18. His throne was made of ivory and covered with pure gold.
19-20. The back of the throne was rounded at the top, and it had arm rests on each side. There was a statue of a lion on both sides of the throne, and there was a statue of a lion at both ends of each of the six steps leading up to the throne. No other throne in the world was like Solomon's.
21. Since silver was almost worthless in those days, everything was made of gold, even the cups and dishes used in Forest Hall.
22. Solomon had a lot of seagoing ships. Every three years he sent them out with Hiram's ships to bring back gold, silver, and ivory, as well as monkeys and peacocks.
23. He was the richest and wisest king in the world.
24. People from every nation wanted to hear the wisdom God had given him.
25. Year after year people came and brought gifts of silver and gold, as well as clothes, weapons, spices, horses, or mules.
26. Solomon had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses that he kept in Jerusalem and other towns.
27. While he was king, there was silver everywhere in Jerusalem, and cedar was as common as ordinary sycamore trees in the foothills.
28-29. Solomon's merchants bought his horses and chariots in the regions of Musri and Kue. They paid about six hundred pieces of silver for a chariot and a hundred and fifty pieces of silver for a horse. They also sold horses and chariots to the Hittite and Syrian kings.