2 Chronicles 9 – 10

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon

2 Chronicles 9

¹ The Queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s fame, so she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with difficult questions. She came with a very great entourage, ^[1] with camels carrying spices, a large quantity of gold, and precious stones. She came to Solomon and spoke with him about everything that was on her heart.

² Solomon answered all her questions. There was nothing hidden from Solomon that he could not explain to her.

³ When the Queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, the house which he had built, ⁴ the food on his table, the council meeting of his officials, the careful attention of his ministers and their attire, also his cupbearers and their attire, and the passageway by which he went up to the House of the Lord, ^[2] it took her breath away.

⁵ She said to the king, “The report I heard in my land about your accomplishments ^[3] and about your wisdom is true. ⁶ I did not believe the report, until I came and saw it with my own eyes. Now I find that I was not informed about even half of the greatness of your wisdom. You surpass the report that I heard. ⁷ Blessed are your men! Blessed are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom!

⁸ “Blessed be the Lord your God, who has been delighted with you and has placed you on his throne as king to serve the Lord your God. Because of your God’s love for Israel and his purpose of establishing Israel forever, he has placed you over them as king to administer justice and righteousness.”

⁹ Then she gave the king one hundred twenty talents ^[4] of gold, a very great quantity of spices and incense, ^[5] and precious stones. There was nothing comparable to these spices and incense that the Queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹⁰ In addition, the servants of Huram and Solomon who brought gold from Ophir also brought algum ^[6] wood and precious stones. ¹¹ The king made the algum wood into steps ^[7] for the Lord’s house and for the house of the king and into lyres and harps for the singers. Nothing like them had ever been seen before in the land of Judah.

¹² King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba everything she desired, whatever she asked for, more than what she had brought to the king. Then she returned to her land along with her servants.

Solomon’s Wealth

¹³ The weight of the gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents, ^{[8] 14} not counting what the traders and merchants were bringing. All the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land also kept bringing gold and silver to Solomon.

¹⁵ King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold. Seven and a half pounds ^[9] of hammered gold went into each shield. ¹⁶ He made three hundred small shields of hammered gold. Almost four pounds ^[10] of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.

¹⁷ The king made a large ivory throne and overlaid it with pure gold. ¹⁸ There were six steps up to the throne. A golden footstool was attached to the throne, and there were armrests on either side of the seat. There were two lions standing beside the armrests ¹⁹ and twelve lions standing on the steps, one on each end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any kingdom.

²⁰ All of King Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold. All the utensils in the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. ^[11] Silver was not thought to be worth anything in the days of Solomon, ²¹ because the king’s ships would go to Tarshish ^[12] with the servants of Huram, and once every three years the Tarshish ships would return, bringing gold, silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks. ^[13]

²² King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom. ²³ All the kings of the earth were seeking an audience with Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. ²⁴ Each of them would bring his gift: articles of silver and gold, clothing, scents, ^[14] spices, horses, and mules, year after year.

²⁵ Solomon had four thousand teams ^[15] of horses and chariots and twelve thousand charioteers. He stationed them in the chariot cities and in Jerusalem with him.

²⁶ He was ruling over all the kings from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, to the border of Egypt.

²⁷ The king made silver in Jerusalem as plentiful as ordinary stones, and the cedars were like the sycamore fig trees, which are so abundant in the Shephelah. ^[16]

²⁸ Horses were imported for Solomon from Egypt and from all the lands.

The Death of Solomon

²⁹ The rest of the acts of Solomon, from the first to the last, are they not written in the records of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah from Shiloh, and in the visions of Iddo the seer about Jeroboam son of Nebat?

³⁰ Solomon ruled in Jerusalem and over all Israel for forty years, ³¹ and then Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam became king in his place.

Rehoboam King of Judah

2 Chronicles 10

¹ Rehoboam went to Shechem, because all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king.

² When Jeroboam son of Nebat, who was still in Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon, heard about this, he returned from Egypt, ³ and the people then sent for Jeroboam.

Jeroboam and all Israel came to Rehoboam and said, ⁴ “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now lighten your father’s harsh service and the heavy yoke that he laid on us, and we will serve you.”

⁵ Rehoboam said to them, “Return to me in three days.” So the people left.

⁶ King Rehoboam asked for advice from the old men ^[17] who had served his father Solomon while he was alive: “How would you advise me to respond to these people?”

⁷ They said to him, “If you are good to these people and respond favorably to their request, and you speak accommodating words to them, they will be your servants forever.”

⁸ But Rehoboam did not follow the advice the old men gave him. Instead, he consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who were serving as his advisors. ⁹ He said to them, “How would you advise me to respond to these people who said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father laid upon us’?”

¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him said to him, “This is what you should say to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy. You make it light for us.’ This is what you should say to them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. ^{[18] 11} My father imposed a heavy yoke on you. I will add to your yoke. My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.’” ^[19]

¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had directed: “Come back to me on the third day.”

¹³ The king answered them harshly. King Rehoboam rejected the advice of the old men.

¹⁴ Instead, he spoke to them as the young men had advised: “My father made your yoke heavy. I will add to it. My father punished you with whips. I will punish you with scorpions.”

¹⁵ The king did not listen to the people, because this turn of events was from God, so that the Lord would keep his word, as he had spoken it to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah from Shiloh.

¹⁶ When all Israel saw ^[20] that the king did not listen to them, they responded to the king:

So all Israel went to their tents. ^[21]

¹⁷ Rehoboam continued to rule over the people of Israel who were living in the cities of Judah.

¹⁸ King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, ^[22] who was in charge of the forced labor, but the people of Israel stoned Hadoram to death. King Rehoboam, however, was able to get into his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.

¹⁹ So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David until this day.