Solomon’s wealth

13 Each year there was brought to Solomon a total of 25 tons of gold. 14 That was in addition to the taxes paid to him by the merchants and traders. Also, the kings of Arabia and the governors of the districts in Israel brought gold and silver to Solomon.

15 King Solomon’s workers took this gold and hammered it into thin sheets and covered 200 large shields with those thin sheets of gold; they put almost 7-1/2 pounds of gold on each shield. 16 His workers made 300 smaller shields. They covered each of them with almost 4 pounds of gold. Then the king put those shields in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon.

17 His workers also made for him a large throne. Part of it was covered with decorations made from ivory and part of it was covered with very fine gold. 18 There were six steps in front of the throne. There was a gold footstool that was attached to the throne. At each side of the throne there was an armrest, and alongside each armrest there was a small statue of a lion. 19 On the six steps there were twelve statues of lions, one on each side. No throne like that had ever existed in any other kingdom. 20 All of Solomon’s cups were made of gold, and all the various dishes in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon were made of gold. They did not make things from silver, because during the years that Solomon ruled, silver was not considered to be valuable. 21 The king had a fleet of ships that sailed with the ships that King Hiram owned. Every three years the ships returned from the places to which they had sailed, bringing gold, silver, ivory, monkeys, and baboons (OR, peacocks).

22 King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king on the earth. 23 Kings from all over the world wanted to come and listen to the wise things that Solomon said, things that God had enabled him to know. 24 All the people who came to him brought presents: They brought things made from silver or gold, or robes, or weapons, or spices, or horses, or mules. The people continued to do this every year.

25 Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his horses and chariots, and 12,000 horses. Solomon put some of them in Jerusalem and some of them in other cities where he kept his chariots. 26 Solomon ruled over all the kings in the area from the Euphrates River in the northeast to the Philistia area in the west to the border of Egypt in the south. 27 During the years that Solomon was king, he caused silver to become as common in Jerusalem as stones; and he caused cedar trees in the foothills of Judah to become as plentiful as fig trees. 28 Solomon’s agents brought horses from the Musri area and other places.