11. The king made steps for the Lord’s temple and for the royal palace with the algum wood, as well as lyres and harps for the musicians. Never before had anything like them been seen in the land of Judah.
12. King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she wanted, even more than she had brought the king. Then she and her servants returned to her homeland.
13. Solomon received an annual income of six hundred sixty-six kikkars of gold,
14. not including income from the traders and merchants. All the Arabian kings and the governors of the land also brought Solomon gold and silver.
15. King Solomon made two hundred body-sized shields of hammered gold, using fifteen pounds of hammered gold in each shield;
16. and three hundred small shields of hammered gold, using seven and a half pounds of hammered gold in each shield. The king placed these in the Forest of Lebanon Palace.
17. The king also made a large ivory throne and covered it with pure gold.
18. Six steps led up to the throne, which had a gold footrest attached. Two lions stood beside the armrests on both sides of the throne.
19. Another twelve lions stood on both sides of the six steps. No other kingdom had anything like this.
20. All 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!
21. The royal fleet sailed to Tarshish with the servants of Huram, returning once every three years with gold, silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks.
22. King Solomon far exceeded all the earth’s kings in wealth and wisdom,