Solomon's riches
14 Solomon received 25 tons of gold each year.
15 He also received money from traders, from the kings of Arabia and from the rulers of each region in Israel.
16 King Solomon's workers used gold to make 200 large shields. They hit the gold with hammers to make it flat. They used about four kilograms of gold to cover each shield. 17 They also made 300 small shields in the same way. They used about 2 kilograms of gold to cover each shield. He put these shields in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
18 The king used ivory to make a large throne. He covered it with gold. 19 There were six steps up to the throne. The back of the throne was a round shape at the top. On both sides of the seat there were places for the king to put his arms. An image of a lion stood on each side of the throne. 20 There were 12 more images of lions on the six steps. There was one lion at each end of every step. There was no throne like it in any other kingdom. 21 They used gold to make all King Solomon's cups that he drank from. In the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon, all the dishes and other things were made with gold. They used pure gold. They did not make anything with silver. In Solomon's time, people did not think that silver was very valuable.
22 The king had many large ships that could sail across the seas. They sailed with King Hiram's ships. Every three years they returned to Solomon with their loads. They brought to him gold, silver and ivory. They also brought apes and monkeys.
10:22There was no sea at Jerusalem, so Solomon kept his ships with King Hiram. Hiram lived in Tyre, on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.
10:22‘monkeys’ or ‘peacocks’. ‘Apes’ are animals like big monkeys. Peacocks are beautiful birds.
23 King Solomon was richer and wiser than any other king in the world. 24 People from every nation in the world wanted to talk to Solomon. They wanted to listen to the wisdom that God had given to him. 25 Every year, people who came to visit Solomon brought him gifts. They brought things that were made from silver and gold, as well as clothes, weapons, spices, horses and mules.
26 Solomon brought together many chariots and horses for his soldiers to ride. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He kept some of them in Jerusalem where he lived as king. He put the others in cities that he had chosen for this.
27 While Solomon ruled as king, there was as much silver in Jerusalem as stones! There was as much wood from cedar trees as there were fig trees that grew in the low hills in the west. 28 Solomon brought his horses from Egypt and from Kue. He sent traders to Kue to buy them for him. 29 Each chariot that they bought in Egypt cost 600 pieces of silver. Each horse cost 150 pieces of silver. They also sold chariots and horses to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Syria.
