2 Chronicles 9:13–24

SOLOMON’S WEALTH

¹³The weight of gold that came to Solomon^a annually was twenty-five tons,^{A 14}besides what was brought by the merchants and traders. All the Arabian kings and governors of the land also brought gold and silver to Solomon.

¹⁵King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; 15 pounds^B of hammered gold went into each shield. ¹⁶He made three hundred small shields of hammered gold; 7½ pounds^C of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.^b

¹⁷The king also made a large ivory throne and overlaid it with pure gold. ¹⁸The throne had six steps; there was a footstool covered in gold for the throne, armrests on either side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests. ¹⁹Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps, one at each end. Nothing like it had ever been made in any other kingdom.

²⁰All of King Solomon’s drinking cups were gold, and all the utensils of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver, since it was considered as nothing in Solomon’s time, ²¹for the king’s ships kept going to Tarshish^c with Hiram’s servants, and once every three years the ships of Tarshish would arrive bearing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.^D

²²King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the world in riches and wisdom.^{d 23}All the kings of the world wanted an audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. ²⁴Each of them would bring his own gift—items^E of silver and gold, clothing, weapons,^FG spices, and horses and mules—as an annual tribute.