1Kings:10
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Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD ,
she came to test him with hard questions .
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She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue ,
with camels that bore spices ,
very much gold ,
and precious stones ;
and when she came to Solomon ,
she spoke with him about all that was in her heart .
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So Solomon answered all her questions ;
there was nothing so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to her .
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And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon ,
the house that he had built ,
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the food on his table ,
the seating of his servants ,
the service of his waiters and their apparel ,
his cupbearers ,
and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the LORD ,
there was no more spirit in her .
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Then she said to the king : "
It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom .
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However I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes ;
and indeed the half was not told me .
Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard .
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Happy are your men and happy are these your servants ,
who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom !
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Blessed be the LORD your God ,
who delighted in you ,
setting you on the throne of Israel !
Because the LORD has loved Israel forever ,
therefore He made you king ,
to do justice and righteousness ."
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Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold ,
spices in great quantity ,
and precious stones .
There never again came such abundance of spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon .
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Also ,
the ships of Hiram ,
which brought gold from Ophir ,
brought great quantities of almug wood and precious stones from Ophir .
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And the king made steps of the almug wood for the house of the LORD and for the king '
s house ,
also harps and stringed instruments for singers .
There never again came such almug wood ,
nor has the like been seen to this day .
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Now King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired ,
whatever she asked ,
besides what Solomon had given her according to the royal generosity .
So she turned and went to her own country ,
she and her servants .
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The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold ,
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besides that from the traveling merchants ,
from the income of traders ,
from all the kings of Arabia ,
and from the governors of the country .
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And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold ;
six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield .
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He also made three hundred shields of hammered gold ;
three minas of gold went into each shield .
The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon .
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Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory ,
and overlaid it with pure gold .
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The throne had six steps ,
and the top of the throne was round at the back ;
there were armrests on either side of the place of the seat ,
and two lions stood beside the armrests .
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Twelve lions stood there ,
one on each side of the six steps ;
nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom .
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All King Solomon '
s drinking vessels were gold ,
and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold .
Not one was silver ,
for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon .
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For the king had merchant ships at sea with the fleet of Hiram .
Once every three years the merchant ships came bringing gold ,
silver ,
ivory ,
apes ,
and monkeys .
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So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom .
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Now all the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom ,
which God had put in his heart .
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Each man brought his present :
articles of silver and gold ,
garments ,
armor ,
spices ,
horses ,
and mules ,
at a set rate year by year .
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And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen ;
he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen ,
whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem .
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The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones ,
and he made cedar trees as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland .
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Also Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and Keveh ;
the king '
s merchants bought them in Keveh at the current price .
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Now a chariot that was imported from Egypt cost six hundred shekels of silver ,
and a horse one hundred and fifty ;
and thus ,
through their agents ,
they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria .