6. I did not believe these things until I came and saw them with my own eyes. Indeed, I didn’t hear even half the story! Your wisdom surpasses what was reported to me.
7. Your attendants, who stand before you at all times and hear your wise sayings, are truly happy!
8. May the Lord your God be praised because he favored you by placing you on his throne as the one ruling on his behalf! Because of your God’s love for Israel and his lasting commitment to them, he made you king over them so you could make just and right decisions.”
9. She gave the king 120 talents of gold and a very large quantity of spices and precious gems. The quantity of spices the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon has never been matched.
10. (Huram’s servants, aided by Solomon’s servants, brought gold from Ophir, as well as fine timber and precious gems.
11. With the timber the king made steps for the Lord’s temple and royal palace as well as stringed instruments for the musicians. No one had seen anything like them in the land of Judah prior to that.)
12. King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she requested, more than what she had brought him. Then she left and returned to her homeland with her attendants.
13. Solomon received 666 talents of gold per year,
14. besides what he collected from the merchants and traders. All the Arabian kings and the governors of the land also brought gold and silver to Solomon.
15. King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; 600 measures of hammered gold were used for each shield.
16. He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold; 300 measures of gold were used for each of those shields. The king placed them in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest.
17. The king made a large throne decorated with ivory and overlaid it with pure gold.
18. There were six steps leading up to the throne, and a gold footstool was attached to the throne. The throne had two armrests with a statue of a lion standing on each side.
19. There were twelve statues of lions on the six steps, one lion at each end of each step. There was nothing like it in any other kingdom.
20. All of King Solomon’s cups were made of gold, and all the household items in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest were made of pure gold. There were no silver items, for silver was not considered very valuable in Solomon’s time.
21. The king had a fleet of large merchant ships manned by Huram’s men that sailed the sea. Once every three years the fleet came into port with cargoes of gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
22. King Solomon was wealthier and wiser than any of the kings of the earth.