1 Kings 10 - Easy To Read Version

¹ The queen of Sheba heard about Solomon. So she came to test him with hard questions.

² She traveled to Jerusalem with a very large group of servants. There were many camels carrying spices, jewels, and much gold. She met Solomon and asked him all the questions that she could think of.

³ Solomon answered all the questions. None of her questions were too hard for him to explain.

⁴ The queen of Sheba saw that Solomon was very wise. She also saw the beautiful palace [127] he had built.

⁵ The queen saw the food at the king’s table. She saw his officials meeting together. She saw the servants in the palace and the good clothes that they wore. She saw his parties and the sacrifices that he offered in the temple. All these things really amazed her—they just ‘took her breath away’!

⁶ So the queen said to the king, “I heard many things in my own country about your wisdom and all the things you have done. And everything is true!

⁷ I did not believe it until I came and saw it with my own eyes. Now I see that it is even greater than what I heard. Your wealth and wisdom is much greater than people told me.

⁸ Your wives [128] and officers are very fortunate! They can serve you and hear your wisdom every day!

⁹ Praise the Lord your God! He was pleased to make you king of Israel. The Lord God loves Israel. So he made you the king. You follow the law and treat people fairly.”

¹⁰ Then the queen of Sheba gave the king about 9,000 pounds [129] of gold. She also gave him many spices and jewels. The queen of Sheba gave to Solomon more spices than anyone has ever brought into Israel.

¹¹ Hiram’s ships brought gold from Ophir. Those ships also brought very much wood [130] and jewels.

¹² Solomon used the wood to build supports in the temple and the palace. He also used the wood to make harps [131] and lyres [132] for the singers. No other person has ever brought that kind of wood {to Israel} and no person has seen that kind of wood since that time.

¹³ Then King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba gifts that a king usually gives to a ruler from another country. Then he gave her anything else she asked for. After this, the queen and her servants went back to her own country.

¹⁴ Every year King Solomon got about 79,920 pounds [133] of gold.

¹⁵ Besides the gold from the cargo ships, [134] he also got gold from the traders and merchants, [135] and from the kings of Arabia and governors of the land.

¹⁶ King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold. Each shield contained about 15 pounds [136] of gold.

¹⁷ He also made 300 smaller shields of hammered gold. Each shield contained about 4 pounds [137] of gold. The king put them in the building called the “Forest of Lebanon.”

¹⁸ King Solomon also built a large ivory throne. He covered it with pure gold.

¹⁹ There were six steps leading up to the throne. The back of the throne was round at the top. There were armrests on both sides of the chair. And in the sides of the chair under the two armrests there were pictures of lions.

²⁰ There were also two lions on each of the six steps. There was one lion at each end. There was nothing like this in any other kingdom.

²¹ All of Solomon’s cups and glasses were made of gold. And all of the dishes [138] in the building called the “Forest of Lebanon” were made from pure gold. Nothing in the palace was made from silver. {There was so much gold that} in Solomon’s time people did not think silver was important!

²² The king also had many cargo ships [139] that he sent out to trade things with other countries. These were Hiram’s ships. Every three years the ships would come back with a new load of gold, silver, ivory, and animals.

²³ Solomon was the greatest king on earth. He had the most riches and wisdom of all kings.

²⁴ People everywhere wanted to see King Solomon. They wanted to hear the great wisdom that God had given him.

²⁵ Every year people came to see the king. And every person brought a gift. They brought things made from gold and silver, clothes, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.

²⁶ So Solomon had many, many chariots and horses. He had 1,400 chariots [140] and 12,000 horses. Solomon built special cities for these chariots. So the chariots were kept in those cities. King Solomon also kept some of the chariots with him in Jerusalem.

²⁷ The king made Israel very rich. In the city of Jerusalem, silver was as common as rocks and cedar wood was as common as the many, many fig trees growing on the hills.

²⁸ Solomon brought horses from Egypt and Kue. His traders bought them in Kue and brought them to Israel.

²⁹ A chariot from Egypt cost about 15 pounds [141] of silver, and a horse cost about 3 3/4 pounds [142] of silver. Solomon sold horses and chariots to the kings of the Hittites and the Arameans.