19. 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.
20. All of Solomon’s drinking cups, as well as the dishes in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon, were made of pure gold. In Solomon’s time people did not think silver was valuable.
21. King Solomon had many ships that he sent out to trade, with Hiram’s men as the crews. Every three years the ships returned, bringing back gold, silver, ivory, apes, and baboons.
22. King Solomon had more riches and wisdom than all the other kings on earth.
23. All the kings of the earth wanted to see Solomon and listen to the wisdom God had given him.
24. Year after year everyone who came brought gifts of silver and gold, clothes, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.
25. Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and he had twelve thousand horses. He kept some in special cities for the chariots, and others he kept with him in Jerusalem.
26. Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.