19
Lions, twelve of them, were placed at either end of the six steps. There was no throne like it in any other kingdom.
20
King Solomon's chalices and tankards were made of gold, and all the dinnerware and serving utensils in the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver; silver was considered common and cheap in the time of Solomon.
21
The king's ships, manned by Hiram's sailors, made a round trip to Tarshish every three years, returning with a cargo of gold, silver, and ivory, apes and peacocks.
22
King Solomon was richer and wiser than all the kings of the earth - he surpassed them all.
23
Kings came from all over the world to be with Solomon and get in on the wisdom God had given him.
24
Everyone who came brought gifts - artifacts of gold and silver, fashionable robes and gowns, the latest in weapons, exotic spices, horses, and mules - parades of visitors, year after year.
25
Solomon collected horses and chariots. He had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 horsemen in barracks in the chariot-cities and in Jerusalem.
26
He ruled over all the kings from the River Euphrates in the east, throughout the Philistine country, and as far west as the border of Egypt.
27
The king made silver as common as rocks and cedar as common as the fig trees in the lowland hills.
28
He carried on a brisk horse-trading business with Egypt and other places.
29
The rest of Solomon's life and rule, from start to finish, one can read in the records of Nathan the prophet, the prophecy of Ahijah of Shiloh, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat.