I Kings 4

¹And king Solomon was king over all Israel.

²And these were the princes whom he had: Azariah the son of Zadok, the priest;

³Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder;

⁴and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

⁵and Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers; and Zabud the son of Nathan was chief minister, and the king’s friend;

⁶and Ahishar was over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the men subject to taskwork.

⁷And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided victuals for the king and his household: each man had to make provision for a month in the year.

⁸And these are their names: Ben-hur, in the hill-country of Ephraim;

⁹Ben-deker, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Beth-shemesh, and Elon-beth-hanan;

¹⁰Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him pertained Socoh, and all the land of Hepher);

¹¹Ben-abinadab, in all the height of Dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon to wife);

¹²Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth-shean which is beside Zarethan, beneath Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as beyond Jokmeam;

¹³Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (to him pertained the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; even to him pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, threescore great cities with walls and brazen bars);

¹⁴Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;

¹⁵Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon to wife);

¹⁶Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth;

¹⁷Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar;

¹⁸Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin;

¹⁹Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer that was in the land.

²⁰Judah and Israel were many as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry.

²¹And Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought tribute, and served Solomon all the days of his life.

²²And Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal,

²³ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, besides harts, and gazelles, and roebucks, and fatted fowl.

²⁴For he had dominion over all the region on this side the River, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings on this side the River: and he had peace on all sides round about him.

²⁵And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.

²⁶And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.

²⁷And those officers provided victuals for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon’s table, every man in his month; they let nothing be lacking.

²⁸Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge.

²⁹And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea-shore.

³⁰And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east, and all the wisdom of Egypt.

³¹For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all the nations round about.

³²And he spake three thousand proverbs; and his songs were a thousand and five.

³³And he spake of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall; he spake also of beasts, and of birds, and of creeping things, and of fishes.

³⁴And there came of all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

I Kings 4

¹So King Solomon ruled over Israel,

²and these were his chief officials: Azariah son of Zadok was the priest;

³Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were secretaries; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;

⁴Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

⁵Azariah son of Nathan was in charge of the governors; Zabud son of Nathan was a priest and adviser to the king;

⁶Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and Adoniram son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor.

⁷Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel to provide food for the king and his household. Each one would arrange provisions for one month of the year,

⁸and these were their names: Ben-hur in the hill country of Ephraim;

⁹Ben-deker in Makaz, in Shaalbim, in Beth-shemesh, and in Elon-beth-hanan;

¹⁰Ben-hesed in Arubboth (Socoh and all the land of Hepher belonged to him);

¹¹Ben-abinadab in Naphath-dor (Taphath, a daughter of Solomon, was his wife);

¹²Baana son of Ahilud in Taanach, in Megiddo, and in all of Beth-shean next to Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah and on past Jokmeam;

¹³Ben-geber in Ramoth-gilead (the villages of Jair son of Manasseh in Gilead belonged to him, as well as the region of Argob in Bashan with its sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars);

¹⁴Ahinadab son of Iddo in Mahanaim;

¹⁵Ahimaaz in Naphtali (he had married Basemath, a daughter of Solomon);

¹⁶Baana son of Hushai in Asher and in Aloth;

¹⁷Jehoshaphat son of Paruah in Issachar;

¹⁸Shimei son of Ela in Benjamin;

¹⁹Geber son of Uri in the land of Gilead, including the territories of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan. There was also one governor in the land of Judah.

²⁰The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore, and they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.

²¹And Solomon reigned over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These kingdoms offered tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

²²Solomon’s provisions for a single day were thirty cors of fine flour, sixty cors of meal,

²³ten fat oxen, twenty range oxen, and a hundred sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened poultry.

²⁴For Solomon had dominion over everything west of the Euphrates—over all the kingdoms from Tiphsah to Gaza—and he had peace on all sides.

²⁵Throughout the days of Solomon, Judah and Israel dwelt securely from Dan to Beersheba, each man under his own vine and his own fig tree.

²⁶Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his chariot horses and 12,000 horses.

²⁷Each month the governors in turn provided food for King Solomon and all who came to his table. They saw to it that nothing was lacking.

²⁸Each one also brought to the required place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and other horses.

²⁹And God gave Solomon wisdom, exceedingly deep insight, and understanding beyond measure, like the sand on the seashore.

³⁰Solomon’s wisdom was greater than that of all the men of the East, greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.

³¹He was wiser than all men—wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and wiser than Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread throughout the surrounding nations.

³²Solomon composed three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five.

³³He spoke of trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop growing in the wall, and he taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish.

³⁴So men of all nations came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.