Now the queen of Sheba had heard of the fame of Solomon regarding the name of Yahweh, and she came to test him with hard questions. So she came to Jerusalem with very great wealth; with camels carrying spices, very much gold, and precious stones. She came to Solomon, and she spoke to him all that was on her heart. Solomon answered all of her questions; there was not a thing hidden from the king which he could not explain to her. When the queen of Sheba observed all the wisdom of Solomon and the house which he had built, the food of his table, the seat of his servants, the manner of his servants and their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings which he offered in the house of Yahweh, she was breathless. Then she said to the king, "The report which I heard in my land was true concerning your accomplishments and your wisdom. I had not believed the report to be true until I came and my eyes had seen, and behold! The half had not been told to me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I had heard. Happy are your men and happy are these your servants who stand before you continually hearing your wisdom. May Yahweh your God be blessed, who has delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel, because of the love of Yahweh for Israel forever, and he has made you king to execute justice and righteousness." Then she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, abundant spices, and precious stones. Spices as these did not come again in such abundance as that which the queen of Sheba brought to King Solomon.

Moreover, the fleet of ships of Hiram which carried the gold from Ophir also brought from Ophir abundant amounts of almug wood and precious stones. The king made a raised structure for the house of Yahweh and for the house of the king out of the almug wood, as well as lyres and harps for the singers. This much almug wood has not come nor been seen again up to this day. King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all of her desire that she asked, besides that which King Solomon freely offered her. Then she turned and went to her land with her servants.

The weight of the gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, apart from that of the men of the traders and the profits of the traders, and all the kings of the Arabs and the governors of the land. King Solomon made two hundred shields of hammered gold; six hundred measures of gold went up over each shield. Also he made three hundred small shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went up over each of the small shields; and the king put them into the House of the Forest of Lebanon. The king also made a large ivory throne, and he overlaid it with fine gold. Six steps led up to the throne, and there was a circular top to the throne behind it, and armrests were on each side of the seat, with two lions standing beside the armrests. Twelve lions were standing there, six on each of the six steps on either side; nothing like this was made for any of the kingdoms. All of the drinking vessels of King Solomon were gold, and all the vessels for the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver; it was not considered as something valuable in the days of Solomon. For the fleet of Tarshish belonged to the king and was on the sea with the fleet of Hiram; once every three years the fleet of Tarshish used to come carrying gold and silver, ivory, apes, and baboons.

King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth with respect to wealth and wisdom. All of the earth was seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. They were each bringing his gift; objects of silver and objects of gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules. This used to happen year after year.

Solomon gathered chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses. He stationed them in the cities of the chariots and with the king in Jerusalem. The king made the silver in Jerusalem as the stones, and the cedars he made as the sycamore fig trees which are in the Shephelah in abundance. The import of the horses which were Solomon’s was from Egypt and from Kue; the traders of the king received horses from Kue at a price. A chariot went up and went out from Egypt at six hundred silver shekels and a horse at a hundred and fifty. So it was for all the kings of the Hittites and for the kings of Aram; by their hand they were exported.

King Solomon loved many foreign women: the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, Hittite; from the nations which Yahweh had said to the Israelites, "You shall not marry them, and they shall not marry you. They will certainly turn your heart after other gods." But Solomon clung to them to love. He had seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart.

It happened at the time of Solomon’s old age that his wives guided his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully with Yahweh his God as the heart of David his father had been. Solomon went after Ashtoreth the god of the Sidonians and after Molech the abhorrence of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of Yahweh and did not fully follow after Yahweh as David his father. At that time, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, on the mountain which faces Jerusalem and for Molech, the abomination of the Ammonites. Thus he did for all of his foreign wives, offering incense and sacrificing to their gods.

Yahweh was angry with Solomon, for he had turned his heart from Yahweh, the God of Israel who had appeared to him twice. And he had commanded him concerning this matter not to go after other gods, but he did not keep that which Yahweh commanded. So Yahweh said to Solomon, "Because this was with you, and you did not keep my covenant and my ordinances which I have commanded you, I will certainly tear the kingdom from you, and I will give it to your servant. However, I will not do it in your days, for the sake of David your father; from the hand of your son I will tear it away. Yet all of the kingdom I will not tear away. I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen."

Then Yahweh raised an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite, from the descendants of that king in Edom. It had happened that when David was at Edom, Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the slain, and he killed every male in Edom. For Joab and all Israel had stayed there six months until he exterminated every male in Edom. But Hadad himself had fled, and some Edomite men from the servants of his father with him, to go to Egypt, when Hadad was a young boy. They had set out from Midian until they came to Paran where they took men from Paran with them and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt. He gave to him a house and assigned food for him and gave him land. Hadad found great favor in the eyes of Pharaoh, and he gave him the sister of his wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen, as wife. The sister of Tahpenes bore Genubath his son for him, and Tahpenes weaned him in the middle of the house of Pharaoh. Genubath was in the house of Pharaoh in the midst of the children of Pharaoh. Now Hadad heard in Egypt that David had slept with his ancestors and that Joab the commander of the army was dead. Then Hadad said to Pharaoh, "Send me away that I may go to my land." Pharaoh said to him, "What do you lack with me that you now are seeking to go to your land?" He said, "No, but you must surely send me away."

God had also raised Rezon the son of Eliada as an adversary against him, who had fled from Hadadezer the king of Zobah, his master. He gathered men around him and he became the commander of bandits. When David killed some of them, they went to Damascus and settled there, and they reigned in Damascus. He was an adversary for Israel all the days of Solomon, and along with the evil that Hadad did, he detested Israel while he reigned over Aram.

Now Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite from Zeredah (now the name of his mother was Zeruah, a widow woman), a servant of Solomon rebelled against the king. This is the reason that he rebelled against the king: when Solomon built the Millo, he closed the gap of the city of David his father. Now the man Jeroboam was a man of ability, and Solomon saw that the young man was a diligent worker, so he appointed him over all of the forced labor for the house of Joseph. It happened at that time that Jeroboam went out from Jerusalem, and he accidentally met Ahijah the Shilonite the prophet on the way. Now he had clothed himself with new clothing. While the two of them were alone in the field, Ahijah took hold of the new cloak which was on him and tore it into twelve pieces. Then he said to Jeroboam, "Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and I will give to you ten tribes, but one tribe shall be for him, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel; because he has forsaken me, and they bowed down to Ashtoreth, the god of the Sidonians, to Chemosh, the god of Moab, and to Molech, the god of the Ammonites. They did not walk in my ways to do right in my eyes, my ordinances, or my judgments, as did David his father. But I will not take all of the kingdom from his hand, but I will make him a leader all the days of his life for the sake of David my servant whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my ordinances. But I will take the kingship from the hand of his son, and I will give ten tribes to you. To his son I will give one tribe in order to be a lamp for my servant David, always before my face, in Jerusalem the city in which I have chosen to place my name. You I will take, and you shall reign over all your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. It shall be that if you listen to all that I command you and you walk in my ways and you do right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, then I will be with you, and I will build an enduring house for you as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. I will punish the offspring of David on account of this; however, not always.’" Then Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam got up and fled to Egypt, to Shishak the king of Egypt, and he remained in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

Now the rest of the acts of Solomon and all that he did and his wisdom; are they not written on the scroll of the acts of Solomon? All the days that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all of Israel were forty years. Then Solomon slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the city of David his father, and Rehoboam his son became king in his place.

Now the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, and she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions, with much wealth and camels, bearing spices and much gold and precious stones. And she came to Solomon and told him all that was on her mind. And Solomon answered all her questions. Not a word was hidden from Solomon that he did not answer for her. When the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon and the house he had built, and the food of his table, and the position of his officers, the duty of his servants and their clothing, his cupbearers and their clothing, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of Yahweh, there was no longer any breath in her. And she said to the king, "The word which I heard in my land concerning your words and your wisdom is true, but I did not believe their words until I came and saw with my own eyes. And behold, half the greatness of your wisdom was not reported to me; you surpass the rumors that I had heard. Blessed are your men, and blessed are these your servants who stand before you regularly and hear your wisdom! Blessed be Yahweh your God who took delight in you, to put you on his throne as king for Yahweh your God! Because your God loved Israel, he established him forever and has put you over them as king to do justice and righteousness!" And she gave to the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold and a very great amount of spices and precious stones. And there were no spices such as those that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

Moreover the servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon who brought gold from Ophir brought algum wood and precious stones. And the king made steps for the house of Yahweh and the house of the king, and lyres and harps for the singers from the algum wood. And there was not seen anything like them before in the land of Judah. Now King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba every desired thing she asked, besides what she had brought to the king. Then she turned and went to her land, she and her servants.

And it happened that the weight of the gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, besides the gold and silver the traders and merchants brought, and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land brought. And King Solomon made two hundred shields of beaten gold; six hundred shekels of beaten gold went into each shield. And he made three hundred small shields of beaten gold; three hundred shekels went into each small shield. And the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. And the king made a large ivory throne and overlaid it with pure gold. And the throne had six steps, and a footstool of gold was attached to the throne. And there were armrests on each side. And by the seat were two lions standing beside the armrests. And twelve lions were standing there on each of the six steps on each end. And there was nothing like it made in all the kingdom. And all the drinking vessels of King Solomon were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. Silver was not valued as anything in the days of Solomon. For the ships of the king went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram. Once every three years the ships of Tarshish came carrying gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

Thus King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom. And all the kings of the earth sought the face of Solomon to hear his wisdom that God put in his heart. And each of them brought his gifts, objects of silver, objects of gold, cloaks, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules, as an amount year by year. And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. And he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. And he ruled over all the kings from the River to the land of the Philistines, to the boundary of Egypt. And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar as the sycamore trees that are in the Shephelah for abundance. And the horses were imported from Egypt and from all lands for Solomon.

As for the remainder of the words of Solomon from the first to the last, are they not written in the chronicles of Nathan the prophet and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer, concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. And Solomon slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

All those who are under the yoke as slaves must regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, lest the name of God and the teaching be slandered. And those who have believing masters must not look down on them because they are brothers, but rather they must serve, because those who benefit by their service are believers and dearly loved.

Teach and encourage these things. If anyone teaches other doctrine and does not devote himself to the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that is in accordance with godliness, he is conceited, understanding nothing, but having a morbid interest concerning controversies and disputes about words, from which come envy, strife, slanders, evil suspicions, constant wrangling by people of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who consider godliness to be a means of gain. But godliness with contentment is a great means of gain. For we have brought nothing into the world, so that neither can we bring anything out. But if we have food and clothing, with these things we will be content. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and a trap and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge those people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all evil, by which some, because they desire it, have gone astray from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.

But you, O man of God, flee from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patient endurance, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I command you, in the sight of God who gives life to all things and Christ Jesus who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you observe the commandment without fault, irreproachable until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will make known in his own time, the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of those who reign as kings and Lord of those who rule as lords, the one who alone possesses immortality, who lives in unapproachable light, whom no human being has seen nor is able to see, to whom be honor and eternal power. Amen.

Command those who are rich in this present age not to be proud and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of riches, but in God, who provides us all things richly for enjoyment, to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, sharing freely, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the future, in order that they may take hold of what is truly life.

O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Turn away from pointless empty talk and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge, which some, by professing it, have deviated concerning the faith. Grace be with you all.