13. King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she wanted and all that she had asked for, in addition to what he had already given her from his own personal funds. Then she and her servants returned to her homeland.
14. Solomon received an annual income of six hundred sixty-six kikkars of gold,
15. not including income from the traders, the merchants and their profits, all the Arabian kings, and the officials of the land.
16. King Solomon made two hundred body-sized shields of hammered gold, using fifteen pounds of gold in each shield,
17. and three hundred small shields of hammered gold, using sixty ounces of gold in each shield. The king placed these in the Forest of Lebanon Palace.
18. The king also made a large ivory throne and covered it with pure gold.
19. Six steps led up to the throne, and the back of the throne was rounded at the top. Two lions stood beside the armrests on both sides of the throne.
20. Another twelve lions stood on both sides of the six steps. No other kingdom had anything like this.
21. All of King Solomon’s drinking cups were made of gold, and all the items in the Forest of Lebanon Palace were made of pure gold, not silver, since even silver wasn’t considered good enough in Solomon’s time!
22. The royal fleet of Tarshish-style ships was at sea with Hiram’s fleet, returning once every three years with gold, silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks.
23. King Solomon far exceeded all the earth’s kings in wealth and wisdom,
24. and so the whole earth wanted an audience with Solomon in order to hear his God-given wisdom.