1
The queen of Sheba heard of Solomon's fame, and she traveled to Jerusalem to test him with difficult questions.
2
She brought with her a large group of attendants, as well as camels loaded with spices, jewels, and a large amount of gold. When she and Solomon met, she asked him all the questions that she could think of.
3
He answered them all; there was nothing too difficult for him to explain.
4
The queen of Sheba heard Solomon's wisdom and saw the palace he had built.
5
She saw the food that was served at his table, the living quarters for his officials, the organization of his palace staff and the uniforms they wore, the servants who waited on him at feasts, and the sacrifices he offered in the Temple. It left her breathless and amazed.
6
She said to King Solomon, "What I heard in my own country about you and your wisdom is true!
7
But I couldn't believe it until I had come and seen it all for myself. But I didn't hear even half of it; your wisdom and wealth are much greater than what I was told.
8
How fortunate are your wives! And how fortunate your servants, who are always in your presence and are privileged to hear your wise sayings!
9
Praise the LORD your God! He has shown how pleased he is with you by making you king of Israel. Because his love for Israel is eternal, he has made you their king so that you can maintain law and justice."
10
She presented to King Solomon the gifts she had brought: almost five tons of gold and a very large amount of spices and jewels. The amount of spices she gave him was by far the greatest that he ever received at any time.
11
(Hiram's fleet, which had brought gold from Ophir, also brought from there a large amount of juniper wood and jewels.
12
Solomon used the wood to build railings in the Temple and the palace, and also to make harps and lyres for the musicians. It was the finest juniper wood ever imported into Israel; none like it has ever been seen again.)
13
King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she asked for, besides all the other customary gifts that he had generously given her. Then she and her attendants returned to the land of Sheba.
14
Every year King Solomon received over twenty-five tons of gold,
15
in addition to the taxes paid by merchants, the profits from trade, and tribute paid by the Arabian kings and the governors of the Israelite districts.
16
Solomon made two hundred large shields and had each one overlaid with almost fifteen pounds of gold.
17
He also made three hundred smaller shields, overlaying each one of them with nearly four pounds of gold. He had all these shields placed in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon.
18
He also had a large throne made. Part of it was covered with ivory and the rest of it was covered with the finest gold.
19
The throne had six steps leading up to it, with the figure of a lion at each end of every step, a total of twelve lions. At the back of the throne was the figure of a bull's head, and beside each of the two armrests was the figure of a lion. No throne like this had ever existed in any other kingdom.
21
All of Solomon's drinking cups were made of gold, and all the utensils in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. No silver was used, since it was not considered valuable in Solomon's day.
22
He had a fleet of ocean-going ships sailing with Hiram's fleet. Every three years his fleet would return, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys.
23
King Solomon was richer and wiser than any other king,
24
and the whole world wanted to come and listen to the wisdom that God had given him.
25
Everyone who came brought him a gift---articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons, spices, horses, and mules. This continued year after year.
26
Solomon built up a force of fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand cavalry horses. Some of them he kept in Jerusalem and the rest he stationed in various other cities.
27
During his reign silver was as common in Jerusalem as stone, and cedar was as plentiful as ordinary sycamore in the foothills of Judah.
28
The king's agents controlled the export of horses from Musri and Cilicia,
29
and the export of chariots from Egypt. They supplied the Hittite and Syrian kings with horses and chariots, selling chariots for 600 pieces of silver each and horses for 150 each.
1
Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides the daughter of the king of Egypt he married Hittite women and women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon.
2
He married them even though the LORD had commanded the Israelites not to intermarry with these people, because they would cause the Israelites to give their loyalty to other gods.
3
Solomon married seven hundred princesses and also had three hundred concubines. They made him turn away from God,
4
and by the time he was old they had led him into the worship of foreign gods. He was not faithful to the LORD his God, as his father David had been.
5
He worshiped Astarte, the goddess of Sidon, and Molech, the disgusting god of Ammon.
6
He sinned against the LORD and was not true to him as his father David had been.
7
On the mountain east of Jerusalem he built a place to worship Chemosh, the disgusting god of Moab, and a place to worship Molech, the disgusting god of Ammon.
8
He also built places of worship where all his foreign wives could burn incense and offer sacrifices to their own gods.
9
Even though the LORD, the God of Israel, had appeared to Solomon twice and had commanded him not to worship foreign gods, Solomon did not obey the LORD but turned away from him. So the LORD was angry with Solomon
11
and said to him, "Because you have deliberately broken your covenant with me and disobeyed my commands, I promise that I will take the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your officials.
12
However, for the sake of your father David I will not do this in your lifetime, but during the reign of your son.
13
And I will not take the whole kingdom away from him; instead, I will leave him one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have made my own."
14
So the LORD caused Hadad, of the royal family of Edom, to turn against Solomon.
15
Long before this, when David had conquered Edom, Joab the commander of his army had gone there to bury the dead. He and his men remained in Edom six months, and during that time they killed every male in Edom
17
except Hadad and some of his father's Edomite servants, who escaped to Egypt. (At that time Hadad was just a child.)
18
They left Midian and went to Paran, where some other men joined them. Then they traveled to Egypt and went to the king, who gave Hadad some land and a house and provided him with food.
19
Hadad won the friendship of the king, and the king gave his sister-in-law, the sister of Queen Tahpenes, to Hadad in marriage.
20
She bore him a son, Genubath, who was raised by the queen in the palace, where he lived with the king's sons.
21
When the news reached Hadad in Egypt that David had died and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to the king, "Let me go back to my own country."
22
"Why?" the king asked. "Have I failed to give you something? Is that why you want to go back home?" "Just let me go," Hadad answered the king. And he went back to his country. As king of Edom, Hadad was an evil, bitter enemy of Israel.
23
God also caused Rezon son of Eliada to turn against Solomon. Rezon had fled from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah,
24
and had become the leader of a gang of outlaws. (This happened after David had defeated Hadadezer and had slaughtered his Syrian allies.) Rezon and his gang went and lived in Damascus, where his followers made him king of Syria.
25
He was an enemy of Israel during the lifetime of Solomon.
26
Another man who turned against King Solomon was one of his officials, Jeroboam son of Nebat, from Zeredah in Ephraim. His mother was a widow named Zeruah.
27
This is the story of the revolt. Solomon was filling in the land on the east side of Jerusalem and repairing the city walls.
28
Jeroboam was an able young man, and when Solomon noticed how hard he worked, he put him in charge of all the forced labor in the territory of the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim.
29
One day, as Jeroboam was traveling from Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh met him alone on the road in the open country.
30
Ahijah took off the new robe he was wearing, tore it into twelve pieces,
31
and said to Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces for yourself, because the LORD, the God of Israel, says to you, 'I am going to take the kingdom away from Solomon, and I will give you ten tribes.
32
Solomon will keep one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen to be my own from the whole land of Israel.
33
I am going to do this because Solomon has rejected me and has worshiped foreign gods: Astarte, the goddess of Sidon; Chemosh, the god of Moab; and Molech, the god of Ammon. Solomon has disobeyed me; he has done wrong and has not kept my laws and commands as his father David did.
34
But I will not take the whole kingdom away from Solomon, and I will keep him in power as long as he lives. This I will do for the sake of my servant David, whom I chose and who obeyed my laws and commands.
35
I will take the kingdom away from Solomon's son and will give you ten tribes,
36
but I will let Solomon's son keep one tribe, so that I will always have a descendant of my servant David ruling in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen as the place where I am worshiped.
37
Jeroboam, I will make you king of Israel, and you will rule over all the territory that you want.
38
If you obey me completely, live by my laws, and win my approval by doing what I command, as my servant David did, I will always be with you. I will make you king of Israel and will make sure that your descendants rule after you, just as I have done for David.
39
Because of Solomon's sin I will punish the descendants of David, but not for all time.' "
40
And so Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but he escaped to King Shishak of Egypt and stayed there until Solomon's death.
41
Everything else that Solomon did, his career, and his wisdom, are all recorded in The History of Solomon.
42
He was king in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years.
43
He died and was buried in David's City, and his son Rehoboam succeeded him as king.
1
The queen of Sheba heard of King Solomon's fame, and she traveled to Jerusalem to test him with difficult questions. She brought with her a large group of attendants, as well as camels loaded with spices, jewels, and a large amount of gold. When she and Solomon met, she asked him all the questions that she could think of.
2
He answered them all; there was nothing too difficult for him to explain.
3
The queen of Sheba heard Solomon's wisdom and saw the palace he had built.
4
She saw the food that was served at his table, the living quarters for his officials, the organization of his palace staff and the uniforms they wore, the clothing of the servants who waited on him at feasts, and the sacrifices he offered in the Temple. It left her breathless and amazed.
5
She said to the king, "What I heard in my own country about you and your wisdom is true!
6
I did not believe what they told me until I came and saw for myself. I had not heard of even half your wisdom. You are even wiser than people say.
7
How fortunate are those who serve you, who are always in your presence and are privileged to hear your wise sayings!
8
Praise the LORD your God! He has shown how pleased he is with you by making you king, to rule in his name. Because he loves his people Israel and wants to preserve them forever, he has made you their king so that you can maintain law and justice."
9
She presented to King Solomon the gifts she had brought: almost five tons of gold and a very large amount of spices and jewels. There have never been any other spices as fine as those that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
10
(The sailors of King Hiram and of King Solomon who brought gold from Ophir also brought juniper wood and jewels.
11
Solomon used the wood to make stairs for the Temple and for his palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. Nothing like that had ever been seen before in the land of Judah.)
12
King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she asked for. This was in addition to what he gave her in exchange for the gifts she brought to him. Then she and her attendants returned to the land of Sheba.
13
Every year King Solomon received over twenty-five tons of gold,
14
in addition to the taxes paid by the traders and merchants. The kings of Arabia and the governors of the Israelite districts also brought him silver and gold.
15
Solomon made two hundred large shields, each of which was covered with about fifteen pounds of beaten gold,
16
and three hundred smaller shields, each covered with about eight pounds of beaten gold. He had them all placed in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon.
17
The king also had a large throne made. Part of it was covered with ivory and the rest of it was covered with pure gold.
18
Six steps led up to the throne, and there was a footstool attached to it, covered with gold. There were arms on each side of the throne, and the figure of a lion stood at each side.
19
Twelve figures of lions were on the steps, one at either end of each step. No throne like this had ever existed in any other kingdom.
20
All of King Solomon's drinking cups were made of gold, and all the utensils in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. Silver was not considered valuable in Solomon's day.
21
He had a fleet of ocean-going ships sailing with King Hiram's fleet. Every three years his fleet would return, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys.
22
King Solomon was richer and wiser than any other king in the world.
23
They all consulted him, to hear the wisdom that God had given him.
24
Each of them brought Solomon gifts---articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons, spices, horses, and mules. This continued year after year.
25
King Solomon also had four thousand stalls for his chariots and horses, and had twelve thousand cavalry horses. Some of them he kept in Jerusalem and the rest he stationed in various other cities.
26
He was supreme ruler of all the kings in the territory from the Euphrates River to Philistia and the Egyptian border.
27
During his reign silver was as common in Jerusalem as stone, and cedar was as plentiful as ordinary sycamore in the foothills of Judah.
28
Solomon imported horses from Musri and from every other country.
29
The rest of the history of Solomon from beginning to end is recorded in The History of Nathan the Prophet,in The Prophecy of Ahijah of Shiloh,and in The Visions of Iddo the Prophet,which also deal with the reign of King Jeroboam of Israel.
30
Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years.
31
He died and was buried in David's City, and his son Rehoboam succeeded him as king.
1
What shall we say, then? Should we continue to live in sin so that God's grace will increase?
2
Certainly not! We have died to sin---how then can we go on living in it?
3
For surely you know that when we were baptized into union with Christ Jesus, we were baptized into union with his death.
4
By our baptism, then, we were buried with him and shared his death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from death by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might live a new life.
5
For since we have become one with him in dying as he did, in the same way we shall be one with him by being raised to life as he was.
6
And we know that our old being has been put to death with Christ on his cross, in order that the power of the sinful self might be destroyed, so that we should no longer be the slaves of sin.
7
For when we die, we are set free from the power of sin.
8
Since we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
9
For we know that Christ has been raised from death and will never die again---death will no longer rule over him.
10
And so, because he died, sin has no power over him; and now he lives his life in fellowship with God.
11
In the same way you are to think of yourselves as dead, so far as sin is concerned, but living in fellowship with God through Christ Jesus.
12
Sin must no longer rule in your mortal bodies, so that you obey the desires of your natural self.
13
Nor must you surrender any part of yourselves to sin to be used for wicked purposes. Instead, give yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life, and surrender your whole being to him to be used for righteous purposes.
14
Sin must not be your master; for you do not live under law but under God's grace.
15
What, then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law but under God's grace? By no means!
16
Surely you know that when you surrender yourselves as slaves to obey someone, you are in fact the slaves of the master you obey---either of sin, which results in death, or of obedience, which results in being put right with God.
17
But thanks be to God! For though at one time you were slaves to sin, you have obeyed with all your heart the truths found in the teaching you received.
18
You were set free from sin and became the slaves of righteousness.
19
(I use everyday language because of the weakness of your natural selves.) At one time you surrendered yourselves entirely as slaves to impurity and wickedness for wicked purposes. In the same way you must now surrender yourselves entirely as slaves of righteousness for holy purposes.
20
When you were the slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness.
21
What did you gain from doing the things that you are now ashamed of ? The result of those things is death!
22
But now you have been set free from sin and are the slaves of God. Your gain is a life fully dedicated to him, and the result is eternal life.
23
For sin pays its wage---death; but God's free gift is eternal life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.
