10:1 When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon, 1 she came to challenge 2 him with difficult questions. 3 10:2 She arrived in Jerusalem 4 with a great display of pomp, 5 bringing with her camels carrying spices, 6 a very large quantity of gold, and precious gems. She visited Solomon and discussed with him everything that was on her mind. 10:3 Solomon answered all her questions; there was no question too complex for the king. 7 10:4 When the queen of Sheba saw for herself Solomon’s extensive wisdom, 8 the palace 9 he had built, 10:5 the food in his banquet hall, 10 his servants and attendants, 11 their robes, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings which he presented in the Lord’s temple, she was amazed. 12 10:6 She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your wise sayings and insight 13 was true! 10:7 I did not believe these things until I came and saw them with my own eyes. Indeed, I didn’t hear even half the story! 14 Your wisdom and wealth 15 surpass what was reported to me. 10:8 Your attendants, who stand before you at all times and hear your wise sayings, are truly happy! 16 10:9 May the Lord your God be praised because he favored 17 you by placing you on the throne of Israel! Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he made you king so you could make just and right decisions.” 18 10:10 She gave the king 120 talents 19 of gold, a very large quantity of spices, and precious gems. The quantity of spices the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon has never been matched. 20 10:11 (Hiram’s fleet, which carried gold from Ophir, also brought from Ophir a very large quantity of fine timber and precious gems. 10:12 With the timber the king made supports 21 for the Lord’s temple and for the royal palace and stringed instruments 22 for the musicians. No one has seen so much of this fine timber to this very day. 23 ) 10:13 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she requested, besides what he had freely offered her. 24 Then she left and returned 25 to her homeland with her attendants.
10:14 Solomon received 666 talents 26 of gold per year, 27 10:15 besides what he collected from the merchants, 28 traders, Arabian kings, and governors of the land. 10:16 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; 600 measures 29 of gold were used for each shield. 10:17 He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold; three minas 30 of gold were used for each of these shields. The king placed them in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest. 31
10:18 The king made a large throne decorated with ivory and overlaid it with pure gold. 10:19 There were six steps leading up to the throne, and the back of it was rounded on top. The throne had two armrests with a statue of a lion standing on each side. 32 10:20 There were twelve statues of lions on the six steps, one lion at each end of each step. There was nothing like it in any other kingdom. 33
10:21 All of King Solomon’s cups were made of gold, and all the household items in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest were made of pure gold. There were no silver items, for silver was not considered very valuable in Solomon’s time. 34 10:22 Along with Hiram’s fleet, the king had a fleet of large merchant ships 35 that sailed the sea. Once every three years the fleet 36 came into port with cargoes of 37 gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. 38
10:23 King Solomon was wealthier and wiser than any of the kings of the earth. 39 10:24 Everyone 40 in the world wanted to visit Solomon to see him display his God-given wisdom. 41 10:25 Year after year visitors brought their gifts, which included items of silver, items of gold, clothes, perfume, spices, horses, and mules. 42
10:26 Solomon accumulated 43 chariots and horses. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He kept them in assigned cities and in Jerusalem. 44 10:27 The king made silver as plentiful 45 in Jerusalem as stones; cedar was 46 as plentiful as sycamore fig trees are in the lowlands. 47 10:28 Solomon acquired his horses from Egypt 48 and from Que; the king’s traders purchased them from Que. 10:29 They paid 600 silver pieces for each chariot from Egypt and 150 silver pieces for each horse. They also sold chariots and horses to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Syria. 49
11:1 King Solomon fell in love with many foreign women (besides Pharaoh’s daughter), including Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. 11:2 They came from nations about which the Lord had warned the Israelites, “You must not establish friendly relations with them! 50 If you do, they will surely shift your allegiance to their gods.” 51 But Solomon was irresistibly attracted to them. 52
11:3 He had 700 royal wives 53 and 300 concubines; 54 his wives had a powerful influence over him. 55 11:4 When Solomon became old, his wives shifted his allegiance to 56 other gods; he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his father David had been. 57 11:5 Solomon worshiped 58 the Sidonian goddess Astarte and the detestable Ammonite god Milcom. 59 11:6 Solomon did evil in the Lord’s sight; 60 he did not remain loyal to 61 the Lord, like his father David had. 11:7 Furthermore, 62 on the hill east of Jerusalem 63 Solomon built a high place 64 for the detestable Moabite god Chemosh 65 and for the detestable Ammonite god Milcom. 66 11:8 He built high places for all his foreign wives so they could burn incense and make sacrifices to their gods. 67
11:9 The Lord was angry with Solomon because he had shifted his allegiance 68 away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him on two occasions 69 11:10 and had warned him about this very thing, so that he would not follow other gods. 70 But he did not obey 71 the Lord’s command. 11:11 So the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you insist on doing these things and have not kept the covenantal rules I gave you, 72 I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. 11:12 However, for your father David’s sake I will not do this while you are alive. I will tear it away from your son’s hand instead. 11:13 But I will not tear away the entire kingdom; I will leave 73 your son one tribe for my servant David’s sake and for the sake of my chosen city Jerusalem.”
11:14 The Lord brought 74 against Solomon an enemy, Hadad the Edomite, a descendant of the Edomite king. 11:15 During David’s campaign against Edom, 75 Joab, the commander of the army, while on a mission to bury the dead, killed every male in Edom. 11:16 For six months Joab and the entire Israelite army 76 stayed there until they had exterminated every male in Edom. 77 11:17 Hadad, 78 who was only a small boy at the time, escaped with some of his father’s Edomite servants and headed for Egypt. 79 11:18 They went from Midian to Paran; they took some men from Paran and went to Egypt. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, supplied him with a house and food and even assigned him some land. 80 11:19 Pharaoh liked Hadad so well 81 he gave him his sister-in-law (Queen Tahpenes’ sister) as a wife. 82 11:20 Tahpenes’ sister gave birth to his son, 83 named Genubath. Tahpenes raised 84 him in Pharaoh’s palace; Genubath grew up in Pharaoh’s palace among Pharaoh’s sons. 11:21 While in Egypt Hadad heard that David had passed away 85 and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead. So Hadad asked Pharaoh, “Give me permission to leave 86 so I can return to my homeland.” 11:22 Pharaoh said to him, “What do you lack here that makes you want to go to your homeland?” 87 Hadad replied, 88 “Nothing, but please give me permission to leave.” 89
11:23 God also brought against Solomon 90 another enemy, Rezon son of Eliada who had run away from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah. 11:24 He gathered some men and organized a raiding band. 91 When David tried to kill them, 92 they went to Damascus, where they settled down and gained control of the city. 11:25 He was Israel’s enemy throughout Solomon’s reign and, like Hadad, caused trouble. He loathed 93 Israel and ruled over Syria.
11:26 Jeroboam son of Nebat, one of Solomon’s servants, rebelled against 94 the king. He was an Ephraimite 95 from Zeredah whose mother was a widow named Zeruah. 11:27 This is what prompted him to rebel against the king: 96 Solomon built a terrace and he closed up a gap in the wall of the city of his father David. 97 11:28 Jeroboam was a talented man; 98 when Solomon saw that the young man was an accomplished worker, he made him the leader of the work crew from the tribe 99 of Joseph. 11:29 At that time, when Jeroboam had left Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the road; the two of them were alone in the open country. Ahijah 100 was wearing a brand new robe, 11:30 and he grabbed the robe 101 and tore it into twelve pieces. 11:31 Then he told Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces, for this is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Look, I am about to tear the kingdom from Solomon’s hand and I will give ten tribes to you. 11:32 He will retain one tribe, for my servant David’s sake and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. 11:33 I am taking the kingdom from him 102 because they have 103 abandoned me and worshiped the Sidonian goddess Astarte, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god Milcom. They have not followed my instructions 104 by doing what I approve and obeying my rules and regulations, like Solomon’s father David did. 105 11:34 I will not take the whole kingdom from his hand. I will allow him to be ruler for the rest of his life for the sake of my chosen servant David who kept my commandments and rules. 11:35 I will take the kingdom from the hand of his son and give ten tribes to you. 106 11:36 I will leave 107 his son one tribe so my servant David’s dynasty may continue to serve me 108 in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen as my home. 109 11:37 I will select 110 you; you will rule over all you desire to have and you will be king over Israel. 11:38 You must obey 111 all I command you to do, follow my instructions, 112 do what I approve, 113 and keep my rules and commandments, like my servant David did. Then I will be with you and establish for you a lasting dynasty, as I did for David; 114 I will give you Israel. 11:39 I will humiliate David’s descendants because of this, 115 but not forever.” 116 11:40 Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam escaped to Egypt and found refuge with King Shishak of Egypt. 117 He stayed in Egypt until Solomon died.
11:41 The rest of the events of Solomon’s reign, including all his accomplishments and his wise decisions, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of Solomon. 118 11:42 Solomon ruled over all Israel from Jerusalem 119 for forty years. 11:43 Then Solomon passed away 120 and was buried in the city of his father David. 121 His son Rehoboam replaced him as king. 122