2 Chronicles 9-10

Easy-to-Read Version

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon

9 The queen of Sheba heard about Solomon, so she came to test him with hard questions. She had a very large group with her. She had camels that carried spices, much gold, and valuable stones. She traveled to Jerusalem with a very large group of servants. There were many camels carrying spices, jewels, and a lot of gold. She met Solomon and asked him all the questions that she could think of. ² Solomon answered all the questions. None of her questions was too hard for him to explain. ³ The queen of Sheba saw that Solomon was very wise. She also saw the beautiful palace he had built. ⁴ She 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 they wore. She saw his parties and the sacrifices that he offered in the Lord’s Temple. She was so amazed, she could hardly breathe!

⁵ Then she said to King Solomon, “The stories I heard in my country about your great works and your wisdom are true. ⁶ 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. ⁷ Your wives^[a] and officers are very fortunate! They can serve you and hear your wisdom every day. ⁸ 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.”

⁹ Then the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon 4 1/2 tons^[b] of gold, a huge amount of spices, and precious stones. She gave Solomon more spices than anyone has ever brought into Israel.

¹⁰ Hiram’s servants brought gold from Ophir. They also brought in jewels and a special kind of wood.^{[c] 11} King Solomon used this special wood to make steps for the Lord’s Temple and the king’s palace. Solomon also used the algum wood to make lyres and harps for the singers. No one ever saw such beautiful things like those made from the algum wood in the country of Judah.

¹² King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she asked for. He gave her more than she brought to give him. Then the queen of Sheba and her servants left and went back to their own country.

Solomon’s Great Wealth

¹³ Every year Solomon got almost 25 tons^[d] of gold. ¹⁴ In addition to the gold brought in by the traveling merchants and traders, all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land also brought gold and silver to Solomon.

¹⁵ King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold. He used about 15 pounds^[e] of gold for each shield. ¹⁶ He also made 300 smaller shields of hammered gold. He used about 7 1/2 pounds^[f] of gold for each shield. The king put them in the Forest-of-Lebanon House.^[g]

¹⁷ King Solomon also built a large throne with ivory decorations. It was covered with pure gold. ¹⁸ 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 throne, and there were lions in the sides of the throne under the armrests. ¹⁹ There were also two lions on each of the six steps, one at each end. There was nothing like it in any other kingdom.

²⁰ All of Solomon’s cups and glasses were made of gold. And all the dishes^[h] 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!

²¹ The king also had cargo ships that went to Tarshish to trade things with other countries. Hiram’s men were on these ships. Every three years the ships would come back with a new load of gold, silver, ivory, and apes and baboons.

²² King Solomon became greater in riches and wisdom than any other king on earth. ²³ People everywhere wanted to see King Solomon. They wanted to hear the great wisdom that God had given him. ²⁴ Every year people came to see the king, and everyone brought a gift. They brought things made from gold and silver, clothes, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.

²⁵ Solomon had 4000 stalls to keep horses and chariots. He had 12,000 horse soldiers. Solomon built special cities for these chariots. So the chariots were kept in these cities. King Solomon also kept some of the chariots with him in Jerusalem. ²⁶ Solomon was the king over all the kings from the Euphrates River all the way to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt. ²⁷ King Solomon had so much silver that it was as common as rocks in Jerusalem. And he had so much cedar wood that it was as common as sycamore trees in the hill country. ²⁸ The people brought horses to Solomon from Egypt and from all the other countries.

Solomon’s Death

²⁹ Everything else Solomon did, from the beginning to the end, is written in the writings of Nathan the Prophet, in The Prophecy of Ahijah from Shiloh, and in The Visions of Iddo the Seer. Iddo was a seer who wrote about Jeroboam son of Nebat. ³⁰ Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for 40 years. ³¹ Then he died^[i] and was buried in the city of David, his father. Then Solomon’s son Rehoboam became the next king.

Rehoboam Acts Foolishly

10 Jeroboam son of Nebat was still in Egypt where he had run away from Solomon. When he heard about Solomon’s death, he returned to his city, Zeredah, in the hills of Ephraim.

Rehoboam and all the Israelites went to Shechem to make Rehoboam the king. The people said to Rehoboam, ⁴ “Your father forced us to work very hard. Now, make it easier for us. Stop the heavy work that your father forced us to do and we will serve you.”

⁵ Rehoboam answered, “Come back to me in three days, and I will answer you.” So the people left.

⁶ There were some older men who had helped Solomon make decisions when he was alive. So King Rehoboam asked these men what he should do. He said, “How do you think I should answer the people?”

⁷ They answered, “If you do what is good for the people, you will please them. If you speak kindly to them, they will always work for you.”

⁸ But Rehoboam did not listen to the advice from the older men. He asked the young men who were his friends. ⁹ Rehoboam said, “The people said, ‘Give us easier work than your father gave us.’ How do you think I should answer them? What should I tell them?”

¹⁰ Then the young men who grew up with him answered, “Those people came to you and said, ‘Your father forced us to work very hard. Now make our work easier.’ So you should tell them, ‘My little finger is stronger than my father’s whole body. ¹¹ My father forced you to work hard, but I will make you work much harder! My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with whips that have sharp metal tips.’”

¹² Three days later, Jeroboam and all the people came back to Rehoboam, just as he had told them to do. ¹³ King Rehoboam did not listen to the advice from the older men, and he was rude to the people. ¹⁴ He did what his friends told him to do and said, “My father forced you to work hard, but I will make you work much harder! My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with whips that have sharp metal tips.” ¹⁵ So the king did not do what the people wanted. The Lord caused this to happen. He did this in order to keep the promise he made to Jeroboam son of Nebat when he sent Ahijah, the prophet from Shiloh, to speak to him.

¹⁶ The Israelites saw that the new king refused to listen to them, so they said to him,

So the Israelites went home. ¹⁷ But Rehoboam still ruled over the Israelites who lived in the cities of Judah.

¹⁸ A man named Adoniram was one of the men who directed the workers. King Rehoboam sent Adoniram to talk to the people, but the Israelites threw stones at him until he died. King Rehoboam ran to his chariot and escaped to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So Israel rebelled against the family of David, and that is how things are even today.