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1 Kings 10:14-29
Contemporary English Version
1 Kings 10:14-29
Contemporary English Version
14 Solomon received almost 23 tons of gold a year. 15 The merchants and traders, as well as the kings of Arabia and rulers from Israel, also gave him gold.
16 Solomon made 200 gold shields and used almost seven kilograms of gold for each one. 17 He also made 300 smaller gold shields, using almost two kilograms for each one, and he put the shields in his palace in Forest Hall.
18 His throne was made of ivory and covered with pure gold. 19-20 The back of the throne was rounded at the top, and it had armrests on each side. There was a statue of a lion on both sides of the throne, and there was a statue of a lion at both ends of each of the six steps leading up to the throne. No other throne in the world was like Solomon's.
21 Since silver was almost worthless in those days, everything was made of gold, even the cups and dishes used in Forest Hall.
22 Solomon had a lot of seagoing ships.[a] Every three years he sent them out with Hiram's ships to bring back gold, silver, and ivory, as well as monkeys and peacocks.[b]
23 He was the richest and wisest king in the world. 24 People from every nation wanted to hear the wisdom God had given him. 25 Year after year people came and brought gifts of silver and gold, as well as clothes, weapons, spices, horses, or mules.
26 (A) Solomon had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses that he kept in Jerusalem and other towns.
27 (B) While he was king, there was silver everywhere in Jerusalem, and cedar was as common as ordinary sycamore trees in the foothills.
28-29 (C) Solomon's merchants bought his horses and chariots in the regions of Musri and Kue.[c] They paid 600 pieces of silver for a chariot and 150 pieces of silver for a horse. They also sold horses and chariots to the Hittite and Syrian kings.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 10.22 seagoing ships: The Hebrew text has “ships of Tarshish,” which may have been a Phoenician city in Spain. “Ships of Tarshish” probably means large, seagoing ships.
- 10.22 peacocks: Or “baboons.”
- 10.28,29 Musri and Kue: Hebrew “Egypt and Kue.” Musri and Kue were regions located in what is today southeast Turkey.
1 Kings 10:14-29
New International Version
1 Kings 10:14-29
New International Version
Solomon’s Splendor(A)
14 The weight of the gold(B) that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,[a] 15 not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the territories.
16 King Solomon made two hundred large shields(C) of hammered gold; six hundred shekels[b] of gold went into each shield. 17 He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three minas[c] of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.(D)
18 Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. 19 The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. 20 Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. 21 All King Solomon’s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold.(E) Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon’s days. 22 The king had a fleet of trading ships[d](F) at sea along with the ships(G) of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.
23 King Solomon was greater in riches(H) and wisdom(I) than all the other kings of the earth. 24 The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom(J) God had put in his heart. 25 Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift(K)—articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.
26 Solomon accumulated chariots and horses;(L) he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses,[e] which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. 27 The king made silver as common(M) in Jerusalem as stones,(N) and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig(O) trees in the foothills. 28 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue[f]—the royal merchants purchased them from Kue at the current price. 29 They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty.[g] They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites(P) and of the Arameans.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 10:14 That is, about 25 tons or about 23 metric tons
- 1 Kings 10:16 That is, about 15 pounds or about 6.9 kilograms; also in verse 29
- 1 Kings 10:17 That is, about 3 3/4 pounds or about 1.7 kilograms; or perhaps reference is to double minas, that is, about 7 1/2 pounds or about 3.5 kilograms.
- 1 Kings 10:22 Hebrew of ships of Tarshish
- 1 Kings 10:26 Or charioteers
- 1 Kings 10:28 Probably Cilicia
- 1 Kings 10:29 That is, about 3 3/4 pounds or about 1.7 kilograms
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