1 Kings 10:14–28

King Solomon’s Wealth

¹⁴Every year King Solomon received almost 23,000 kilogrammes of gold ¹⁵in addition to the taxes^g paid by merchants, the profits from trade, and tribute paid by the Arabian kings and the governors of the Israelite districts.

¹⁶Solomon made 200 large shields, and had each one overlaid with almost 7 kilogrammes of gold. ¹⁷He also made 300 smaller shields, overlaying each one of them with almost 2 kilogrammes of gold. He had all these shields placed in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon.^h

¹⁸He also had a large throne made. Part of it was covered with ivory and the rest of it was covered with the finest gold. ^19–20The throne had six steps leading up to it, with the figure of a lion at each end of every step, a total of twelve lions. At the back of the throne was the figure of a bull’s head, and beside each of the two arms was the figure of a lion. No throne like this had ever existed in any other kingdom.

²¹All of Solomon’s drinking cups were made of gold, and all the utensils in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. No silver was used, since it was not considered valuable in Solomon’s day. ²²He had a fleet of ocean-going ships sailing with Hiram’s fleet. Every three years his fleet would return, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys.

²³King Solomon was richer and wiser than any other king, ²⁴and the whole world wanted to come and listen to the wisdom that God had given him. ²⁵Everyone who came brought him a gift—articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons, spices, horses, and mules. This continued year after year.

^26*Solomon built up a force of 1,400 chariots and 12,000 cavalry horses. Some of them he kept in Jerusalem and the rest he stationed in various other cities. ^27*During his reign silver was as common in Jerusalem as stone, and cedar was as plentiful as ordinary sycomore in the foothills of Judah. ^28*The king’s agents controlled the export of horses from Musriⁱ and Cilicia,^j