22. The king had a fleet of trading ships of Tarshish that sailed with Hiram’s fleet. Once every three years the ships returned, loaded with gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
23. So King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king on earth.
24. People from every nation came to consult him and to hear the wisdom God had given him.
25. Year after year everyone who visited brought him gifts of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.
26. Solomon built up a huge force of chariots and horses. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He stationed some of them in the chariot cities and some near him in Jerusalem.
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.