2 Chronicles 9

⁴²The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and now One greater than Solomon is here.

³¹The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and now One greater than Solomon is here.

¹Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with difficult questions.

²She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large caravan—with camels bearing spices, gold in great abundance, and precious stones. And she came to Solomon and spoke to him all that was on her mind.

⁹Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. There had never been such spices as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

⁶Caravans of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah, and all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and frankincense and proclaiming the praises of the Lord.

⁷The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. And the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.

³⁴He did not tell them anything without using a parable. But privately He explained everything to His own disciples.

³in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

¹²For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

²⁰He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.

¹²behold, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been another like you, nor will there ever be.

¹¹He replied, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those on the outside everything is expressed in parables,

¹Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. This was the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

²Solomon began construction on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.

¹In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the house of the Lord.

²The house that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high.

³And Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too difficult for the king to explain.

²³When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to abide in the Lord with all their hearts.

¹⁸he was previously stationed at the King’s Gate on the east side. These were the gatekeepers from the camp of the Levites.

³⁷Blessed are those servants whom the master finds on watch when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve and will have them recline at the table, and he himself will come and wait on them.

¹⁷How can I, your servant, speak with you, my lord? Now I have no strength, nor is any breath left in me.”

¹³And she looked and saw the king standing by his pillar at the entrance. The officers and trumpeters were beside the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, while the singers with musical instruments were leading the praises. Then Athaliah tore her clothes and screamed, “Treason, treason!”

²²Solomon’s provisions for a single day were thirty cors of fine flour, sixty cors of meal,

²³ten fat oxen, twenty range oxen, and a hundred sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened poultry.

⁷Answer me quickly, O Lord; my spirit fails. Do not hide Your face from me, or I will be like those who descend to the Pit.

⁶She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your words and wisdom is true.

³⁴So men of all nations came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

¹⁷How lovely they will be, and how beautiful! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine, the young women.

⁵She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your words and wisdom is true.

⁷But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told to me. Your wisdom and prosperity have far exceeded the report I heard.

⁹How is your beloved better than others, O most beautiful among women? How is your beloved better than another, that you charge us so?

¹⁰My beloved is dazzling and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand.

²⁵So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands, and put my finger where the nails have been, and put my hand into His side, I will never believe.”

²⁶Eight days later, His disciples were once again inside with the doors locked, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”

³⁹She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to His message.

⁴⁰But Martha was distracted by all the preparations to be made. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me!”

¹⁴for she is more profitable than silver, and her gain is better than fine gold.

⁹He said of his father and mother, ‘I do not consider them.’ He disregarded his brothers and did not know his own sons, for he kept Your word and maintained Your covenant.

³⁴Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at the posts of my doorway.

⁴One thing I have asked of the Lord; this is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and seek Him in His temple.

¹⁰For better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

¹¹For the Lord God is a sun and a shield; the Lord gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.

¹¹Then Hiram king of Tyre wrote a letter in reply to Solomon: “Because the Lord loves His people, He has set you over them as king.”

²³So Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king in place of his father David. He prospered, and all Israel obeyed him.

¹Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice.

²Each will be like a shelter from the wind, a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in a dry land, like the shadow of a great rock in an arid land.

⁸But about the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever, and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom.

⁹You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You above Your companions with the oil of joy.”

⁸But because the Lord loved you and kept the oath He swore to your fathers, He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

¹⁵In those days and at that time I will cause to sprout for David a righteous Branch, and He will administer justice and righteousness in the land.

¹⁶In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely, and this is the name by which it will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.

¹¹Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and carry them down as a gift for the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.

¹Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon, she came to test him with difficult questions. She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large caravan—with camels bearing spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones. And she came to Solomon and spoke with him about all that was on her mind.

²⁴Year after year, each visitor would bring his tribute: articles of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.

¹⁴And Hiram had sent the king 120 talents of gold.

¹⁰May the kings of Tarshish and distant shores bring tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.

¹⁵Long may he live! May gold from Sheba be given him. May people ever pray for him; may they bless him all day long.

¹⁸So Hiram sent him ships captained by his servants, along with crews of experienced sailors. They went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir and acquired from there 450 talents of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.

¹¹(The fleet of Hiram that brought gold from Ophir also brought from Ophir a great cargo of almug wood and precious stones.

²⁷And Hiram sent his servants, sailors who knew the sea, to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s servants.

²⁸They sailed to Ophir and imported gold from there—420 talents—and delivered it to Solomon.

²²For the king had the ships of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s fleet, and once every three years the ships of Tarshish would arrive bearing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

¹²The king made the almug wood into steps for the house of the Lord and for the king’s palace, and into lyres and harps for the singers. Never before had such almug wood been brought in, nor has such been seen again to this day.)

¹Additionally, David and the commanders of the army set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun to prophesy with the accompaniment of lyres, harps, and cymbals. The following is the list of the men who performed this service:

¹A Psalm. A song for the Sabbath day. It is good to praise the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High,

²to proclaim Your loving devotion in the morning and Your faithfulness at night

⁸When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

³Praise Him with the sound of the horn; praise Him with the harp and lyre.

⁴Praise Him with tambourine and dancing; praise Him with strings and flute.

⁵4,000 are to be gatekeepers, and 4,000 are to praise the Lord with the instruments I have made for giving praise.”

¹³King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired—whatever she asked—besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty. Then she left and returned to her own country, along with her servants.

²⁰Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,

⁴May He give you the desires of your heart and make all your plans succeed.

¹⁰May the kings of Tarshish and distant shores bring tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.

²⁹Because of Your temple at Jerusalem kings will bring You gifts.

¹⁵Long may he live! May gold from Sheba be given him. May people ever pray for him; may they bless him all day long.

¹⁴The weight of gold that came to Solomon each year was 666 talents,

¹⁵not including the revenue from the merchants, traders, and all the Arabian kings and governors of the land.

²⁹Because of Your temple at Jerusalem kings will bring You gifts.

¹⁰May the kings of Tarshish and distant shores bring tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.

⁹So King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem and seized the treasures of the house of the Lord and of the royal palace. He took everything, including the gold shields that Solomon had made.

¹⁰Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place and committed them to the care of the captains of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace.

¹⁶King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield.

¹⁷He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. And the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.

²He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon a hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high, with four rows of cedar pillars supporting the cedar beams.

¹⁸Additionally, the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold.

¹⁹The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. There were armrests on both sides of the seat, with a lion standing beside each armrest.

⁸All your garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; from palaces of ivory the harps make you glad.

¹¹Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them.

⁹He crouches, he lies down like a lion, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? Blessed are those who bless you and cursed are those who curse you.”

⁹Judah is a young lion—my son, you return from the prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?

¹⁰The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his.

⁵Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

²⁴Behold, the people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion, not resting until they devour their prey and drink the blood of the slain.”

²⁸Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

¹²The city had a great and high wall with twelve gates inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and twelve angels at the gates.

²¹All King Solomon’s drinking cups were gold, and all the utensils of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver, because it was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.

²⁷The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as abundant as sycamore in the foothills.

²Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king could drink from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.

³Thus they brought in the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king drank from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.

⁷Beverages were served in an array of goblets of gold, each with a different design, and the royal wine flowed freely, according to the king’s bounty.

⁵Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria; the farmers will plant and enjoy the fruit.

²²Put no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?

²²For the king had the ships of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s fleet, and once every three years the ships of Tarshish would arrive bearing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

³⁶They agreed to make ships to go to Tarshish, and these were built in Ezion-geber.

³⁷Then Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the Lord has destroyed your works.” So the ships were wrecked and were unable to sail to Tarshish.

¹³The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, but cannot match the pinions and feathers of the stork.

⁴⁸Jehoshaphat built ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they never set sail, because they were wrecked at Ezion-geber.

¹²therefore wisdom and knowledge have been granted to you. And I will also give you riches and wealth and honor unlike anything given to the kings before you or after you.”

³⁰Solomon’s wisdom was greater than that of all the men of the East, greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.

³¹He was wiser than all men—wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and wiser than Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread throughout the surrounding nations.

¹²behold, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been another like you, nor will there ever be.

¹³Moreover, I will give you what you did not request—both riches and honor—so that during all your days no man in any kingdom will be your equal.

²⁷I will indeed appoint him as My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.

²³So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.

²⁴The whole world sought an audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom that God had put in his heart.

²that they may be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, and filled with the full riches of complete understanding, so that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ,

³in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

¹⁷But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.

⁵Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

⁶For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

³⁴So men of all nations came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

¹⁷that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him.

¹⁰Now grant me wisdom and knowledge, so that I may lead this people. For who is able to govern this great people of Yours?”

¹¹God said to Solomon, “Since this was in your heart instead of requesting riches or wealth or honor for yourself or death for your enemies—and since you have not even requested long life but have asked for wisdom and knowledge to govern My people over whom I have made you king—

⁹Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. There had never been such spices as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹⁰Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again were spices in such abundance brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

²⁵Year after year, each visitor would bring his tribute: articles of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.

¹⁰May the kings of Tarshish and distant shores bring tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.

¹⁴And Hiram had sent the king 120 talents of gold.

¹¹All his brothers and sisters and prior acquaintances came and dined with him in his house. They consoled him and comforted him over all the adversity that the Lord had brought upon him. And each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.

²⁶Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his chariot horses and 12,000 horses.

¹⁴Solomon accumulated 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses, which he stationed in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem.

²⁶Solomon accumulated 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses, which he stationed in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem.

¹⁶But the king must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire more horses, for the Lord has said, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’

¹⁸On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—

²¹And Solomon reigned over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These kingdoms offered tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

³¹And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates. For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.

²⁴For Solomon had dominion over everything west of the Euphrates—over all the kingdoms from Tiphsah to Gaza—and he had peace on all sides.

¹⁴And He was given dominion, glory, and kingship, that the people of every nation and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

¹⁶And He has a name written on His robe and on His thigh: KING OF KINGS AND Lord OF LORDS.

¹⁵The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as abundant as sycamore in the foothills.

¹⁶Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and Kue; the royal merchants purchased them from Kue.

²⁰All King Solomon’s drinking cups were gold, and all the utensils of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver, because it was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.

²⁴and consign your gold to the dust and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines,

²⁵then the Almighty will be your gold and the finest silver for you.

²⁸Baal-hanan the Gederite was in charge of the olive and sycamore trees in the foothills. Joash was in charge of the stores of olive oil.

¹⁰“The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with finished stone; the sycamores have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars.”

²⁷The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as abundant as sycamore in the foothills.

²⁸Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and Kue; the royal merchants purchased them from Kue.

¹⁶Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and Kue; the royal merchants purchased them from Kue.

²⁸Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and Kue; the royal merchants purchased them from Kue.

²⁵Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 horses, which he stationed in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem.

¹Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel; they do not seek the Lord.

⁷Their land is full of silver and gold, with no limit to their treasures; their land is full of horses, with no limit to their chariots.

⁸Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.

²⁹Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are indeed written in the Chronicles of Samuel the Seer, the Chronicles of Nathan the Prophet, and the Chronicles of Gad the Seer,

²⁹During that time, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met Jeroboam on the road as he was going out of Jerusalem. Now Ahijah had wrapped himself in a new cloak, and the two of them were alone in the open field.

⁴¹As for the rest of the acts of Solomon—all that he did, as well as his wisdom—are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon?

⁴²Thus the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.

¹Then the Lord sent Nathan to David, and when he arrived, he said, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor.

²²Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, along with his ways and his words, are written in the Treatise of the Prophet Iddo.

¹⁵Now the acts of Rehoboam, from first to last, are they not written in the records of Shemaiah the Prophet and of Iddo the Seer concerning the genealogies? There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout their days.

⁴²Thus the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.

⁴³And Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David. And his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.

¹⁰Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David.

¹²And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.

²¹Otherwise, when my lord the king rests with his fathers, I and my son Solomon will be counted as criminals.”