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1 Kings

Starts with King Solomon's reign, his wisdom, and building the temple, then the kingdom dividing into Israel and Judah.

Chapter 10

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1 And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions.

*When the queen of Sheba learned about Solomon's reputation because of the LORD, she visited him to test him with difficult questions.

2 And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

*She arrived in Jerusalem accompanied by many people, carrying camels loaded with spices, lots of gold, and valuable stones. When she met King Solomon, they talked about everything in her mind.

3 And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not.

*Solomon answered all of her questions; nothing was kept secret from the king that he didn't tell her.

4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon’s wisdom, and the house that he had built,

*When the queen of Sheba saw all of Solomon's smart ideas and the big house he built,

5 And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her.

*His food, servant seats, minister helpers, their clothes, cupholders, and the way he climbed to God's house had no more life left in her.

6 And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.

*She told the king, "I heard back home about your actions and wisdom."

7 Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.

*However, I did not believe the words until I arrived and saw it for myself. Even then, I discovered that the truth was more than what I had heard: your wisdom and wealth were greater than the stories I had heard about you.

8 Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.

*Your people are happy, your servants are happy too, they always stay near you and listen to your wise words.

9 Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the LORD loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice.

*Praised is the Lord your God! He chose you to rule over Israel because He loves Israel forever. So, He made you king to bring fairness and righteousness.

10 And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.

*The queen gave the king 120 talents of gold, lots of spices, and valuable gems. No one had ever seen so many spices like the ones she gifted to King Solomon before.

11 And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones.

*The navy of Hiram, which got gold from Ophir, brought back many almug trees and valuable stones from Ophir.

12 And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the LORD, and for the king’s house, harps also and psalteries for singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day.

*The king created columns from special almug trees for both the Lord's house and his own palace. He also made musical instruments like harps and lyres for the singers. No other trees like these almug trees have been found or seen until now.

13 And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

*King Solomon granted the Queen of Sheba everything she wanted, in addition to the generous gifts he already gave her. Afterward, she and her helpers returned to their homeland.

14 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold,

*In one year, Solomon received 666 talents of gold.

15 Beside that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffick of the spice merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the country.

*In addition to his wealth from sea traders, spice merchants, Arabian kings, and local rulers.

16 And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of gold went to one target.

*King Solomon created 200 golden bullseyes, with each weighing 600 shekels of gold per piece.

17 And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pound of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

*He created 300 gold shields by hammering the gold; each shield had 3 pounds of gold; the king placed them in a building in the Lebanon forest.

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

*The king also made an enormous ivory throne and covered it with the finest gold.

19 The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round behind: and there were stays on either side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the stays.

*The throne had 6 steps and a round top. There were supports on both sides at the bottom. Two lions were next to the supports.

20 And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps: there was not the like made in any kingdom.

*On one side, twelve lions stood, and on the other side, six steps had more lions. This was unique and not found in any other kingdom.

21 And all king Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.

*All of King Solomon's cups were made of gold, as were all the other items in his special building made from a tree called Lebanon. There were no silver items; gold was more important during Solomon's time.

22 For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

*The king had a large fleet from Tharshish along with Hiram's fleet. Every three years, the Tharshish fleet arrived, bringing gold, silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks.

23 So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.

*King Solomon had more wealth and wisdom than any other king at that time.

24 And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.

*Everyone on Earth wanted to listen to Solomon's wisdom, because God gave him that knowledge inside his heart.

25 And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.

*They all gave gifts, including silver and gold objects, clothes, armor, fragrant plants, horses, and mules. They did this every year for a certain amount of time.

26 And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem.

*Solomon brought together many chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He placed these in cities for chariot use and kept some with the king in Jerusalem.

27 And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycomore trees that are in the vale, for abundance.

*The king made silver very common in Jerusalem, like stones, and he made the cedar trees as plentiful as sycamore trees in the valley, because there was so much of them.

28 And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king’s merchants received the linen yarn at a price.

*Solomon got horses from Egypt and also bought linen thread. The king's traders paid for the linen thread.

29 And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.

*A chariot cost 600 silver coins and a horse cost 150 coins. Similarly, the kings of the Hittites and Syria paid this much to get their horses and chariots.

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