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The queen of Sheba heard about how famous Solomon was. So she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. She arrived with a very large group of attendants. Her camels were carrying spices, huge amounts of gold, and valuable jewels. She came to Solomon and asked him about everything she wanted to know. 2 He answered all her questions. There wasn't anything too hard for him to explain to her. 3 So the queen of Sheba saw how wise Solomon was. She saw the palace he had built. 4 She saw the food on his table. She saw his officials sitting there. She saw the robes of the servants who waited on everyone. She saw the robes the wine tasters were wearing. And she saw the burnt offerings Solomon sacrificed at the Lord's temple. She could hardly believe everything she had seen. 5 She said to the king, ‘Back in my own country I heard a report about you. I heard about how much you had accomplished. I also heard about how wise you are. Everything I heard is true. 6 But I didn't believe what people were saying. So I came to see for myself. And now I believe it! You are twice as wise as people say you are. The report I heard doesn't even begin to tell the whole story about you. 7 How happy your people must be! How happy your officials must be! They always get to serve you and hear the wise things you say. 8 May the Lord your God be praised. He takes great delight in you. He placed you on his throne as king. He put you there to rule for him. Your God loves Israel very much. He longs to take good care of them for ever. That's why he has made you king over them. He knows that you will do what is fair and right.’
9 She gave the king 4.5 tonnes of gold. She also gave him huge amounts of spices and valuable jewels. There had never been as many spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
10 The servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon brought gold from Ophir. They also brought algumwood and valuable jewels. 11 The king used the algumwood to make steps for the Lord's temple and the royal palace. He also used it to make harps and lyres for those who played the music. No one had ever seen anything like those instruments in Judah before.
12 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she wanted and asked for. In fact, he gave her more than she had brought to him. Then she left. She returned to her own country with her attendants.
13 Each year Solomon received 24 tonnes of gold. 14 That didn't include the money brought in by business and trade. All the kings of Arabia also brought gold and silver to Solomon. So did the governors of the territories.
15 King Solomon made 200 large shields out of hammered gold. Each one weighed 7 kilograms. 16 He also made 300 small shields out of hammered gold. Each one weighed almost 4 kilograms. The king put all the shields in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
17 Then he made a large throne. It was covered with ivory. And that was covered with pure gold. 18 The throne had six steps. A gold stool for the king's feet was connected to it. The throne had armrests on both sides of the seat. A statue of a lion stood on each side of the throne. 19 Twelve lions stood on the six steps. There was one at each end of each step. Nothing like that throne had ever been made for any other kingdom. 20 All of King Solomon's cups were made out of gold. All the things used in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were made out of pure gold. Nothing was made out of silver. When Solomon was king, silver wasn't considered to be worth very much. 21 He had many ships that carried goods to be traded. The crews of those ships were made up of Hiram's servants. Once every three years the ships returned. They brought gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks.
22 King Solomon was richer than all the other kings on earth. He was also wiser than they were. 23 All these kings wanted to meet Solomon in person. They wanted to see for themselves how wise God had made him. 24 Year after year, everyone who came to him brought a gift. They brought gifts made out of silver and gold. They brought robes, weapons and spices. They also brought horses and mules.
25 Solomon had 4,000 spaces where he kept his horses and chariots. He had 12,000 horses. He kept some of his horses and chariots in the chariot cities. He kept the others with him in Jerusalem. 26 Solomon ruled over all the kings from the River Euphrates to the land of the Philistines. He ruled all the way to the border of Egypt. 27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones. He made cedar wood as common there as sycamore-fig trees in the western hills. 28 Solomon got horses from Egypt. He also got them from many other countries.
29 The other events of Solomon's rule from beginning to end are written down. They are written in the records of Nathan the prophet. They are written in the prophecy of Ahijah. He was from Shiloh. They are also written in the records of the visions of Iddo the prophet about Jeroboam. Jeroboam was the son of Nebat. 30 Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over the whole nation of Israel for 40 years. 31 Then he joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried in the city of his father David. Solomon's son Rehoboam became the next king after him.
1:1–9:31 2 Chronicles continues the story of Israel recorded in 1 Chronicles. Solomon became king after David. In 2 Chronicles the stories about Solomon tell only of his faithfulness to God. They don't describe the times when he was unfaithful and worshipped false gods. Those stories are recorded in 2 Kings. 2 Chronicles shows how Solomon followed David's example. He followed David's instructions about the work of the priests and Levites. And he followed David's instructions about building the temple on Mount Moriah. Solomon recognised that the temple was nothing more than a building. It was a place where the Israelites could offer sacrifices to God. God is so great that no place on earth or heaven can hold him. Yet the temple was the place where God chose to put his name. God had talked about a special place for his name in Deuteronomy chapters 12 to 14. God putting his name somewhere was a sign. It was a sign that people could be aware of his presence in a special way. Solomon gave the Israelites an example of how to pray to God. He used his body and his words as he prayed. Solomon was on his knees and lifted his hands towards heaven. This was how he showed that he was humble and that he worshipped God. It showed that he needed God's help and that he trusted God to answer him. Solomon understood that God knew what was in his heart. God answered by sending fire from heaven to the altar. This showed that God paid attention to Solomon's prayer. God promised that his name, his eyes and his heart would always be at the temple. This meant that he would always listen to his people and help them. He would do this if they were humble and prayed. God would do this if they turned away from doing evil and depended on him. When the people saw the fire, they worshipped God and thanked him. They understood that the fire was a sign of his faithful love for them. Even an outsider like the queen of Sheba recognised that God loved Israel. God wanted to take good care of his people. He planned to do this through wise kings from David's family line. That was part of God's covenant with David. The kings were to worship God faithfully and do what was fair and right.