23So King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king on earth. 24People from every nation came to consult him and to hear the wisdom God had given him. 25Year after year everyone who visited brought him gifts of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.

26Solomon built up a huge force of chariots and horses.^k He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He stationed some of them in the chariot cities and some near him in Jerusalem. 27The 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.^l 28Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt^m and from Ciliciaⁿ; the king’s traders acquired them from Cilicia at the standard price. 29At that time chariots from Egypt could be purchased for 600 pieces of silver,^o and horses for 150 pieces of silver.^p They were then exported to the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.