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1 KingsChapter 10

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When the queen of Sheba heard how famous Solomon was—a fame bound up with the name of the LORD—she came to test him with hard questions.
She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large retinue—camels loaded with spices, a great quantity of gold, and precious stones. She came to Solomon and spoke with him about everything that was on her mind,
and Solomon answered all her questions. Nothing was too obscure for the king to explain to her.
When the queen of Sheba had seen all of Solomon's wisdom, and the palace he had built,
the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he presented at the house of the LORD, it left her breathless.
She said to the king, "The report I heard in my own country about your accomplishments and your wisdom was true."
"But I did not believe it until I came and saw it with my own eyes. And in fact, I was not told the half of it! Your wisdom and your prosperity go far beyond the report I heard."
"How fortunate are your people! How fortunate these servants of yours, who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom!"
"Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel. Because the LORD loves Israel forever, he has made you king to administer justice and righteousness."
Then she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again did such an abundance of spices come as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
Hiram's fleet, which had carried gold from Ophir, also brought from there a great supply of almug wood and precious stones.
The king used the almug wood to make supports for the house of the LORD and for the royal palace, and to make lyres and harps for the singers. Never again has such almug wood been imported or seen, down to this day.
King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she asked for, besides what he gave her out of his royal bounty. Then she and her servants returned to her own country.
The weight of the gold that came to Solomon in a single year was six hundred sixty-six talents,
not counting the revenue from the traveling merchants, the traders, all the kings of Arabia, and the governors of the land.
King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold, six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield,[^1] [^1]: The Hebrew reads simply "six hundred of gold"; the unit of weight is not stated but is most likely shekels.
and three hundred small shields of hammered gold, three minas of gold in each. The king placed them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
The king also made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with refined gold.
The throne had six steps, and its back was rounded at the top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each armrest,
and twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any kingdom.
All King Solomon's drinking vessels were gold, and all the utensils of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Silver was not used, for in Solomon's days it counted for nothing.
The king had a fleet of Tarshish ships at sea along with Hiram's fleet. Once every three years the fleet would come in, carrying gold and silver, ivory, apes, and baboons.[^1] [^1]: "Tarshish ships" refers to large ocean-going trading vessels. The final item in the list is uncertain; it may mean baboons or peacocks.
So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in wealth and in wisdom.
The whole world sought an audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart,
and each one brought a gift—articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons, spices, horses, and mules—year after year.
Solomon accumulated chariots and horses. He had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, which he stationed in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem.
The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as the sycamore fig trees of the foothills.
Solomon's horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue; the king's traders bought them from Kue at the going price.
A chariot was imported from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred fifty. They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.
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