2 Chronicles 9:13-28
New Living Translation
Solomon’s Wealth and Splendor
13 Each year Solomon received about 25 tons[a] of gold. 14 This did not include the additional revenue he received from merchants and traders. All the kings of Arabia and the governors of the provinces also brought gold and silver to Solomon.
15 King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold, each weighing more than 15 pounds.[b] 16 He also made 300 smaller shields of hammered gold, each weighing more than 7 1⁄2 pounds.[c] The king placed these shields in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
17 Then the king made a huge throne, decorated with ivory and overlaid with pure gold. 18 The throne had six steps, with a footstool of gold. There were armrests on both sides of the seat, and the figure of a lion stood on each side of the throne. 19 There were also twelve other lions, one standing on each end of the six steps. No other throne in all the world could be compared with it!
20 All of King Solomon’s drinking cups were solid gold, as were all the utensils in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. They were not made of silver, for silver was considered worthless in Solomon’s day!
21 The king had a fleet of trading ships of Tarshish manned by the sailors sent by Hiram.[d] Once every three years the ships returned, loaded with gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.[e]
22 So King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king on earth. 23 Kings from every nation came to consult him and to hear the wisdom God had given him. 24 Year after year everyone who visited brought him gifts of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.
25 Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his horses and chariots, and he had 12,000 horses.[f] He stationed some of them in the chariot cities, and some near him in Jerusalem. 26 He ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates River[g] in the north to the land of the Philistines and the border of Egypt in the south. 27 The king made silver as plentiful in Jerusalem as stone. And valuable cedar timber was as common as the sycamore-fig trees that grow in the foothills of Judah.[h] 28 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt[i] and many other countries.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 9:13 Hebrew 666 talents [23 metric tons].
- 9:15 Hebrew 600 [shekels] of hammered gold [6.8 kilograms].
- 9:16 Hebrew 300 [shekels] of gold [3.4 kilograms].
- 9:21a Hebrew Huram, a variant spelling of Hiram.
- 9:21b Or and baboons.
- 9:25 Or 12,000 charioteers.
- 9:26 Hebrew the river.
- 9:27 Hebrew the Shephelah.
- 9:28 Possibly Muzur, a district near Cilicia.
2 Chronicles 9:13-28
New American Standard Bible
Solomon’s Wealth and Power
13 (A)Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was [a]666 talents of gold, 14 besides what the traders and merchants brought; and all (B)the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. 15 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold, [b]using six hundred shekels of beaten gold on each large shield. 16 He made three hundred shields of beaten gold, [c]using three hundred shekels of gold on each shield; and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.
17 Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. 18 There were six steps to the throne and a footstool in gold attached to the throne, and [d]arms [e]on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the [f]arms. 19 Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps on the one side and on the other; nothing like it was made for any other kingdom. 20 All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; silver was not considered [g]valuable in the days of Solomon. 21 (C)For the king had ships which went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold and silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
22 (D)So King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom. 23 And all the kings of the earth were seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. 24 (E)They were bringing, each of them his gift: articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, balsam oil, horses, and mules, so much year by year.
25 Now Solomon had (F)four thousand stalls for horses and chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 26 (G)He was ruler over all the kings from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, and as far as the border of Egypt. 27 (H)And the king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the [h]lowland. 28 (I)And they were bringing horses for Solomon from Egypt and from all countries.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2 Chronicles 9:13 About 25 tons or 23 metric tons
- 2 Chronicles 9:15 Lit he brought up
- 2 Chronicles 9:16 Lit he brought up
- 2 Chronicles 9:18 Lit hands
- 2 Chronicles 9:18 Lit from this and from this at the place of the seat
- 2 Chronicles 9:18 Lit hands
- 2 Chronicles 9:20 Lit anything
- 2 Chronicles 9:27 Heb shephelah
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
