7. Your men and officers are very lucky! Since they are always serving you, they are able to hear your wisdom!
8. Praise the Lord your God! He was pleased to make you king. He has put you on his throne to rule for the Lord your God. Your God loves Israel and supports Israel forever. So the Lord has made you king of Israel to keep law and order and to rule fairly.”
9. Then the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon about 9,000 pounds of gold. She also gave him many spices and gems. No one had ever given such fine spices as she gave to King Solomon.
10. Hiram’s men and Solomon’s men brought in gold from Ophir. They also brought in juniper wood and gems.
11. King Solomon used the juniper wood to make steps for the Temple of the Lord and the palace. He also used it to make lyres and harps for the singers. No one in Judah had ever seen such beautiful things as these.
12. King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she wanted and asked for. He gave her more than she had brought to him. Then she and her servants left and returned to their own country.
13. The amount of gold that Solomon received in one year weighed about 50,000 pounds.
14. Besides that, he also received gold from merchants and traders. All the kings of Arabia and the rulers of the land also brought gold and silver to Solomon.
15. King Solomon made 200 large shields from hammered gold. Each shield contained about 7½ pounds of hammered gold.
16. Solomon also made 300 small shields of hammered gold. Each shield contained about 4 pounds of gold. King Solomon put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
17. Then he built a large throne of ivory. And he covered it with pure gold.
18. The throne had six steps on it. And it had a gold footstool on it. There were armrests on both sides of the chair. And beside each armrest was a statue of a lion.
19. Twelve lions stood on the six steps. There was one lion at each end of each step. Nothing like this had ever been made for any other kingdom.
20. All King Solomon’s drinking cups were made of gold. All of the dishes in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. In Solomon’s time people did not think silver was valuable. So nothing was made of silver.