16. King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold, each of which contained about seven and one-half pounds of gold.
17. He also made three hundred smaller shields of hammered gold, each of which contained about four pounds of gold. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
18. The king built a large throne of ivory and covered it with fine gold.
19. The throne had six steps on it, and its back was round at the top. There were armrests on both sides of the chair, and each armrest had a lion beside it.
20. Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one lion at each end of each step. Nothing like this had ever been made for any other kingdom.
21. All of Solomon’s drinking cups, as well as the dishes in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon, were made of pure gold. Nothing was made from silver, because silver was not valuable in Solomon’s time.
22. King Solomon also had many trading ships at sea, along with Hiram’s ships. Every three years the ships returned, bringing back gold, silver, ivory, apes, and baboons.