The Bible in Basic English BBE
Orthodox Jewish Bible OJB
1 Now the queen of Sheba, hearing great things of Solomon, came to put his wisdom to the test with hard questions.
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0 And when the Malkah (Queen) of Sheva heard of the fame of Sh’lomo, that it was for the Shem Hashem, then she came to test him with chidot (hard questions, riddles).
2 And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels weighted down with spices, and stores of gold and jewels: and when she came to Solomon she had talk with him of everything in her mind.
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And she came to Yerushalayim with a very great caravan, with gemalim that bore spices, and very much zahav, and precious gems; and when she was come to Sh’lomo, she spoke intimately with him of all that was on her lev.
3 And Solomon gave her answers to all her questions; there was no secret which the king did not make clear to her.
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And Sh’lomo answered her regarding all her questions; there was not anything hid from HaMelech, which he told her not.
4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he had made,
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And when the Malkah of Sheva had seen kol chochmat Sh’lomo, and the Bais (Palace) that he had built,
5 And the food at his table, and all his servants seated there, and those who were waiting on him in their places, and their robes, and his wine-servants, and the burned offerings which he made in the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her.
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And the ma’akhal (food) of his shulchan, and the moshav (seating) of his avadim (officials), and the ma’amad (station) of his attendants, and their robes, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the Beis Hashem; there was no more ruach (breath) in her.
6 And she said to the king, The account which was given to me in my country of your acts and your wisdom was true.
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And she said to HaMelech, It was emes the report that I heard in mine own eretz of thy devarim and of thy chochmah.
7 But I had no faith in what was said about you, till I came and saw for myself; and now I see that it was not half the story; your wisdom and your wealth are much greater than they said.
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Howbeit I believed not the devarim, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it; and, hinei, the half was not told me; thy chochmah and tov (prosperity) exceedeth the fame which I heard.
8 Happy are your wives, happy are these your servants whose place is ever before you, hearing your words of wisdom.
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Ashrei are thy anashim; ashrei are these thy avadim, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy chochmah.
9 May the Lord your God be praised, whose pleasure it was to put you on the seat of the kingdom of Israel; because the Lord's love for Israel is eternal, he has made you king, to be their judge in righteousness.
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Yehi Hashem Eloheicha baruch Who delighted in thee, to set thee on the Kisse Yisroel; because Hashem loved Yisroel l’olam, therefore made He thee Melech, to do mishpat and tzedakah.
10 And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a great store of spices and jewels: never again was such a wealth of spices seen as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.
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And she gave HaMelech a hundred and twenty talents of zahav, and a very large store of spices and precious gems; there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the Malkah of Sheva gave to Melech Sh’lomo.
11 And the sea-force of Hiram, in addition to gold from Ophir, came back with much sandal-wood and jewels.
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And the fleet of oniyyot also of Chiram, that brought zahav from Ophir, brought in from Ophir a vast supply of almug wood, and precious gems.
12 And from the sandal-wood the king made pillars for the house of the Lord, and for the king's house, and instruments of music for the makers of melody: never has such sandal-wood been seen to this day.
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And HaMelech made of the almug wood misad (steps, support) for the Beis Hashem, and for the Bais HaMelech, kinnorot (harps) also and nevalim (lyres) for the singers; there came no such almug wood, nor were seen unto this day.
13 And King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she made request for, in addition to what he gave her freely from the impulse of his heart. So she went back to her country, she and her servants.
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And HaMelech Sh’lomo gave unto the Malkah of Sheva all her desire, whatsoever she asked, besides that which Sh’lomo gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her avadim.
14 Now the weight of gold which came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents;
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Now the weight of zahav that came to Sh’lomo in one year was 666 talents of zahav,
15 In addition to what came to him from the business of the traders, and from all the kings of the Arabians, and from the rulers of the country.
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This was in addition to what he had of the anashei hatarim (merchants), and of the income of traders, and of all the Melachim of Arabia, and of the Governors of the land.
16 And Solomon made two hundred body-covers of hammered gold, every one having six hundred shekels of gold in it.
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And HaMelech Sh’lomo made two hundred large shields of hammered zahav; six hundred shekels of zahav went to one shield.
17 And he made three hundred smaller body-covers of hammered gold, with three pounds of gold in every cover: and the king put them in the house of the Woods of Lebanon.
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And he made three hundred moginim of hammered zahav; three mina of zahav went to one mogen (shield); and HaMelech put them in the Bais Ya’ar HaLevanon.
18 Then the king made a great ivory seat, plated with the best gold.
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Moreover HaMelech made a kisse shen gadol (great throne of ivory), and overlaid it with the finest, brightest zahav.
19 There were six steps going up to it, and the top of it was round at the back, there were arms on the two sides of the seat, and two lions by the side of the arms;
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The kisse had shesh ma’alot (six steps), and the top of the kisse was rounded; and there were armrests on either side on the makom (place) of the seat, and two arayot (lions) stood beside the armrests.
20 And twelve lions were placed on the one side and on the other side on the six steps: there was nothing like it in any kingdom.
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And twelve arayim (lions) stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps; there was not the like made in any mamlakhot (kingdoms).
21 And all King Solomon's drinking-vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the Woods of Lebanon were of the best gold; not one was of silver, for no one gave a thought to silver in the days of King Solomon.
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And all HaMelech Sh’lomo’s kelei mashkeh (drinking vessels) were of zahav, and all the vessels of the Bais Ya’ar HaLevanon were of pure zahav; none were of kesef; it was nothing accounted of in the days of Sh’lomo.
22 For the king had Tarshish-ships at sea with the ships of Hiram; once every three years the Tarshish-ships came with gold and silver and ivory and monkeys and peacocks.
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For HaMelech had at sea a fleet of oniyyot Tarshish with the fleet of oniyyot of Chiram; once in shalosh shanim came the fleet of oniyyot Tarshish, bringing zahav, and kesef, ivory, and monkeys, and peacocks.
23 And King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and in wisdom.
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So HaMelech Sh’lomo exceeded all the Melachim of Ha’Aretz in osher and in chochmah.
24 And from all over the earth they came to see Solomon and to give ear to his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.
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And kol Ha’Aretz sought the face of Sh’lomo, to hear his chochmah, which Elohim had put in his lev.
25 And everyone took with him an offering, vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and robes, and coats of metal, and spices, and horses, and beasts of transport, regularly year by year.
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They brought every ish his minchah, vessels of kesef, vessels of zahav, and robes, and weapons, and spices, susim, and peradim (mules), yearly at each year’s due.
26 And Solomon got together war-carriages and horsemen; he had one thousand, four hundred carriages and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he kept, some in the carriage-towns and some with the king at Jerusalem.
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And Sh’lomo gathered together merkavot and parashim; and he had a thousand and four hundred merkavot, and twelve thousand parashim, whom he kept in his chariot cities and with HaMelech in Yerushalayim.
27 And the king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem and cedars like the sycamore-trees of the lowlands in number.
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And HaMelech made kesef to be in Yerushalayim like avanim (rocks), and cedars made he to be like sycamores in the Shefelah, for abundance.
28 And Solomon's horses came from Egypt and from Kue; the king's traders got them at a price from Kue.
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And Sh’lomo had susim brought out of Mitzrayim, and from Keveh; HaMelech’s agents acquired from Kevah at a price.
29 A war-carriage might be got from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty; they got them at the same rate for all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.
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And a merkavah (chariot) went out of Mitzrayim for six hundred pieces of kesef, and a sus for a hundred and fifty; and so for all the melachim of the Chittim (Hittites), and for the melachim of Aram, did they [HaMelech’s agents] export them by the same means.
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The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.