queens

¹Then, too, the queen of Sheba, having heard of the fame of Solomon in the name of the Lord, arrived to test him with enigmas. ²And entering into Jerusalem with a great retinue, and with riches, and with camels carrying aromatics, and with an exceedingly great quantity of gold and precious stones, she went to king Solomon. And she spoke to him all that she held in her heart. ³And Solomon taught her, in all the words that she had proposed to him. There was not any word which was able to be hidden from the king, or which he did not answer for her. ⁴Then, when the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, ⁵and the food of his table, and the dwelling places of his servants, and the rows of his ministers, and their apparel, and the cupbearers, and the holocausts that he was offering in the house of the Lord, she had no longer any spirit in her. ⁶And she said to the king: “The word is true, which I have heard in my own land,

¹Also, when the queen of Sheba had heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem, with great riches and with camels which were carrying aromatics, and very much gold, and precious gems, so that she might test him with enigmas. And when she had approached Solomon, she spoke to him all that was in her heart. ²And Solomon explained for her all that she had proposed. And there was nothing that he did not make clear to her. ³And after she saw these things, specifically, the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he had built, ⁴indeed also the foods of his table, and the habitations of the servants, and the duties of his ministers, and their apparel, and also his cupbearers and their garments, and the victims which he was immolating in the house of the Lord, there was no longer any spirit in her, due to astonishment. ⁵And she said to the king: “The word is true, which I had heard in my own land, about your virtues and wisdom. ⁶I did not believe those who described it, until I had arrived and my eyes had seen, and I had proven that not even half of your wisdom had been described to me. You have exceeded your fame with your virtue.

¹⁷And the king loved her more than all the women, and she had favor and mercy in his eyes above all the women, and he set the royal crown on her head, and he made her queen instead of Vashti.

⁹Likewise, Vashti the queen made a feast for the women, in the palace where king Artaxerxes was accustomed to stay the night.

⁷As much as she has glorified herself and lived in pleasure, so much so give to her torment and grief. For in her heart, she has said: ‘I am enthroned as queen,’ and, ‘I am not a widow,’ and, ‘I shall not see sorrow.’

⁶And the king said to me, with the queen who was sitting beside him: “Until what time will your journey be, and when will you return?” And it was pleasing before the countenance of the king, and so he sent me. And I established a time for him.

¹⁸“Say to the king and to the female ruler: Humble yourselves, sit down. For the crown of your glory has gone down from your head.

²⁷And rising up, he went. And behold, an Ethiopian man, a eunuch, powerful under Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasures, had arrived in Jerusalem to worship.

¹³Moreover, he also removed his mother, Maacah, from being the leader in the sacrifices of Priapus, and in his sacred grove which she had consecrated. And he destroyed his grotto. And he shattered the very indecent idol, and he burned it at the torrent Kidron.

¹⁸The sons gather the wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the wives spread the grease, so as to make cakes to the queen of heaven and to offer libations to strange gods, and so as to provoke me to anger.

³¹The queen of the South will rise up, at the judgment, with the men of this generation, and she will condemn them. For she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold, more than Solomon is here.

⁴²The Queen of the South shall arise in judgment with this generation, and she shall condemn it. For she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold, there is a greater than Solomon here.