20 Another twelve lions stood on both sides of the six steps. No other kingdom had anything like this.
21 All of King Solomon’s drinking cups were made of gold, and all the items in the Forest of Lebanon Palace were made of pure gold, not silver, since even silver wasn’t considered good enough in Solomon’s time!
22 The royal fleet of Tarshish-style ships was at sea with Hiram’s fleet, returning once every three years with gold, silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks.
23 King Solomon far exceeded all the earth’s kings in wealth and wisdom,
24 and so the whole earth wanted an audience with Solomon in order to hear his God-given wisdom.
25 Year after year they came with tribute: objects of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.
26 Solomon acquired more and more chariots and horses until he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses that he kept in chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.