2 Chronicles 9 - International Standard Version (ISV)

The Queen of Sheba Visits Jerusalem(A)

9 When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s reputation, she traveled to Jerusalem and tested him[a] with difficult questions. She brought along a large retinue, camels laden with spices, and lots of gold and precious stones. Upon her arrival, she spoke with Solomon about everything that was on her mind.[b] 2 Solomon answered all of her questions. Because nothing was hidden from Solomon, he hid nothing from her. 3 When the queen of Sheba had seen Solomon’s wisdom for herself, the palace that he had built, 4 the food set at his table, his servants who waited on him, his ministers in attendance and how they were dressed, his personal staff[c] and how they were dressed, and even his personal stairway by which he went up to the Lord’s Temple, she was breathless!

5 “Everything I heard about your wisdom and what you have to say is true!” she gasped, 6 “but I didn’t believe it at first! But then I came here and I’ve seen it for myself! It’s amazing! I wasn’t told half of what’s really great about your wisdom. You’re far better in person than what the reports have said about you! 7 How blessed are your staff! And how blessed are your employees,[d] who serve you continually and get to listen to your wisdom! 8 Blessed be the Lord your God, who is delighted with you! He set you in place on his throne to be king for the Lord your God. He made you king over them so you could carry out justice and implement righteousness, because your God loves Israel and intends to establish them[e] forever.”

9 Then she gave the king 120 talents[f] of gold, a vast quantity of spices, and precious stones. There were no spices comparable to those that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. 10 Hiram’s servants and Solomon’s servants, who brought gold from Ophir,[g] also presented algum wood[h] and other precious stones. 11 The king used the algum wood[i] to have steps made for the Lord’s Temple and for the royal palace, as well as lyres and harps for the choir,[j] and nothing like that wood[k] had been seen before in the territory of Judah. 12 In return, King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she wanted and requested in addition to what she had brought for the king. Afterward, she returned to her own land, accompanied by her servants.

Solomon’s Wealth(B)

13 Solomon received in any given year about 666 talents[l] of gold, 14 not including revenue from traders and merchants. In addition, all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the nation brought gold and silver to Solomon. 15 King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold, overlaying each shield with the gold from 600 gold pieces,[m] 16 and 300 shields from beaten gold, overlaying each shield with the gold from 300 gold pieces.[n] The king put them in his palace in the Lebanon forest. 17 The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with pure gold. 18 Six steps led up to the throne. A golden footstool was attached to the throne, which had armrests on each side of the seat and two lions standing on either side of each armrest. 19 Twelve lions were placed on both sides of the six steps leading to the throne,[o] and nothing comparable was made for any other[p] kingdom. 20 All of King Solomon’s drinking vessels were made of[q] gold, and all the vessels in his palace in the Lebanon forest were made of[r] pure gold. Silver was never considered to be valuable during the lifetime of Solomon, 21 because the king had ships that sailed to Tarshish accompanied by Hiram’s servants. Once every three years ships from Tarshish returned, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

22 As a result, King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in regards to wealth and wisdom. 23 All the kings of the earth continued to seek audiences with Solomon so they could hear the wise things that God had put in his heart. 24 Everyone kept on bringing gifts on an annual basis, including items made of silver and gold, garments, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules. 25 Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, along with 12,000 cavalry soldiers. He stationed them in various chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 26 King Solomon[s] ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates[t] River west[u] to the land of the Philistines and as far south as the boundary with Egypt.

27 The king made silver as common as[v] stones in Jerusalem, and made cedar trees as abundant as sycamore trees in the Shephelah.[w] 28 They also kept bringing horses to Solomon from Egypt and from all of the surrounding[x] countries.

The Death of Solomon(C)

29 Now the rest of Solomon’s accomplishments, from first to last, are written in the records of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer pertaining to Nebat’s son Jeroboam, are they not? 30 Solomon reigned for 40 years in Jerusalem over all of Israel. 31 Then Solomon died, as had[y] his ancestors, and his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 9:1 Lit. Solomon
  2. 2 Chronicles 9:1 Lit. heart
  3. 2 Chronicles 9:4 Lit. his cupbearers
  4. 2 Chronicles 9:7 Lit. servants
  5. 2 Chronicles 9:8 Lit. him; i.e. the nation personified as an individual
  6. 2 Chronicles 9:9 I.e. about 9,000 pounds; a talent weighed about 75 pounds
  7. 2 Chronicles 9:10 Or from a source of fine gold; cf. 1Chr 29:4
  8. 2 Chronicles 9:10 Or presented Juniper trees
  9. 2 Chronicles 9:11 Or the Juniper trees
  10. 2 Chronicles 9:11 Lit. singers
  11. 2 Chronicles 9:11 The Heb. lacks wood
  12. 2 Chronicles 9:13 I.e. about 49,950 pounds; a talent weighed about 75 pounds
  13. 2 Chronicles 9:15 MT does not identify the individual unit of measure
  14. 2 Chronicles 9:16 MT does not identify the individual unit of measure
  15. 2 Chronicles 9:19 The Heb. lacks leading to the throne
  16. 2 Chronicles 9:19 The Heb. lacks other
  17. 2 Chronicles 9:20 The Heb. lacks made of
  18. 2 Chronicles 9:20 The Heb. lacks made of
  19. 2 Chronicles 9:26 Lit. He
  20. 2 Chronicles 9:26 The Heb. lacks Euphrates
  21. 2 Chronicles 9:26 The Heb. lacks west
  22. 2 Chronicles 9:27 The Heb. lacks as common as
  23. 2 Chronicles 9:27 I.e. the verdant central lowlands of Israel; cf. Josh 10:40
  24. 2 Chronicles 9:28 The Heb. lacks surrounding
  25. 2 Chronicles 9:31 Lit. Solomon slept with; and so throughout the book

Cross references

  1. 2 Chronicles 9:1 : 1 Kings 10:1-13
  2. 2 Chronicles 9:13 : 1 Kings 10:14-29; 2 Chronicles 1:14-17
  3. 2 Chronicles 9:29 : 1 Kings 11:41-43

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2 Chronicles 9 - Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

9 And the queen of Sheba hath heard of the fame of Solomon, and cometh in to try Solomon with acute sayings, to Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels bearing spices and gold in abundance, and precious stone; and she cometh in unto Solomon, and speaketh with him all that hath been with her...
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2 Chronicles 9 - Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

9 And the queen of Sheba, when she had heard (of) the fame of Solomon, came into Jerusalem for to assay him in dark figures[a], or likenesses (came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions), (along) with great riches, and camels, that bare sweet smelling spices, and full much of gold, and precio...
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2 Chronicles 9 - World English Bible (WEB)

9 When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to test Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great caravan, including camels that bore spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones. When she had come to Solomon, she talked with him about all that was in her heart. ...
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2 Chronicles 9 - The Voice (VOICE)

Solomon’s wealth and wisdom are so well-known that other monarchs in the region come to him to receive advice and to offer gifts. Huram, king of Tyre, may give Solomon great gifts during the construction of Israel’s infrastructure, but his aid is not nearly as memorable as the gifts of the queen of ...
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2 Chronicles 9 - Tree of Life Version (TLV)

The Queen of Sheba Visits Jerusalem9 When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions.[a] Accompanied by a large caravan train, including camels carrying an abundance of spices and gold, and precious stones, she came to Solomon and spoke with...
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2 Chronicles 9 - Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Visit of the Queen of Sheba9 Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions, having a very great retinue and camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. ...
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2 Chronicles 9 - New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)

Visit of the Queen of Sheba9 When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions, having a very great retinue and camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she discussed with him all that was on her...
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2 Chronicles 9 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Visit of the Queen of Sheba9 When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test him with riddles, having a very great retinue and camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she discussed with him all that was on her mind.(...
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2 Chronicles 9 - New Living Translation (NLT)

Visit of the Queen of Sheba9 When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. She arrived with a large group of attendants and a great caravan of camels loaded with spices, large quantities of gold, and precious jewels. When she met with Solomon...
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2 Chronicles 9 - New Life Version (NLV)

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon9 The queen of Sheba heard how well Solomon was known in all the lands. So she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. She came with many servants and camels carrying spices and much gold and stones of much worth. When she came to Solomon, she talked with ...
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2 Chronicles 9 - New King James Version (NKJV)

The Queen of Sheba’s Praise of Solomon(A)9 Now (B)when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions, having a very great retinue, camels that bore spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke wit...
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2 Chronicles 9 - New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

The queen of Sheba visits Solomon9 When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. Arriving with a very great caravan – with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones – she came to Solomon and talked with him about a...
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2 Chronicles 9 - New International Version (NIV)

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon(A)9 When the queen of Sheba(B) heard of Solomon’s fame, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. Arriving with a very great caravan—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about...
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2 Chronicles 9 - New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon9 The queen of Sheba heard about how famous Solomon was. So she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. She arrived with a very large group of attendants. Her camels were carrying spices, huge amounts of gold, and valuable jewels. She came to Solomon and a...
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2 Chronicles 9 - New English Translation (NET)

Solomon Entertains a Queen9 When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon,[a] she came to challenge[b] him[c] with difficult questions.[d] She arrived in Jerusalem with a great display of pomp,[e] bringing with her camels carrying spices,[f] a very large quantity of gold, and precious gems. She visite...
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