Parallel Bible results for "2 chronicles 9"

2 Chronicles 9

The Bible in Basic English BBE

1 Now the queen of Sheba, hearing great things of Solomon, came to Jerusalem to put his wisdom to the test with hard questions; and with her came a very great train, and camels weighted down with spices, and great stores of gold and jewels: and when she came to Solomon she had talk with him of everything in her mind.

2 And Solomon gave her answers to all her questions; there was no secret which he did not make clear to her.

3 And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he had made,

4 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 their robes, and the burned offerings which he made in the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her.

5 And she said to the king, The account which was given to me in my country of your acts and your wisdom was true.

6 But I had no faith in what was said about you, till I came and saw for myself; and truly, word was not given me of half your great wisdom; you are much greater than they said.

7 Happy are your wives and happy these your servants whose place is ever before you, hearing your words of wisdom.

8 Praise be to the Lord your God whose pleasure it was to put you on the seat of his kingdom to be king for the Lord your God: because, in his love for Israel, it was the purpose of your God to make them strong for ever, he made you king over them, to be their judge in righteousness.

9 And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a great store of spices and jewels: never had such spices been seen as the queen of Sheba gave to Solomon.

10 And the servants of Huram and the servants of Solomon, in addition to gold from Ophir, came back with sandal-wood and jewels.

11 And with the sandal-wood the king made steps for the house of the Lord and for the king's house, and instruments of music for the makers of melody; never before had such been seen in the land of Judah.

12 And King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she made request for, in addition to what she had taken to the king. So she went back to her country with her servants.

13 Now the weight of gold which came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents;

14 And in addition to what he got from traders of different sorts, all the kings of Arabia and the rulers of the country gave gold and silver to Solomon.

15 And King Solomon made two hundred body-covers of hammered gold, every one having six hundred shekels of gold in it.

16 And he made three hundred smaller body-covers of hammered gold, using three hundred shekels of gold for every cover, and the king put them in the house of the Woods of Lebanon.

17 Then the king made a great ivory seat, plated with the best gold.

18 There were six steps up to it, and a foot-rest of gold fixed to it, and arms on the two sides of the seat, with two lions at the side of the arms.

19 And twelve lions were placed on one side and on the other side on the six steps: there was nothing like it in any kingdom.

20 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: no one gave a thought to silver in the days of Solomon.

21 For the king had Tarshish-ships sailing with the servants of Huram: once every three years the Tarshish-ships came back with gold and silver, ivory and monkeys and peacocks.

22 And King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and in wisdom.

23 And all the kings of the earth came to see Solomon and to give ear to his wisdom, which God had put into his heart.

24 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 for transport, regularly year by year.

25 Solomon had four thousand buildings for his horses and his war-carriages, and twelve thousand horsemen whom he kept, some in the carriage-towns and some with the king in Jerusalem.

26 And he was ruler over all the kings from the River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the limit of Egypt.

27 The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem and cedars like the sycamore-trees of the lowlands in number.

28 They got horses for Solomon from Egypt and from every land.

29 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not recorded in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the words of Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh, and in the visions of Iddo the seer about Jeroboam, the son of Nebat?

30 Solomon was king over Israel in Jerusalem for forty years.

31 And Solomon went to rest with his fathers, and was put into the earth in the town of David his father; and Rehoboam his son became king in his place.

Good News Translation GNT

1 The queen of Sheba heard of King Solomon's fame, and she traveled to Jerusalem to test him with difficult questions. She brought with her a large group of attendants, as well as camels loaded with spices, jewels, and a large amount of gold. When she and Solomon met, she asked him all the questions that she could think of.

2 He answered them all; there was nothing too difficult for him to explain.

3 The queen of Sheba heard Solomon's wisdom and saw the palace he had built.

4 She saw the food that was served at his table, the living quarters for his officials, the organization of his palace staff and the uniforms they wore, the clothing of the servants who waited on him at feasts, and the sacrifices he offered in the Temple. It left her breathless and amazed.

5 She said to the king, "What I heard in my own country about you and your wisdom is true!

6 I did not believe what they told me until I came and saw for myself. I had not heard of even half your wisdom. You are even wiser than people say.

7 How fortunate are those who serve you, who are always in your presence and are privileged to hear your wise sayings!

8 Praise the Lord your God! He has shown how pleased he is with you by making you king, to rule in his name. Because he loves his people Israel and wants to preserve them forever, he has made you their king so that you can maintain law and justice."

9 She presented to King Solomon the gifts she had brought: almost five tons of gold and a very large amount of spices and jewels. There have never been any other spices as fine as those that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

10 (The sailors of King Hiram and of King Solomon who brought gold from Ophir also brought juniper wood and jewels.

11 Solomon used the wood to make stairs for the Temple and for his palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. Nothing like that had ever been seen before in the land of Judah.)

12 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she asked for. This was in addition to what he gave her in exchange for the gifts she brought to him. Then she and her attendants returned to the land of Sheba.

13 Every year King Solomon received over twenty-five tons of gold,

14 in addition to the taxes paid by the traders and merchants. The kings of Arabia and the governors of the Israelite districts also brought him silver and gold.

15 Solomon made two hundred large shields, each of which was covered with about fifteen pounds of beaten gold,

16 and three hundred smaller shields, each covered with about eight pounds of beaten gold. He had them all placed in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon.

17 The king also had a large throne made. Part of it was covered with ivory and the rest of it was covered with pure gold.

18 Six steps led up to the throne, and there was a footstool attached to it, covered with gold. There were arms on each side of the throne, and the figure of a lion stood at each side.

19 Twelve figures of lions were on the steps, one at either end of each step. No throne like this had ever existed in any other kingdom.

20 All of King Solomon's drinking cups were made of gold, and all the utensils in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. Silver was not considered valuable in Solomon's day.

21 He had a fleet of ocean-going ships sailing with King Hiram's fleet. Every three years his fleet would return, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys.

22 King Solomon was richer and wiser than any other king in the world.

23 They all consulted him, to hear the wisdom that God had given him.

24 Each of them brought Solomon gifts - articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons, spices, horses, and mules. This continued year after year.

25 King Solomon also had four thousand stalls for his chariots and horses, and had twelve thousand cavalry horses. Some of them he kept in Jerusalem and the rest he stationed in various other cities.

26 He was supreme ruler of all the kings in the territory from the Euphrates River to Philistia and the Egyptian border.

27 During his reign silver was as common in Jerusalem as stone, and cedar was as plentiful as ordinary sycamore in the foothills of Judah.

28 Solomon imported horses from Musri and from every other country.

29 The rest of the history of Solomon from beginning to end is recorded in [The History of Nathan the Prophet,] in [The Prophecy of Ahijah of Shiloh,] and in [The Visions of Iddo the Prophet,] which also deal with the reign of King Jeroboam of Israel.

30 Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years.

31 He died and was buried in David's City, and his son Rehoboam succeeded him as king.