¹And when the queen of Sheba heard the report of Solomon, she came to test Solomon with riddles in Jerusalem, and she came with a very large retinue, with camels bearing fragrances and gold in abundance, and precious stones. And she came to Solomon and spoke with him about everything that was on her heart. ²And Solomon answered all her points raised, and nothing was inexplicable to Solomon which he could not tell her. ³So the queen of Sheba saw Solomon's wisdom, and the house which he had built, ⁴and the food at his table, and the seated assembly of his servants, and the standing assembly of his attendants and their apparel, and his butlers and their apparel, and his ascent by which he went up to the house of the Lord. And it took her breath away. ⁵And she said to the king, “The report which I heard in my country about your affairs and your wisdom was true. ⁶But I did not believe those things until I came and my eyes saw them, and it turns out that half the greatness of your wisdom was not told me. You have exceeded the report which I heard. ⁷Blessed are your men, and blessed are these servants of yours, who stand before you continually and who hear your wisdom. ⁸Blessed be the Lord your God, who has been favourably disposed to you in setting you on his throne as king for the Lord your God, in the love of your God for Israel, by establishing it age-abidingly. And he has appointed you as king over them, to execute justice and righteousness.” ⁹And she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and very many fragrances and precious stones, and there never was fragrance like this which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. ¹⁰And Huram's servants, and Solomon's servants – those who had brought gold from Ophir – also brought almug wood and precious stones. ¹¹And the king made from the almug wood terraces for the house of the Lord and for the king's house, and harps and lutes for the singers. Never had anything like them been seen before in the land of Judah. ¹²And King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all her desire which she asked for, in addition to what she had brought to the king. And she turned and went back to her country with her servants. ¹³And the weight of gold which accrued to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, ¹⁴apart from what travelling people and merchants brought. And all the kings of Arabia and the potentates of the land brought gold and silver to Solomon. ¹⁵And King Solomon made two hundred shields of alloyed gold. Six hundred shekels of alloyed gold went in each shield, ¹⁶and he made three hundred bucklers of alloyed gold. Three hundred shekels of alloyed gold went into each buckler, and the king put them in the house of the Forest of Lebanon. ¹⁷And the king made a large ivory throne, and he overlaid it with pure gold. ¹⁸And there were six steps up to the throne, and the throne had a footstool in gold, which were all attached, and armrests on each side of the seat. And two lions stood beside the armrests. ¹⁹And twelve lions stood there on six steps – six on each side. Nothing had been made like it in any kingdom. ²⁰And all King Solomon's tableware for drinking was of gold, and all the articles of the house of the Forest of Lebanon were of seamless gold. Silver was not regarded in Solomon's days as anything special. ²¹But the king had ships which went to Tarshish with Huram's servants. Once every three years the ships of Tarshish came transporting gold and silver, ivory and monkeys and peacocks. ²²And King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth, in riches and wisdom. ²³And all the kings of the earth would seek an audience with Solomon, so as to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. ²⁴And they each brought their gift – articles of silver and articles of gold, and garments, and weaponry and fragrances, horses and mules – an event which took place year in year out. ²⁵And Solomon had four thousand stables for horses, and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, and he located them in the cities of the chariots, and with the king in Jerusalem. ²⁶And he was a ruler over all the kings from the river up to the land of the Philistines and up to the border with Egypt. ²⁷And the king made silver commonplace in Jerusalem like stones in their abundance, and he made cedars like the sycamores which are in the lowlands in abundance. ²⁸And they brought horses to Solomon from Egypt, and from all countries. ²⁹And as for the rest of Solomon's affairs – the first and the last – are they not written in the Chronicles 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? ³⁰And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over the whole of Israel for forty years. ³¹And Solomon lay with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in place of him.