He brought the holy items that he and his father had made into the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple, including the silver, gold, and other articles.<n id="1" />p>

He said to him, &#8220;This is what Ben Hadad says, &#8216;Your silver and your gold are mine, as well as the best of your wives and sons.&#8217;&#8221;

Year after year visitors brought their gifts, which included items of silver, items of gold, clothes, perfume, spices, horses, and mules.<n id="1" />p>

The king made silver as plentiful<n id="1" /> in Jerusalem as stones; cedar was<n id="2" /> as plentiful as sycamore fig trees are in the lowlands.<n id="3" />

They paid 600 silver pieces for each chariot from Egypt and 150 silver pieces for each horse. They also sold chariots and horses to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Syria.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="bodytext">The messengers came again and said, &#8220;This is what Ben Hadad says, &#8216;I sent this message to you, &#8220;You must give me your silver, gold, wives, and sons.&#8221;

When King Solomon finished constructing the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple, he<n id="1" /> put the holy items that belonged to his father David (the silver, gold, and other articles) in the treasuries of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple.p>

<p class="bodytext">All of King Solomon&#8217;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&#8217;s time.<n id="1" />

Along with Hiram&#8217;s fleet, the king had a fleet of large merchant ships<n id="1" /> that sailed the sea. Once every three years the fleet<n id="2" /> came into port with cargoes of<n id="3" /> gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.<n id="4" />p>

&#8220;I want to make a treaty with you, like the one our fathers made.<n id="1" /> See, I have sent you silver and gold as a present. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel, so he will retreat from my land.&#8221;<n id="2" />

He purchased the hill of Samaria<n id="1" /> from Shemer for two talents<n id="2" /> of silver. He launched a construction project there<n id="3" /> and named the city he built after Shemer, the former owner of the hill of Samaria.

The king of Israel summoned all the leaders<n id="1" /> of the land and said, &#8220;Notice how this man is looking for trouble.<n id="2" /> Indeed, he demanded my wives, sons, silver, and gold, and I did not resist him.&#8221;

He answered her, &#8220;While I was talking to Naboth the Jezreelite, I said to him, &#8216;Sell me your vineyard for silver, or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.&#8217; But he said, &#8216;I will not sell you my vineyard.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="1" />

<p class="bodytext">When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she<n id="1" /> said to Ahab, &#8220;Get up, take possession of the vineyard Naboth the Jezreelite refused to sell you for silver, for Naboth is no longer alive; he&#8217;s dead.&#8221;

Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple and of the royal palace and handed it to his servants. He then told them to deliver it<n id="1" /> to Ben Hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, ruler in Damascus, along with this message:

When the king passed by, he called out to the king, &#8220;Your servant went out into the heat<n id="1" /> of the battle, and then a man turned aside and brought me a prisoner.<n id="2" /> He told me, &#8216;Guard this prisoner. If he ends up missing for any reason,<n id="3" /> you will pay with your life or with a talent<n id="4" /> of silver.&#8217;<n id="5" />

Ahab said to Naboth, &#8220;Give me your vineyard so I can make a vegetable garden out of it, for it is adjacent to my palace. I will give you an even better vineyard in its place, or if you prefer,<n id="1" /> I will pay you silver for it.&#8221;<n id="2" />