¹³Every year King Solomon received about fifty thousand pounds of gold. ¹⁴Besides that, he also received gold from traders and merchants. All the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land also brought gold and silver.

¹⁵King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold, each of which contained about seven and one-half pounds of hammered gold. ¹⁶He also made three hundred smaller shields of hammered gold, each of which contained about four pounds of gold. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.

¹⁷The king built a large throne of ivory and covered it with pure gold. ¹⁸The throne had six steps on it and a gold footstool. There were armrests on both sides of the chair, and each armrest had a lion beside it. ¹⁹Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one lion at each end of each step. Nothing like this had ever been made for any other kingdom. ²⁰All of Solomon’s drinking cups, as well as the dishes in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon, were made of pure gold. In Solomon’s time people did not think silver was valuable.

²¹King Solomon had many ships that he sent out to trade, with Hiram’s men as the crews. Every three years the ships returned, bringing back gold, silver, ivory, apes, and baboons.

²²King Solomon had more riches and wisdom than all the other kings on earth. ²³All the kings of the earth wanted to see Solomon and listen to the wisdom God had given him. ²⁴Year after year everyone who came brought gifts of silver and gold, clothes, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.

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