11 Now King Shelomoh loved many foreign women—besides Far-oh’s daughter there were Moabite women, Ammonite women, Edomite women, Sidonian women, and Hittite women.[ref] 2 They were from the nations that Yahweh had told Yisrael about, “You must not mix with people from those nations, and they must not join together with you. They will certainly entice you to worship their gods.” However, Shelomoh clung to them for love.[ref] 3 He had seven hundred wives who were kings’ daughters, as well as three hundred slave-wives, and his wives were instrumental in his turning away from Yahweh. 4 By the time of his old age, Shelomoh’s wives had persuaded him to worship the gods from their countries—his heart wasn’t totally dedicated to Yahweh like his father David had been. 5 So Shelomoh started to worship the Tsidonians’ God Ashtoret and the Ammonites’ detestable God Milkom, 6 so he did many things that Yahweh had said were evil—he didn’t remain fully committed to Yahweh like his father David had been. 7 Then Shelomoh built a place to worship Kemosh, the Moabites detestable God, on a hill facing Yerushalem, and also for Molek, the Ammonites’ detestable God. 8 He did those things for his foreign wives who were burning incense and sacrificing to their gods.

14 The amount of gold that came to Shelomoh in one year was around twenty-two tonnes, 15 not counting what came from explorers and traders, and all the Arab kings, and the governors of the land.

16 King Shelomoh had two hundred body shields made from beaten gold overlaid over wood—each shield took six kilograms of gold. 17 He also had three hundred smaller shields made—each of them covered with two kilograms of gold—and placed in his ‘Lebanon Forest Hall’.

18 The king had a large ivory throne made and overlaid with pure gold. 19 It had six steps going up to it and the seat-back was rounded at the top. It had armrests on both sides, then a lion on each side next to the armrests, 20 plus twelve lions standing one on each side of the six steps. There was nothing like it in any other kingdom.

21 All of Shelomoh’s cups were gold, and the various dishes in the ‘Lebanon Forest Hall’ were also pure gold. Nothing was made out of silver because it was considered to be of little value during Shelomoh’s time 22 because the king had a fleet of ships that joined King Hiram’s fleet. Every three years the fleet would return bringing gold and silver, ivory, monkeys and baboons.[fn]

23 King Shelomoh became richer and wiser than any other king in the world, 24 and even people from distant countries would come to see Shelomoh to listen to the wisdom that God had given him. 25 Every visitor would bring a gift: gold containers, clothes, weapons, spices, horses and mules. This continued year after year.

26 Shelomoh acquired 1,400 chariots and twelve thousand horsemen. He stationed most of them in his chariot cities and some with him there in Yerushalem.[ref] 27 While he was king, silver in Yerushalem was given a value similar to stones, and cedar timber was given a value like that of the sycamores that grow in plenty in the lowlands.[ref]