the kings house, harps also and psalteries for singers; never before nor since came such sandalwood to this day.¹³ And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all that she desired, and whatsoever she asked for, besides that which he gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants.

¹⁴ Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents,¹⁵ Besides that which came from the craftsmen and from the traffic of merchants and from all the kings of the Arabs and from the governors of the land.¹⁶ And King Solomon made two hundred shields of pure gold; six hundred minas of gold went into each shield;¹⁷ And three hundred round shields of pure gold; and three hundred minas went into each shield; and 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 gold from Ophir.¹⁹ The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round behind; and there were arm rests on either side at the place of the seat, and two lions stood on either side of the seat.²⁰ And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps; there was not the like in any kingdom.²¹ And all King Solomons drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; silver was counted as nothing in the days of Solomon.²² For the king had at sea a navy of ships of Tarshish with the navy of Hiram; once every three years came the navy from Tarshish, bringing silver and gold, ivory, apes and peacocks.²³ So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.²⁴ And all the kings of the earth sought to see the face of Solomon and to hear the wisdom which God had put in his heart.²⁵ And they brought every man his present, vessels of gold and vessels of silver, garments, armor, spices, horses, fancy chariots, and mules, year by year.²⁶ And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen; and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, and he left some of the chariots in the cities and kept others with the king in Jerusalem.²⁷ And King Solomon made silver to be as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar as abundant as sycamore trees that are on the plain.²⁸ And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and the kings merchants received a commission on the goods they bought.²⁹ And a chariot was delivered from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty; and so for all the kings of the Hittites and for the kings of Aram, they brought many gifts with their own hands.