All of King Solomon’s cups were made out of gold. All the things used in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were made out of pure gold. Nothing was made out of silver. When Solomon was king, silver wasn’t considered to be worth very much.He had many ships that carried goods to be traded. The crews of those ships were made up of Hiram’s servants. Once every three years the ships returned. They brought gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks.King Solomon was richer than all the other kings on earth. He was also wiser than they were.
Let them see how pure you are. Let them see that your lives are full of respect for God.Fancy hairstyles don’t make you beautiful. Wearing gold jewelry or fine clothes doesn’t make you beautiful.Instead, your beauty comes from inside you. It is the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. Beauty like this doesn’t fade away. God places great value on it.This is how the holy women of the past used to make themselves beautiful. They put their hope in God. And they followed the lead of their own husbands.
She saw the food on his table. She saw his officials sitting there. She saw the robes of the servants who waited on everyone. She saw the robes the wine tasters were wearing. And she saw the burnt offerings Solomon sacrificed at the Lord’ s temple. She could hardly believe everything she had seen.She said to the king,“ Back in my own country I heard a report about you. I heard about how much you had accomplished. I also heard about how wise you are. Everything I heard is true.But I didn’t believe what people were saying. So I came to see for myself. And now I believe it! You are twice as wise as people say you are. The report I heard doesn’t even begin to tell the whole story about you.
So the queen of Sheba saw how very wise Solomon was. She saw the palace he had built.She saw the food on his table. She saw his officials sitting there. She saw the robes of the servants who waited on everyone. She saw his wine tasters. And she saw the burnt offerings Solomon sacrificed at the Lord’ s temple. She could hardly believe everything she had seen.She said to the king,“ Back in my own country I heard a report about you. I heard about how much you had accomplished. I also heard about how wise you are. Everything I heard is true.But I didn’t believe those things. So I came to see for myself. And now I believe it! You are twice as wise and wealthy as people say you are. The report I heard doesn’t even begin to tell the whole story about you.
In the same way, I want the women to be careful how they dress. They should wear clothes that are right and proper. They shouldn’t wear their hair in very fancy styles. They shouldn’t wear gold or pearls. They shouldn’t wear clothes that cost a lot of money.Instead, they should put on good works as if good works were their clothes. This is proper for women who claim to worship God.
