1 Kings 10:14-29

14The weight of gold that came to Solomon annually was twenty-five tons,

15besides what came from merchants, traders’ merchandise, and all the Arabian kings and governors of the land.

16King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; fifteen pounds of gold went into each shield.

17He made three hundred small shields of hammered gold; nearly four pounds of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.

18The king also made a large ivory throne and overlaid it with fine gold.

19The throne had six steps; there was a rounded top at the back of the throne, armrests on either side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests.

20Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps, one at each end. Nothing like it had ever been made in any other kingdom.

21All 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,

22for the king had ships of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s fleet, and once every three years the ships of Tarshish would arrive bearing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

23King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the world in riches and in wisdom.

24The whole world wanted an audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom that God had put in his heart.

25Every man would bring his annual tribute: items of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, and horses and mules.

26Solomon accumulated 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen and stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

27The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar as abundant as sycamore in the Judean foothills.

28Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and Kue. The king’s traders bought them from Kue at the going price.

29A chariot was imported from Egypt for fifteen pounds of silver, and a horse for four pounds. In the same way, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram through their agents.