16. and 300 smaller shields, each covered with about three kilogrammes of beaten gold. He had them all placed in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon.
17. The king also had a large throne made. Part of it was covered with ivory and the rest of it was covered with pure gold.
18. Six steps led up to the throne, and there was a footstool attached to it, covered with gold. There were arms on each side of the throne, and the figure of a lion stood at each side.
19. Twelve figures of lions were on the steps, one at either end of each step. No throne like this had ever existed in any other kingdom.
20. All King Solomon's cups were made of gold, and all the utensils in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. Silver was not considered valuable in Solomon's day.
21. He had a fleet of ocean-going ships sailing with King Hiram's fleet. Every three years his fleet would return, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys.
22. King Solomon was richer and wiser than any other king in the world.
23. They all consulted him, to hear the wisdom that God had given him.
24. Each of them brought Solomon gifts — articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons, spices, horses, and mules. This continued year after year.
25. King Solomon also had 4,000 stalls for his chariots and horses, and had 12,000 cavalry horses. Some of them he kept in Jerusalem and the rest he stationed in various other cities.
26. He was supreme ruler of all the kings in the territory from the River Euphrates to Philistia and the Egyptian border.
27. During his reign silver was as common in Jerusalem as stone, and cedar was as plentiful as ordinary sycomore in the foothills of Judah.