Read the Bible

¹ AND when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to test Solomon with enigmas. And she came to Jerusalem with a very great company, and camels bearing spices and gold in abundance and precious stones; and when she was come to King Solomon, she told him all that was in her heart.² And King Solomon told her every secret that was in her heart; and there was nothing hidden from the king which he could not tell her.³ And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon and the house that he had built⁴ And the food of his table and the seating of his servants and the attendance of his ministers and their apparel, his cupbearers also and their apparel, and the sacrifices that he offered in the house of the LORD, there was no more spirit left in her to see more.⁵ And she said to King Solomon, It was a true report which I heard in my own land of your acts and of your wisdom;⁶ Howbeit I did not believe their words until I came and my eyes had seen it; and, behold, the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me; for you exceed the report which I heard.⁷ Happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom.⁸ Blessed be the LORD your God, who has chosen you and set you on the throne of the kingdom of Israel; because the LORD loved Israel, he has made you king over them for ever, to do judgment and justice.⁹ And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices great abundance, and precious stones; there were no such spices in the world as those which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.¹⁰ And the servants also of Hiram and the servants of King Solomon brought gold from Ophir.¹¹ And they also brought algum wood for stools for the house of the LORD and for the house of King Solomon, and harps for singers, and there were none such seen before in the land of Judah.¹² And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all that she asked, besides that which he had already given, and he told her all that was in her heart. So she turned and went away to her own land, she and her servants.

¹³ Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold,¹⁴ Besides the taxes from the cities and the traffic which the merchants brought. And all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land brought silver and gold to Solomon.¹⁵ And King Solomon made two hundred shields of fine gold; six hundred shekels of fine gold went into each shield.¹⁶ And he made three hundred shields of fine gold; three hundred shekels of fine gold went to the handle of each shield. And 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 And there were six steps to the throne, and the rim of the throne encircled from behind it, with armrests on each side of the seat, and two lions standing behind the armrests.¹⁹ And twelve lions stood there, on the one side and on the other side upon the six steps. There was not the like ever made in any kingdom.²⁰ And all the vessels of the service of King Solomon were of gold, and all the vessels of the kings treasuries were of pure gold; silver was not accounted as anything in the days of Solomon.²¹ For the king had ships that went to Tarshish with the servants of Hiram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came loaded with silver and gold, elephants, apes, and peacocks.²² Thus King Solomon excelled 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 the wisdom that the LORD had put into his heart.²⁴ And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver and vessels of gold and garments, myrrh and spices, horses and mules, a fixed amount year by year.²⁵ And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he placed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem.²⁶ And Solomon ruled over all the kings from the river Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt.²⁷ And King Solomon made silver as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees as the sand that is by the sea in abundance.²⁸ And they brought to Solomon horses from Egypt and from all lands.²⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam the son of Nebat?³⁰ And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem forty years over all Israel.³¹ 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.