NAS - 2 Chronicles Chapter 9 to 11

9 Visit of the Queen of Sheba

¹Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with difficult questions. She had a very large retinue, with camels carrying spices and a large amount of gold and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was on her heart. ²Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was hidden from Solomon which he did not explain to her. ³When the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house which he had built, ⁴the food at his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his ministers and their attire, his cupbearers and their attire, and his stairway by which he went up to the house of the LORD, she was breathless. ⁵Then she said to the king, "It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. ⁶"Nevertheless I did not believe their reports until I came and my eyes had seen it. And behold, the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me. You surpass the report that I heard. ⁷"How blessed are your men, how blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom. ⁸"Blessed be the LORD your God who delighted in you, setting you on His throne as king for the LORD your God; because your God loved Israel establishing them forever, therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness." ⁹Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold and a very great amount of spices and precious stones; there had never been spice like that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹⁰The servants of Huram and the servants of Solomon who brought gold from Ophir, also brought algum trees and precious stones. ¹¹From the algum trees the king made steps for the house of the LORD and for the king's palace, and lyres and harps for the singers; and none like that was seen before in the land of Judah.

¹²King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire which she requested besides a return for what she had brought to the king. Then she turned and went to her own land with her servants.

Solomon's Wealth and Power

¹³Now the weight of gold which came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, ¹⁴besides that which the traders and merchants brought; and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. ¹⁵King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold, using 600 shekels of beaten gold on each large shield. ¹⁶He made 300 shields of beaten gold, using three hundred shekels of gold on each shield, and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

¹⁷Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold. ¹⁸There were six steps to the throne and a footstool in gold attached to the throne, and arms on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the arms. ¹⁹Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps on the one side and on the other; nothing like it was made for any other kingdom. ²⁰All King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; silver was not considered valuable in the days of Solomon. ²¹For the king had ships which went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks.

²²So King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. ²³And all the kings of the earth were seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. ²⁴They brought every man his gift, articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses and mules, so much year by year.

²⁵Now Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots and 12,000 horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ²⁶He was the ruler over all the kings from the Euphrates River even to the land of the Philistines, and as far as the border of Egypt. ²⁷The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the lowland. ²⁸And they were bringing horses for Solomon from Egypt and from all countries.

²⁹Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from first to last, are they not written in the records 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? ³⁰Solomon reigned forty years in Jerusalem over all Israel.

Death of Solomon

³¹And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David; and his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.

10 Rehoboam's Reign of Folly

¹Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. ²When Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was in Egypt where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon), Jeroboam returned from Egypt. ³So they sent and summoned him. When Jeroboam and all Israel came, they spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴"Your father made our yoke hard; now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you." ⁵He said to them, "Return to me again in three days." So the people departed.

⁶Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, "How do you counsel me to answer this people?" ⁷They spoke to him, saying, "If you will be kind to this people and please them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever." ⁸But he forsook the counsel of the elders which they had given him, and consulted with the young men who grew up with him and served him. ⁹So he said to them, "What counsel do you give that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, `Lighten the yoke which your father put on us'?" ¹⁰The young men who grew up with him spoke to him, saying, "Thus you shall say to the people who spoke to you, saying, `Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter for us.' Thus you shall say to them, `My little finger is thicker than my father's loins! ¹¹`Whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.'"

¹²So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had directed, saying, "Return to me on the third day." ¹³The king answered them harshly, and King Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the elders. ¹⁴He spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, "My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions." ¹⁵So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of events from God that the LORD might establish His word, which He spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

¹⁶When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them the people answered the king, saying, "What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to your tents, O Israel; Now look after your own house, David." So all Israel departed to their tents. ¹⁷But as for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. ¹⁸Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was over the forced labor, and the sons of Israel stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

11 Rehoboam Reigns over Judah and Builds Cities

¹Now when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who were warriors, to fight against Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. ²But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ³"Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, ⁴`Thus says the LORD, "You shall not go up or fight against your relatives; return every man to his house, for this thing is from Me."'" So they listened to the words of the LORD and returned from going against Jeroboam.

⁵Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built cities for defense in Judah. ⁶Thus he built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰Zorah, Aijalon and Hebron, which are fortified cities in Judah and in Benjamin. ¹¹He also strengthened the fortresses and put officers in them and stores of food, oil and wine. ¹²He put shields and spears in every city and strengthened them greatly. So he held Judah and Benjamin.

¹³Moreover, the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel stood with him from all their districts.

Jeroboam Appoints False Priests

¹⁴For the Levites left their pasture lands and their property and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons had excluded them from serving as priests to the LORD. ¹⁵He set up priests of his own for the high places, for the satyrs and for the calves which he had made. ¹⁶Those from all the tribes of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the LORD God of Israel followed them to Jerusalem, to sacrifice to the LORD God of their fathers. ¹⁷They strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam the son of Solomon for three years, for they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.

Rehoboam's Family

¹⁸Then Rehoboam took as a wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse, ¹⁹and she bore him sons: Jeush, Shemariah and Zaham. ²⁰After her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom, and she bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza and Shelomith. ²¹Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom more than all his other wives and concubines. For he had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. ²²Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as head and leader among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. ²³He acted wisely and distributed some of his sons through all the territories of Judah and Benjamin to all the fortified cities, and he gave them food in abundance. And he sought many wives for them.