1 The queen of Sheba heard the report of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD {YHWH, Name-Exalted One}, and she came to test him with riddles {khidot: probing enigmas}.
2 She arrived in Jerusalem with a very great company {chayil: powerful retinue}; camels were bearing spices, very much gold, and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart {levavah: inner self}.
3 And Shelomoh {shelomoh: Wise King} explained all her matters to her; there was nothing hidden from the king {hamelech: Sovereign Ruler} that he did not make known to her.
4 When the queen of Sheba looked upon all the wisdom {chokhmah: strategic insight} of Solomon and the house {bayit: royal residence} which he had constructed.
5 The food of his table, the seating of his servants, the standing of his service staff and his attendants, their garments, his cupbearers, and his burnt offering {olah: whole offering} that he offered up at the house of the LORD {YHWH, Worship-Receiving King}; and there was no longer any spirit in her.
6 And she said to the king, “The report {davar: communicated message} that I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom is true {emet: factual certainty}.”
7 But I did not trust the words{devarim: spoken claims} until I came and my eyes had seen; and look{hinneh: sudden realization}, not even half was told to me. You have added wisdom and goodness beyond the report that I heard.
8 How blessed {ashrei: fortunate ones} are your men! How blessed are these servants of yours, who remain standing before you continually, hearing your wisdom {chokhmah: divinely inspired insight}.
9 Blessed be the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheikha, Royal Enthroner}, who delighted in you to place you upon the throne of Israel; because the LORD loves Israel forever, He appointed you as king to do justice {mishpat: legal judgment} and righteousness.
10 Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents {kikkar: large weight unit} of gold, and spices in very great abundance, and precious stones. Such a quantity of spices was not seen again, as the Queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon {shelomoh: peaceful name}.
11 Moreover, Hiram’s vessels {oni: collective trading vessels} that had carried gold from Ophir brought from there an abundant supply of almug wood {almuggim: rare luxury timber} and precious stones.
12 And the king fashioned supports {misʿād: pillar or pedestal} from the almug wood for the house of the LORD {YHWH, Divine Sovereign} and for the king’s house, and he also made lyres and harps for the singers. Never has such almug wood been brought or seen since that time.
13 And King Solomon {Shelomoh: Wise Monarch} gave the queen of Sheba all her desire {cheftzah: chosen request}, whatever she asked, besides what he gave her out of his royal bounty. Then she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants.
14 Now the weight of the gold delivered to Solomon {Shlomo: peaceful one} within a single year was 666 talents {kikar: Hebrew weight unit} of gold.
15 This was apart from the revenues from the travelers {hattarim: caravan journeyers} and from the commerce of the merchants, and apart from all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land {pachot: district administrators}.
16 And King Solomon {shlomo: Peaceful Ruler} made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of gold {zahav: precious metal} went into each shield.
17 And the king made three hundred shields {maginim: protective equipment} of hammered gold—three minas of gold per shield—and placed them in the House {beit ya’ar ha-levanon: royal storehouse} of the Forest of Lebanon.
18 And the king made a great throne of ivory {shen: luxury material} and overlaid it with refined {muphaz: exceptionally pure} gold.
19 Six steps {maalot: ascending platforms} led to the throne, with a rounded top {rosh-‘agol: circular summit} behind it. Armrests flanked the seat, and two lions stood beside them.
20 And twelve lions{arayyim: powerful symbolic guardians} were standing there on the six steps{ma'alot: ceremonial ascent}, six on one side and six on the other; nothing like it had ever been made for any of the kingdoms.
21 And all the drinking vessels {mashkeh: ceremonial cups} of King Solomon were gold, and all the vessels of the Forest of Lebanon {beit-yaar: palace grove} were pure gold; there was no silver, for it was not considered for anything in the days of Solomon.
22 For the king had a Tarshish fleet on the sea with the fleet of Hiram; once every three years the Tarshish fleet would come, bearing gold, silver, ivory {shenhabim: tusk material}, and apes, and peacocks {tukiyyim: exotic fowl}.
23 And King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in wealth {osher: abundant fortune} and in wisdom {khokhmah: deep insight}.
24 All the earth sought Solomon’s presence to hear his wisdom, which God {Elohim, Wisdom Giver} had given in his heart {lev: seat of understanding}.
25 And they {hemah: visitors and traders} brought, year by year, each man his offering—vessels of silver, vessels of gold, garments, weaponry, spices, and horses and mules {peradim: beasts of burden}.
26 Solomon assembled chariots and horsemen, forming a force of 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen. He deployed them to the chariot cities {bearei-harekhev: garrison towns} and stationed some with the king in Jerusalem {yerushalayim: city of peace}.
27 And the king made the silver in Jerusalem as common as stones, and the cedars as plentiful as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland {shefela: western foothills} for abundance {rov: great quantity}.
28 Solomon’s horses originated {umotsa: starting point} in Egypt and in Kue; the king’s merchants procured them in Kue for a price {bimechir: standard payment}.
29 A chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred pieces of silver {kesef: traded currency}, and a horse for one hundred fifty; and in the same way for all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram—they brought them out by their own hand {yad: personal agency}.